Ashland, Oregon

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Outside of maybe one casual mention and my guidebook, I don’t think I had ever heard of the internationally renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival that takes place in Ashland, Oregon every year. I may not have known about it before, but I will almost certainly be back to experience it again!!

Every year from February to October this charming little city features plays by the Baird on several appropriate theatres, including the open air Elizabethan theatre, which models Shakespeare’s original Globe Theatre. We saw “Othello” in this theatre, and it was just completely fabulous. Sitting in the perfect evening air with clearly world-class actors (how far these actors come to perform here I’m not sure…but I suspect that they are from all over the country, and the audience is clearly international) was better than I can even describe. It was just wonderful.

Ashland...WHO KNEW?

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After the play we walked around the little city, stopping at an ice-cream shop that stays open late to take advantage of the crowds leaving the theatres. It became obvious as we walked around that the city is catering to a certain type of clientele with spas and high-end shops. Just as I was thinking that I hadn’t seen anything chincy we noticed a T-shirt and cheesy souvenier shop. A closer look, however, revealed that the Tshirts all had witty math jokes and the like on them, and we realized that in Ashland, even the “cheese” is high-brow! Awesome night, awesome awesome theatre, and I will definitely be back to Ashland!