MACBETH
- Linda Ferguson, Willamette Week
“Movement speaks as loudly as words throughout the production. Both Macbeth and his lady kneel at times, suggesting they’re praying to an evil deity, and Dean has staged some spellbinding pantomimes accompanied by cello, banjo, and drum to reveal the underbelly of the story.”
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
- Richard Wattenberg, Oregon Live
“Director Asae Dean does a superb job of keeping the comedy flowing smoothly. The performance never seems rushed but each scene transitions easily into the next. This well paced, lively production works especially well in the park setting. Anyone who likes Shakespeare in the sunshine, will find much to enjoy here.”
FOOL FOR LOVE
- Leela Ginelle, PQ Monthly
“The play’s achievement, as well as the production’s, is to make such erratic behavior something we turn to rather than away from, and to make May and Eddie feel human rather than monstrous. What could be merely an evening long argument against heterosexual unions is instead a love story, just not the kind you think you’d ever be in yourself.”
HAMLET
- Christopher Gonzalez, Oregon Arts Watch
“Director Asae Dean addresses this problem with one gorgeous stroke at the top of the play. She gives us a private moment between Hamlet and Ophelia. It isn’t in Shakespeare’s text. She has them simply sitting together on a small white bench, singing the saddest song of all time, Fourth of July…and so Dean carves out this profound, tender place for the pair to exist. A heavenly place apart from the violence, lies, and confusion in the script. By doing this, Dean seems to say, Yes, Hamlet’s love for Ophelia was and is in fact real. It was an eerily beautiful way to frame their tragedy. ”
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
- Bennett Campbell Ferguson, Willamette Week
“There is something magnificently sexy about this version of Shakespeare's play on love and war…the genius of this production is that it punches through the story's dusty surface and reveals the currents of hate, love and lust that ripple beneath.”