Last Sunday night or early Monday morning, a person or persons unknown stole a variety of costumes from a shop associated with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  The items taken, worth about $5,000 in all, were intended for upcoming productions of "Macbeth" and "The Music Man."

That second one must be one of the lesser-known Shakespeare comedies that I never got around to reading in high school.  (Okay, I didn't read any of the comedies, although I do find parts of "Macbeth" amusing.)

It is hard to see this as a standard robbery, for a couple of reasons.  First, according to a spokesperson for the festival, only the costumes were taken, and more fenceable items like cell phones and digital cameras were left behind.  Second, all the costumes were returned a couple of days later.  On Wednesday evening, an anonymous caller said they could all be found in the theater's parking garage, and "lo and behold," there they were.

I am imagining an empty warehouse somewhere in Oregon where, late Tuesday night, a troupe of well-read criminals performed a version of "Macbeth," hopefully with a part written in for whoever got stuck wearing the goofy "Music Man" jacket and straw hat.

Link: AP via FindLaw.com (Jan. 28, 2009)
Link: Ashland Daily Tidings (Jan. 29, 2009)