Libby Appel
Encyclopedia
Libby Appel the fourth artistic director
of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
, retired in June 2007. and was succeeded by Cornerstone Theatre Company artistic director, Bill Rauch
. Appel directed more than 25 productions at OSF, and her artistic vision influenced the 11 plays presented each year during her tenure. Despite the festival’s name, she placed increased emphasis on new works. “We have made major connections with world playwrights, artists whose voices we’re particularly interested in.” Appel said. “We commission playwrights, we develop plays here; we have playwrights in residence. We’re a world force now, and I’m really proud of that.”
from The University of Michigan, an MA
from Northwestern University
, and 3 honorary doctorates from Southern Oregon University
, University of Portland
, and Willamette University
. She began her theatrical career teaching acting at the Goodman Theatre
in Chicago
, 1970 to 1976. From 1976 to 1981, she chaired the acting program at California State University Long Beach, simultaneously serving as Associate Artistic Director at the California Shakespeare Festival in 1980-1981. In 1981 she was named dean of the School of Theatre at the California Institute of the Arts. During this period she took freelance directing jobs during summers, authored Mask Characterization: An Acting Process, co-authored two plays, Shakespeare’s Women and Shakespeare’s Lovers, with Michael Flachmann, and created and produced a video, Inter/Face: The Actor and the Mask. In 1981 Appel was named dean of theatre at the California Institute of the Arts
in Valencia, California
. From 1992 to 1996, she served as Artistic Director of Indiana Repertory Theatre, where she saw her mission as bringing “diversity to every aspect of the theatre, reinvigorate the theatre’s approach to the classics, increase dialogue with the community…expand the theatre’s commitment to young people, and increase the commissioning of new projects.”
She is the recipient of the 2010 Kennedy Center’s Stephen and Christine Schwarzman Legacy Award for Excellence in Theatre, which recognizes “lifetime achievement in theatre and unparalleled commitment to the future of the art form through teaching.” Awarded only six times, the Legacy Award includes a $10,000 scholarship in her name to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Fellowships, Assistantships, Internships and Residencies [FAIR] program that fosters collaborative exchange of knowledge, skills, and perspectives between experienced professionals and the next generation of theatre practitioners.
Theatres in which Appel worked include Intiman Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, South Coast Repertory
, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Arizona Theatre Company, Alliance Theatre Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, New Mexico Repertory, The Goodman Theatre, Court Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Utah Shakespearean Festival, and the Alabama, Colorado and Kern Shakespeare Festivals.
In 18 seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Appel directed: Pride and Prejudice, Paradise Lost, A View from the Bridge, The Cherry Orchard (her own adaptation from an original translation), The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale (2006 and 1989) , Bus Stop, Richard III, Napoli Milionaria!, Henry VI, Parts One, Two and Three (co-directed with the adapter, Scott Kaiser), Richard II, Macbeth, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, The Trip to Bountiful, Three Sisters, Henry V, Hamlet, Henry IV, Part Two, Measure for Measure, Uncle Vanya, King Lear, The Magic Fire (also at the Kennedy Center), The Merchant of Venice, Breaking the Silence, Enrico IV (the Emperor), The Seagull (Portland). (Chronological order, most recent at the top)
Appel has completed four commissions from OSF for new versions (from literal translations from Russian to English by Alison Horsley) of The Cherry Orchard, Seagull, Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters. For more information see the website www.chekhovplays.com: CHEKHOVplays. Contemporary American Translations of Chekhov's Plays.
Artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States. The festival annually produces eleven plays on three stages during a season that lasts from February to October...
, retired in June 2007. and was succeeded by Cornerstone Theatre Company artistic director, Bill Rauch
Bill Rauch
Bill Rauch is an American artistic director. Rauch succeeded Libby Appel as the fifth artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in June 2007...
. Appel directed more than 25 productions at OSF, and her artistic vision influenced the 11 plays presented each year during her tenure. Despite the festival’s name, she placed increased emphasis on new works. “We have made major connections with world playwrights, artists whose voices we’re particularly interested in.” Appel said. “We commission playwrights, we develop plays here; we have playwrights in residence. We’re a world force now, and I’m really proud of that.”
Biography
Appel holds a BABachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from The University of Michigan, an MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, and 3 honorary doctorates from Southern Oregon University
Southern Oregon University
is a public liberal arts college located in Ashland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1926, it was formerly known as Southern Oregon College and Southern Oregon State College . SOU offers criminology, natural sciences, including environmental science, Shakespearean studies and theatre arts programs...
, University of Portland
University of Portland
The University of Portland is a private Roman Catholic university located in Portland, Oregon. It is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross and is the sister school of the University of Notre Dame. Founded in 1901, UP has a student body of about 3,600 students...
, and Willamette University
Willamette University
Willamette University is an American private institution of higher learning located in Salem, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest university in the Western United States. Willamette is a member of the Annapolis Group of colleges, and is made up of an undergraduate College of Liberal Arts and...
. She began her theatrical career teaching acting at the Goodman Theatre
Goodman Theatre
The Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of Chicago theatre, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, 1970 to 1976. From 1976 to 1981, she chaired the acting program at California State University Long Beach, simultaneously serving as Associate Artistic Director at the California Shakespeare Festival in 1980-1981. In 1981 she was named dean of the School of Theatre at the California Institute of the Arts. During this period she took freelance directing jobs during summers, authored Mask Characterization: An Acting Process, co-authored two plays, Shakespeare’s Women and Shakespeare’s Lovers, with Michael Flachmann, and created and produced a video, Inter/Face: The Actor and the Mask. In 1981 Appel was named dean of theatre at the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
in Valencia, California
Valencia, California
Valencia is an affluent planned community located in the City of Santa Clarita, California and Los Angeles County, California, U.S. in the northwestern corner of the Santa Clarita Valley, adjacent to Interstate 5. In 1987, it was one of the four unincorporated communities that merged to create the...
. From 1992 to 1996, she served as Artistic Director of Indiana Repertory Theatre, where she saw her mission as bringing “diversity to every aspect of the theatre, reinvigorate the theatre’s approach to the classics, increase dialogue with the community…expand the theatre’s commitment to young people, and increase the commissioning of new projects.”
She is the recipient of the 2010 Kennedy Center’s Stephen and Christine Schwarzman Legacy Award for Excellence in Theatre, which recognizes “lifetime achievement in theatre and unparalleled commitment to the future of the art form through teaching.” Awarded only six times, the Legacy Award includes a $10,000 scholarship in her name to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Fellowships, Assistantships, Internships and Residencies [FAIR] program that fosters collaborative exchange of knowledge, skills, and perspectives between experienced professionals and the next generation of theatre practitioners.
Theatres in which Appel worked include Intiman Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, South Coast Repertory
South Coast Repertory
South Coast Repertory is a professional theatre company located in Costa Mesa, California.Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, founded in 1964 by David Emmes and Martin Benson and now under the leadership of Artistic Director Marc Masterson and Managing Director Paula Tomei, is widely...
, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Arizona Theatre Company, Alliance Theatre Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, New Mexico Repertory, The Goodman Theatre, Court Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Utah Shakespearean Festival, and the Alabama, Colorado and Kern Shakespeare Festivals.
Work at Oregon Shakespeare Festival
In 1995, Appel became the fourth artistic director in the company’s history, but had already directed a production of The Merchant of Venice in 1991. “I was the risky director who did The Merchant of Venice and rocked this theater,” she says. The Christian characters wore Armani-style suits and Shylock was presented as a yarmulke-wearing Orthodox Jew. “I’m an American Jew, and I had stayed away from Merchant all my life because of the anti-Semitism that surrounds the character of Shylock.” She decided the play was more about xenophobia than anti-Semitism. As the first woman to run the festival, Appel set out to make it more ethnically diverse and inclusive of women. She not only increased the representation of non-white actors in the company to more than a third, she raised the number of new plays in the festival’s mix. Appel has been intent on attracting an audience that is both younger and less white, while keeping the sophisticated seniors who flock to Ashland. “For me, it’s about the truth of the play in the moment that I’m living,” Appel says. “I think to contemporize the speech, or bastardize it, is dumbing it down.”In 18 seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Appel directed: Pride and Prejudice, Paradise Lost, A View from the Bridge, The Cherry Orchard (her own adaptation from an original translation), The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale (2006 and 1989) , Bus Stop, Richard III, Napoli Milionaria!, Henry VI, Parts One, Two and Three (co-directed with the adapter, Scott Kaiser), Richard II, Macbeth, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, The Trip to Bountiful, Three Sisters, Henry V, Hamlet, Henry IV, Part Two, Measure for Measure, Uncle Vanya, King Lear, The Magic Fire (also at the Kennedy Center), The Merchant of Venice, Breaking the Silence, Enrico IV (the Emperor), The Seagull (Portland). (Chronological order, most recent at the top)
Appel has completed four commissions from OSF for new versions (from literal translations from Russian to English by Alison Horsley) of The Cherry Orchard, Seagull, Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters. For more information see the website www.chekhovplays.com: CHEKHOVplays. Contemporary American Translations of Chekhov's Plays.