All The Way

By Robert Schenkkan

Directed by Bill Rauch

Originally produced at Oregon Shakespeare Festival , Ashland, OR .

July 25, 2012 through November 3, 2012

(Photo by Evgenia Eliseeva.)

About the Premiere Production: A Shakespearean figure of towering ambition and appetite, Lyndon Baines Johnson
unexpectedly became president in 1963. To the surprise of many, he hurled himself into the cause of Civil Rights, throwing the country into turmoil and forever altering the political landscape. In a single year, alternately bullying and beguiling, LBJ

created new social programs, faced down George Wallace, out maneuvered J. Edgar Hoover and won reelection in the greatest landslide victory in American politics. But in Vietnam, a troublesome conflict was quietly gathering strength. Directed by Bill Rauch, Robert Schenkkan’s new play, an OSF American Revolutions world premiere, dramatizes the charismatic and conflicted Texan.

Artistic Statement: The personal passion and artistic leaps embodied in this play are truly remarkable. Robert Schenkkan is not only a seasoned, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, he is an American history expert passionate about Lyndon Baines Johnson, and as a Texas-raised playwright, uniquely qualified to tell his story. With All the Way he consciously turns to Shakespeare’s histories to find the voice and scope to tell our own epic tale. All the Way brings sharply into focus the extraordinary personalities and powerful political forces that shaped an iconic era in our history and continue to shape American society today.

All the Way is the fourth of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s American Revolutions: The United States History Cycle commissions to reach our stages. It embodies our deepest hopes for American Revolutions, which asks artists to look at moments of transformation and change in our nation’s history.All the Way is the story of a time of moral courage, political mastery and profound change – told in heart-pounding narrative against a sweeping, Shakespearean-scale background.

-Bill Rauch, Artistic Director, Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Director, All the Way

Grant Statement: Except for the character of LBJ, everyone in the All the Way ensemble plays multiple roles in this formidable

story, leading to a production style that requires immediate transformation of character and space. Given its large ensemble, extensive doubling and complex narrative structure, the extra rehearsal time for All the Way over and above the six weeks of rehearsal usually assigned an Oregon Shakespeare Festival production is vitally important. -Bill Rauch, Artistic Director, Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Director: Bill Rauch

Set Design: Christopher Acebo

Lighting Design: Mark McCullough

Costume Design: Deborah M. Dryden

Projection designer: Shawn Sagady.

Subsequent Productions

Neil Simon Theatre, Broadway in New York, NY March 6, 2014 - June 29, 2014

American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA September 13, 2013 - October 12, 2013

Alley Theatre in Houston, TX January 29, 2016 - February 21, 2016 (Co-production with Dallas Theater Center)

Arena Stage in Washington, DC April 1, 2016 - May 8, 2016

Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, FL January 6, 2016 - April 9, 2016

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company in Cincinnati, OH January 22, 2020 - February 15, 2020