[NEohioPAL] Oberlin Colleges Launches Free Summer Theater Festival

[Rebecca Balmer]

Media Contact:

Rebecca Balmer, Associate Producer

Oberlin Summer Theater Festival

503.780.2925,   rbalmer at oberlin.edu

RELEASE ON RECEIPT

May 5, 2009

*Oberlin College Launches Free Summer Theater Festival*



OBERLIN, OHIO  – While the economy has forced wide variety artistic
endeavors to make cuts in programming, Oberlin College is moving forward
with the inauguration of the Oberlin Summer Theater Festival
(OSTF),<http://www.oberlin.edu/ostf>a professional nonprofit theater
company whose productions will be admission
free and family friendly.

Paul Moser, associate professor of theater and chair of Oberlin’s theater
and dance program, is the founder of OSTF and producing artistic director.
The Festival’s 2009 season will offer two classic plays — Tennessee
Williams’ *The Glass Menagerie* opening June 26 and William Shakespeare’s *The
Tempest* opening July 3.

Both productions will present something new for audiences. In the *The Glass
Menagerie,* “we want to capture the playwright’s original expressionistic
impulse in our production, so we will be doing a lot with projections and
other special lighting effects,” says Moser. “The Tempest will be a
90-minute adaptation of the original masterpiece and promises to be quite
magical, featuring an original music score, all kinds of special effects,
puppets, clowning and more. We want the show to appeal to everyone – ages to
eight to eighty-eight.”

Performances will run in rotating repertory, Tuesdays thru Sundays, June 26
through July 18th in the College’s Hall Auditorium. They also will
accommodate different age groups, out of town patrons, and those attending
Friday evening band concerts in Tappan Square with special curtain
times<http://www.oberlin.edu/ostf/season>.


 “The Festival is bringing back a wonderful Oberlin tradition of presenting
theater in the summer, free and open to the community,” says President
Marvin Krislov. “It is a great opportunity for people to see great works put
on by Oberlin alumni and current students."

Moser sees the company’s mission as twofold. One is “to serve Lorain County
and the larger northeastern Ohio community by presenting free productions of
meaningful theater classics.” The second is to develop “an outstanding
intergenerational acting ensemble, composed mostly of Oberlin graduates, who
will return to Oberlin each summer to collaborate with a community of
like-minded professional artists.” The festival’s acting company will
consist of a combination of local Equity actors, Oberlin alumni from around
the country, and current Oberlin students.

The annual event also will enhance the downtown art and business community.
“The Oberlin Summer Theater Festival is an excellent addition to summer in
downtown Oberlin,” says Greg Tisher, director of Main Street Oberlin, Inc.
“It is a great complement to other free, family-friendly summertime
entertainment, including the Chalk Walk, the Family Fun Fair, and the Summer
Concert Series on Tappan Square.”

-- 
Rebecca Balmer
Associate Producer
Oberlin Summer Theater Festival
www.oberlin.edu/ostf
503.780.2925 (cell)
440.775.8169 (box office)
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