Portland — The Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland is barely a month into its 2014 season, and now comes news of its 2015 season. The festival turns 80 next year with these 11 shows:
• Angus Bowmer Theatre
“Much Ado About Nothing”: a comedy with one of Shakespeare’s greatest female characters, Beatrice, and her sparring partner, Benedick. Feb. 20-Nov. 1, 2015.
“Guys and Dolls”: Frank Loesser’s tale of gamblers, gangsters and great music, including “Luck Be a Lady,” “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.” Feb. 22-Nov. 1, 2015.
“Fingersmith”: Bill Rauch directs the world premiere of Sarah Water’s Victorian crime thriller, which the New York Times calls “Oliver Twist with twist.” Feb. 21-July 12, 2015.
“Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land”: a play popular in China about two theater troupes competing for the same rehearsal space. April 15-Oct. 31, 2015.
“Sweat”: a world premiere by the Pulitzer-prize winning Lynn Nottage (“Ruined”), about a group of friends whose lives are upended after a shakeup at a steel plant and an unspeakable act that ripples over two generations. “Sweat” is part of the festival’s “American Revolutions” history cycle. July 29-Oct. 31, 2015.
• Thomas Theatre
“Pericles”: Shakespeare’s tale of the Greek statesman, a shipwreck and mistaken deaths was last done at the festival in 1999. Feb. 26-Nov. 1, 2015.
“Long Day’s Journey Into Night”: Eugene O’Neill’s rending portrait of a disintegrating family turns private demons into universal truths. Last done in 1975. March 25-Oct. 31, 2015.
The final play in the Thomas Theatre will be announced later this spring.
• Allen Elizabethan Theatre
“Antony and Cleopatra”: gets the full outdoor treatment of spectacle and pageantry, June 2-Oct. 9, 2015.
“Head Over Heels”: the world premiere of an Elizabethan comedy about treachery, kidnappings, battles, and such, inspired by Philip Sidney’s “Arcadia,” with book by Jeff Whitty (“Avenue Q”) and music from the 1980’s band the Go-Go’s. June 3-Oct. 10, 2015.
“The Count of Monte Cristo”: Alexander Duma’s tale about a man wrongfully imprisoned who escapes, makes a fortune and plots his revenge. June 4-Oct. 11, 2015.
