Oregon Shakespeare Festival – Ashland

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, established in 1935, is among the oldest and largest regional professional repertory theater companies in the United States.

The festival reports that in 2007 total attendance in its three theaters was 404,730, with patrons seeing an average of three shows and almost 90 percent of the audience traveling more than 125 miles to attend.

While it’s called a Shakespeare festival, have no fear, there are plenty of different types of theater to choose from – even different kinds of Shakespeare, for that matter.

There are also modern plays, such as the comedies “The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler” and “Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner,” along with classics such as Arthur Miller’s “A View From the Bridge.”

This is the place to indulge yourself in theater, and no one makes productions more accessible. Besides its guides to the plays, OSF has numerous tours, lectures and talks, all designed to enhance and deepen your experience of seeing the work on stage.

The festival has nine plays now running; four are Shakespeare, three are very different types of classics, and two are modern . (See accompanying reviews and schedule.)

“The whole theater scene is what draws the people and supports all the good restaurants and other things we have here,” Smith said.

Situated just outside the Oregon rainbelt, eastern- facing hills hover over Ashland, reflecting a perpetual glow – golden in the summer and gleaming white from snow in the winter. “The festival is the magnet, but once people get here, they immerse themselves in a cute little town for three or four days,” Smith said.

“They get caught up in the fine dining, the galleries, the wine-tasting, and it becomes an experience that is far more than the theater.”

Source: Marcus Crowder Sacramento Bee