Colorado Shakespeare Festival

Abstract

This year the Colorado Shakespeare Festival celebrated its twentieth anniversary, complete with a Colorado Shakespeare Festival Day proclaimed by Governor Richard D. Lamm and a letter of congratulations from President Carter. There was a new Festival Stage of tile and mortar (replacing a surface of astro-turf) at the Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre on the Boulder campus of the University of Colorado, and this stage provided a hospitable locale for three Shakespearean productions: Much Ado, The Merchant of Venice, and Richard II. The only drawback was rain. It happened to rain, at times to pour, the three consecutive nights I attended performances. As a consequence, there were delays in starting, several interruptions during each play, and extended intermissions. But thanks to the perseverance of the performers, the staff, and the audience, each play was offered in its entirety. Much Ado was directed by Edgar Reynolds, a veteran of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. He set the play in the American southwest territories under Mexican rule in approximately 1840, opening the action with two barefoot guitarists in sombreros amidst the sound of gunfire. I found the transfer in time and place not at all uncomfortable. For one thing, it gave the audience the comic highpoint of the Festival, the portrayal of Dogberry, Verges, and the Watch. Dogberry was played as the gringo, a somewhat anachronistic Texan with badge, six-guns, cowboy hat, spurs, and drawl. The role was handled admirably by Frederick Ponzlov, and it was amusing to observe the working-class Mexicans of the Watch trying to make sense of the gringo before deciding he was a fool. A reviewer for The Colorado Daily charged that the production ridiculed Mexicans and was herefore racist; I thought the accusation absurd.