Page 44 - SOUTHERN OREGON MAGAZINE SPRING 2022

neck of the woods | prof ile

NATAKI

GARRETT

OREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL

MEET THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

steve boyarsky

WHAT ARE THE PRIMARY ROLES OF THE ARTISTIC YOU WERE HIRED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC.
DIRECTOR AT OREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL? WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED THROUGH THIS WHOLE
EXPERIENCE?
NATAKI: I am the artistic administrative lead of the organization.
Oregon Shakespeare Festival has an artistic director and an executive NATAKI: It’s like you’re on a blind date and there’s a natural disaster
director. The artistic director oversees the plays we produce; the way, that happens while you’re on the date and you haven’t even learned the
the why, and the how we produce it, all the way through production. last name of your date, but your job is to save your date. That’s what
I’m responsible for hiring the designers and creative teams, as well as it was like. I was hired in April of 2019, and we opened this amazing
casting the actors. Everything on the artistic side is my purview, which season in 2020. Six days into that season everything had to shut down.
is two thirds of the personnel at OSF. David Schmitz, executive direc- The big lessons are lessons in humility. I found out what I thought I was
tor, and I are co-equal leaders. Marketing is under David, as well as coming for was not the thing I actually have to do.
development, finance, and human resources. I run the artistic endeav-
ors of OSF. Some people have asked, “Why did you stay?” It was never a question
for me. I told myself, “You have to stay, and you have to rebuild, and you
WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT WITH THE have to get OSF back moving, you have to leave it better than you found
UPCOMING SEASON? it.” I had to stay and make sure that things were going to be okay. In the
first wave of the pandemic, I felt lucky to be alive. Then I thought, “We
NATAKI: That we are going to be open because it’s a miracle. It was may never open this theater again,” followed by “Okay, so why should
a miracle that we were able to open the Elizabethan Theater last year. I we open again?” I believe we should open because it’s necessary and
made a promise to members of this community that I would make sure meaningful and impactful and people need it. The state of Oregon and
we opened something last summer, and we did that. In the winter, we the theater industry need us open, as well.
were able to get the holiday show, It’s Christmas, Carol! up, which was no
small feat. People don’t wake up in the morning and go, “I should go HOW HAVE YOU SUPPORTED THE COMPANY THROUGH
see a play.” Typically, people come here on vacation and plan on seeing FIRES AND COVID?
several plays. We will be open in the repertory structure so theater
goers can see several shows. So, I’m most excited that we’re opening NATAKI: Across our industry, there’s been a lot of movement. OSF
the repertory season. It is a miracle, a miracle that is filled with the hard is not immune to any of that. When people say company, they mean
work of everybody at OSF. the actors, but when I say company, I mean everybody: the janitors,
the carpenters, the actors. 500 people in the company were laid off in

42 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | spring 2022