Bradac Manages to Do Good Works, Even ‘in Exile’

“Sweet are the uses of adversity,” says the Duke in Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” after being exiled to the Forest of Arden by his usurping brother.

We could say the same thing about Thomas Bradac. A few years ago, ousted by the board of directors of GroveShakespeare in a surprise power play, Bradac was exiled from a company he had founded and that he had kept going for several years.

Almost immediately, he started a new company, Shakespeare Orange County, in which he made use of many of the actors from GroveShakespeare and also of the Waltmar Theatre on the campus of Chapman University, where he teaches acting and directing.

Now, ironically, the Grove has gone kaput and it is only Bradac’s company that offers Shakespeare on a regular basis to the culture-starved denizens of Orange County.

Lucky for us that Thomas Bradac took his Shakespeare seriously and reacted as did the exiled Duke to adversity, which “like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head.”

Lucky for us in Orange County that we have been given the opportunity to continue to participate in the magic of Shakespearean theater.

EDITH HARVATH, Buena Park