End of an era: Oak Brook's First Folio Theatre bids farewell
When First Folio Theatre executive director David Rice announced the closing of the company he and his late wife, Alison C. Vesely, founded 26 years ago, he said he hoped it would be remembered for bringing "a great deal of joy to a great number of people."
That dream became First Folio's reality. And after its current production, "And Neither Have I Wings to Fly," closes Feb. 26, First Folio will be a memory.
By the time the Joseph Jefferson Award-winning theater ceases operations at Oak Brook's Mayslake Peabody Estate, more than 100,000 people will have seen its 87 productions, including 16 world premieres and 25 outdoor productions of Shakespeare plays.
"When Alison and I started this journey in 1996, we had no idea where it would lead us. We had no intention beyond running a summer theater and doing one or two outdoor shows a year," said Rice in a prepared statement. "The fact that it grew into an award-winning, year-round theater which has brought in over 100,000 patrons is simply amazing to me."
Compassion, a clear eye and judicious editing defined Vesely's First Folio directing efforts. Among the highlights: her achingly simple, deeply resonant "A Moon for the Misbegotten"; a striking "Richard III" and a "Merchant of Venice" more humorous than any I've experienced. In addition to her inventive staging of "The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story," which Rice adapted from Poe's stories and poems, Vesely helmed spine-tingling revivals of "The Woman in Black" and "The Turn of the Screw" as well as four of the six uproarious farces in First Folio's popular Wooster and Jeeves series.
The theater also premiered "Cymbeline: A Folk Musical," Rice and Michael Keefe's play-with-music version of Shakespeare's romance. Following in Vesely's footsteps, daughter Hayley Rice directed "Henry V" featuring artistic associate Diana Coates in the title role and the premiere of Joseph Zettelmaier's werewolf-inspired two-hander "The Man-Beast." Following the 2016 death of founding artistic director Vesely, First Folio dedicated its season to her, capping it off with a glorious, gender- and race-conscious, female-empowering production of "As You Like It" staged outdoors.
While sorry the ride has come to an end, Rice is honored to have helped shepherd so many memorable First Folio shows.
"I am also proud of the number of female directors, playwrights and designers whose work we have showcased over the years," he said. "It has been a privilege to work with the hundreds of actors, directors, playwrights and designers who have created so much magic."