Ashland, Oregon, home of the famous Oregon Shakespeare Festival, deserves more than the obligatory visit for a required screening of a well-known play from you this season. Consider that a challenge. Having spent at least a weekend each season immersed in the theatrics, fine dining, and local color of the area for the last 6 years, I consider myself some sort of quasi-authority when it comes to this tiny hamlet just North of the California border. Autumnal visits to the city have become a tradition in their own way for me. I intend to mix it up a little this year though. Yes, I will visit in the Spring this time.
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s 2010 playbill includes Hamlet, Pride and Prejudice, Cat in a Hot Tin Roof, She Loves Me, Throne of Blood, Well, Ruined, American Night, Twelfth Night, Henry IV (Part One), and The Merchant of Venice. While the theatre is Ashland’s largest claim to fame, the surrounding area also has much to offer. After catching a matinee production, consider visiting Lithia Park. A 93-acre green span including the Ashland Creek, multiple ponds, a Japanese garden, and large grassy lawns, beckons. It is located mere meters from the doors of the Angus Bowmer Theatre. If strolling along shady lanes and feeding ducks is not your idea of a good time, downtown Ashland (which coincidentally surrounds the theatres) offers all manner of boutiques, bistros, and book stores. A couple vintage shops dot the streets, as do jewelry stores, candy shops, and in true Ashland fashion, businesses catering to the greater “hippie” community.
Local culture is also an exciting aspect of Ashland. Home to Southern Oregon University, a large number of locals fall into the 20-something age bracket, much like ourselves. However, formal education and youthfulness are about the only characteristics Simpson students have in common with these colorful individuals. It would appear, upon first glance, that shoes and showers are not major aspects of Ashland life. Tie-dye, hemp, strange exotic instruments, and small furry animals round out the appearance of the “typical” local seen around the greater downtown area. Do not be alarmed. Theatrics is really Ashland’s largest claim to fame, why should its residents not partake of their own act?
Eating in downtown Ashland can be pricey, as can shopping, but the area has so much to offer in a relatively small area (think walking distance) and so close to home for most of us (think Simpson’s dormitories) that it really can’t be ignored. For the most comprehensive summary of the festival itself as well as Ashland, check out www.OSFashland.org
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