AS SEEN AT THE OREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL

 

 

Reviews

 

• “Takes highbrow art and mixes it with lowbrow fun. Mooney is an engaging presence and can switch from indignation in ‘Comedy of Errors’ to earnest in a love sonnet to comical Malvolio in ‘Twelfth Night.’ He may not be as physically imposing as some actors to play Henry V, but his St. Crispen’s Day speech made me want to take up arms with him.” -Matthew J. Palm, Orlando Sentinel
• “If Shakespearean were an official language, then Timothy Mooney would be fluent. Flat out riveting.” -Sultana F. Ali, Contributing Writer, The Daily City, Orlando
• “When he recites Molière or Shakespeare he’s like a house afire (or, more accurately, like the fire truck racing to the scene). If you’re familiar with Shakespeare, it’s fun to hear the standards again… And if you’re not, this is as good and quick a crash course as any.” -Elizabeth Maupin, Orlandotheatre.wordpress.com)
• “The lithe actor with his mobile face and flexible, light voice, is made for comedy… serves as a way to interest audiences in pieces from across the Bard’s entire canon–with a few sonnets thrown in for fun… The Sweet Swan of Avon, a savvy businessman as well as a genius, would no doubt have approved heartily… (Mooney) wants those not immersed in Shakespeare’s sometimes convoluted verse to understand and enjoy the words and characters, and in this he succeeds admirably.” -Janis Hashe, Chattanooga Pulse
• (5 out of 5) Highly Recommended
  “… a tour de force comprising no fewer than 19 Shakespeare scenes and sonnets. Mooney’s interpretations were outstanding, and not infrequently cast new light on obscure corners of Shakespeare’s work. Why did my high-school English teacher never point [these things] out? Sure would have spurred our adolescent interest in the not-so-boring bard of Avon!” -Chaim Eliyahu, KCStage.com

 

Audience response

 

• “The man is a chameleon. Enraged, excited and electrifying, he is all over the stage and a joy to watch!” -Naomi Stauffer, Auburn University Montgomery Alumnus
• “The monologues were so entertaining that the Shakespeare I don’t know, I will look up.” -Ashley Portis, Junior at Booker T. Washington High School
• “Outstanding monologue choices. One-minute intros are excellent. Inspiring performance.” -Val Winkelman, Theatre Professor, Auburn University Montgomery
• “This is wonderful for high school to expose them to Shakespeare. It would also be beneficial to college students studying his works or performing his plays.” -E. Arendsen, Teacher

 

About the Show

 

 
“While I was on tour with my one-man show, ‘Molière Than Thou,’ and performing in one of our southeastern states, one of my hosts informed me that a local Shakespeare Festival was looking to cast their Macbeth, and that I really ought to send them my resume,” says Mooney. “Having grown up as the stereotypical dweeby theatre major, it was somewhat of a shock to grasp that someone/anyone might look at me and say: ‘There’s our Macbeth!’
 
“And I started fantasizing about all of the Shakespeare roles that were now coming into my range in my middle years. I thought that I might be able to transform my performance tour into an audition tour. What if, no matter what Shakespeare play they were doing, I had a monologue from that show available to perform? So I might be able to ask, ‘So what shows are you doing this summer?’ And when they said, ‘Pericles, Coriolanus and Henry VI, part 3’ I could say, ‘Great! Lemme do those for you!’.
 
“I started envisioning an acting workshop and a one-man show and wondered what might be the best order in which I might package these speeches: in the order that the events in the plays actually occurred, according to their date of composition, by the position of the monologue within its play of origin? In the end, I decided to leave it to chance, select the order by lottery and let the audience play along with their own IAGO (Bingo) cards.”
 

 

Video and Photos

 

 

Shakespeare… Thespian Rockstar?

 

Photos by Tisse Mallon