Shakespeare Under the Stars

We loved our weekend in Ashland, Oregon at the Shakespeare Festival (fondly referred to as "OSF").  Sunday was a big day with a matinee in the early afternoon, and an evening play at the outdoor Elizabethan Theatre. 

Last Friday we drove to the picturesque little town of Ashland where I was born, and checked into our favorite "La Quinta" inn.  La Quinta is a dog-friendly motel, so we can bring our spoiled dog Hershey along.  We walked around Ashland a bit on Friday evening to soak in the local ambience. 

The next day we attended the tiny church I think my family attended when I was born. We were blessed by the music of a superb handbell choir from the local academy, and then we enjoyed a meal offered at the end of the services. Because Emily is involved in a handbell choir, we were especially interested in Rogue Valley Adventist School's bell choir. They were invited to play at the nation's capitol last year.  The school has two bell choirs, and the one we heard was the "second string" comprised of the younger academy players.  They were most impressive, with not only their ringing, but the percussion they added during a lively song--using their mallets on the table, bells, and even music stands.  Now Emily wants to move to Ashland and attend that school, which has 12 grades and about twice the number of students than the local school.

The afternoon was filled with a walk in Lithia Park, and watching the high school running competition that periodically filtered through the park.  We also drove out to look at the Rogue Valley Adventist School, and surrounding area, before returning to the motel room to relax and play with Hershey. (Lithia Park is beautiful, but Lithia water is NASTY!)

The Sunday matinee was a modern interpretation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream".  Emily and I are familiar with the play, and she was able to whisper some lines to me during the performance. We enjoyed the performance, but I don't think I was quite ready to see fairies played by men in tutus! The play was set in the late 1950's/early 60's. Theseus had an accent reminiscent of "Fonzie" on "Happy Days." Of course all the actors were excellent, but the actor who played the part of "Bottom" was wonderful, and "Puck" was pretty memorable, too.  

We had time for dinner and play time with Hershey before going to the evening performance of

"A Comedy of Errors" at the outdoor theater.  The temperatures in Ashland were dropping into the 30's at night, so we bundled up and took a blanket apiece.  The sky was clear, but it was COLD!  We hadn't studied this play previously, so the story was entirely new.  We were surprised to see that it was set in the old West!  We're learning that Shakespeare was especially fond of the confusion resulting from mistaken identity.  Twins also seem to figure largely in his comedies--at least in this one, and in "Twelfth Night".  The actors were fabulous, the play enchanting, and the whole experience was magical.  At the end, because the outdoor 

season ended with that performance, there was a sort of "epilogue" where about 60 actors came out holding candles.  The actor who had played "Bottom" came and said a few words of farewell for the year, and then they started to hum "Greensleeves" while the audience joined in.  We had nearly forgotten how cold it was, until it was time to make our way back to the car.

In 2005 we saw "Twelfth Night", two years ago we saw "Two Gentlemen of Verona" and "A Winter's Tale", and last year we saw "The Taming of the Shrew". It was sad to see our special weekend draw to a close, but it left us with wonderful memories.  This was our fourth year attending the OSF, and I'm beginning to think that we need to purchase a membership!