Online Magazine
   

About Us
Archives
Feedback
Subscribe
Support and Donate
Search

 Voices of Peace
 Voices for the World
 Voices of the Nation
 Voices of the Northwest
 Voices of Spencer Creek
 Bummers & Gummers
 Environment in the News
 Best of the Web
 Letters to the Editor
 eBooks
 Arts & Letters

Article Search

About Us
Archives
Feedback
Subscribe
Support and Donate
Search

Last Updated:
Apr 22nd, 2005 - 18:31:51 



Affiliates
Powells.com


Favorite Links

American Friends Service Committee

Friends Committee on National Legislation

National Catholic Reporter

British Broadcasting Company

The Guardian

Christian Science Monitor

LA Times

SF Gate

Oregonian

The Register Guard

Environmental News Network

Sojourners

Orion

Swans Commentary

Federation of American Scientists

Car Free Times

Indy Media

AlterNet.org

Common Dreams

The Nation

Utne Reader

Eugene Weekly

Willamette Week

Portland Tribune

Bitter Lemons.org

The Travels of our First Webmaster









Arts & Letters



Reviving the Spanish Shakespeare's "Fuente Ovejuna"

Total Entertainment

By William S. Gregory

Posted on Apr 22, 2005

Email this article
 Printer friendly page


Fuente Ovejuna is a brilliant example of total entertainment. Not only does it capture a wide spectrum of community experience it does so while evoking many entertainment styles. Comedy (both high and low) Drama, Romance, Political Intrigue, Fight Scenes, and Riots, all illuminate the stage in an exciting and colorful blend of spectacle and humanity.

Lope de Vega excelled at creating popular theater. His art spoke with direct vivacity to the heart of his society. Lope's work is exciting, enlightening, and enchanting-- every story tells itself, you need no special knowledge or information to be swept into the dramatic current of events.

In this time of the arts searching to find pertinence in a volatile world the works of Lope de Vega offer an example of theater of engagement (political, social, moral) which sacrifices nothing of entertainment value. The work of translating and adapting the classic "Fuente Ovejuna" has been both humbling and a joy. To spend time in the work of a genius like Lope de Vega is an honor and a tremendous education.

My goal with this translation of "Fuente Ovejuna" was to create a play in English which expressed some of the joy, flexibility, exuberance, and theatrical savvy of the Spanish original. I hope the translation will act as a mirror, shining some of Lope de Vega's brilliance into corners where it had not previously reached. My desire is that Lope de Vega's work will be better known in its diversity and pertinence to today's culture.

For more information visit:

Miracle Theater Group, Teatro Milagro

"Fuente Ovejuna" runs April 22 through May 14.

"Fuente Ovejuna: Social and Political Contexts," is a participatory series of public lecture-discussions and post-production talkbacks. Each scholar will approach the play from a different perspective, fostering a diverse and layered understanding of the issues at stake. This series is made possible by the generous support of the Oregon Council for the Humanities.



© Copyright 2000-2004 by West By Northwest.org

Top of Page
untitled

Latest Articles

West By Northwest
Green Light on Washington: Blogs from FCNL
Joy of Living: Busy Birdie Day
Spencer Creek Storybook: A Rainbow Quilt, and Maple Syrup?
Tigerland
Call to Pope to Truly Preach Gospel of Peacemaking
Inventing a Word for Trauma: Adrien Niyongabo and the Trauma Healing and Reconcilliation Service
The RG's Porter/Mickey Exchange Over BLM's Western Oregon Plan Revision
The LNG/Pipeline Conversation
LNG Terminal Carries Long-term Threats
West Coast Salmon Season Imperiled by Low Stocks
Collie Rescue
Lassie Was Found!
Collies Seeking Homes
Homepage