Come From Away at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Different kinds of adventures – from “Dracula” to “Serious Sh*t” to “The End of the World” – are happening at a trio of world class theaters in the Southern Oregon city of Ashland.

It’s easy to get involved in the dazzling swirl of plays at Ashland’s theaters. Although internationally known for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland is also home of the Oregon Cabaret Theatre–now in its 41st season, and of the Rogue Theater Company, which is currently celebrating its eighth year.

For more than 50 years I’ve had the pleasure of seeing hundreds of plays, some as an audience member, most as a working reviewer for regional newspapers. Once, during a Cabaret production, I was even escorted from my seat to the stage to join their dancers.

The adventures being offered this year are many and varied. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, or OSF, opened this season in March with Shakespeare’s classic “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” along with “Yellow Face,” and the powerfully evocative and insightful “A Raisin in the Sun,” directed by Tim Bond, OSF’s artistic director. The early season offerings also include “Come From Away,” a musical with a message – a play I plan to see again and one I’ve told friends, including those not typically interested in theater, is a definite must-see.

There’s more, much more playing this season – “You are Cordially Invited to the End of the World,” “August Wilson’s King Hedley II,” and the provocatively titled, “Smith This, A Comedy About God … And Other Serious Sh*t.”

Those OSF offerings are in the Festival’s two indoor theaters – the Angus Bowmer and the compact Thomas. A trio of other plays will take the outdoor Elizabethan Theater stage in early June – “Emma,” based on the Jane Austin novel, and two of Shakespeare’s classics, “Henry IV, Part One,” and “The Taming of the Shrew.”

But while Ashland is best known for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival – and deservedly so – the Oregon Cabaret has earned dedicated viewers for its variety of offerings in a theater that in its earlier incarnation was a church, located just a short walk from OSF’s three venues.

Miss Marple; Murder at the Vicarage at the Oregon Caberet

The Cabaret generally offers a delightful blend of productions, including musicals, comedies and whodunits. Fitting the last category is the Cabaret’s current play, a world premiere adaption of Agatha Christie’s “Miss Marple: Murder at the Vicarage.” Earlier this year the Cabaret staged a spell-bounding “Sherwood,” the classic tale of Robin Hood and his merry men.

Still to come are “Chicago,” one of Broadway’s longest-running musicals, the enticingly titled “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors,” which is promised as “an audacious and uproarious comedy,” and a holiday-flavored “Anne of Green Gables.”

In the Cabaret’s 41 years I’ve seen only one single play that disappointed, two or three that were just OK, with all the others engaging, entertaining and purely enjoyable. The Cabaret offers pre-performance lunches before matinees, dinners before evening shows, and, during intermission for all plays, snacks and desserts, including my gotta-have, Dick Hay pie.

The Cabaret and OSF are part of downtown Ashland. The Rogue Theater, in contrast, is located a few miles away at the Richard H. Hay Theater, tastefully located at the Grizzly Peak Winery. This intimate theater purposely presents what it accurately labels as “thoughtful, character-driven plays that connect deeply with audiences.”

Because of a long-standing close collaboration with OSF, the Rogue Theater actors and directors often are current or past Festival performers and staff. This year’s season opened with the reflective, tender “Stella and Lou,” and a reading of Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America.” Still to come is “Constellations,” which their artistic director, Jessica Sage, describes as, “At once play and profound, the play reminds us how fragile and extraordinary every encounter can be.”

The Rogue’s season will end this fall with “Death and Maiden,” described as a “taut, electrifying drama about truth, memory, and the price of justice in a society emerging from tyranny.”

“Angels,” “Dracula,” “Ann of Green Gables,” “Miss Marple,” Shakespeare and more. There are adventures to be had this year, and every year, in Ashland at the Rogue Theater, Oregon Cabaret Theatre, and - of course - the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

For more information on the Rogue Theater Company visit their website at https://www.roguetheatre.org/. Information about the Oregon Cabaret Theatre is available at https://oregoncabaret.com/. To learn more about the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, including post show talkbacks, visit https://osfashland.org.

About the Author

Lee Juillerat is a semi-retired writer-photographer who lives in Southern Oregon. Along with stories for High On Adventure and newspapers and magazines, he is the author of books about Crater Lake National and Lava Beds National Monument. His book, “Ranchers and Ranching: Cowboy Country Yesterday and Today,” includes stories and photos of more than 300 people. He can be contacted at 337lee337@charter.net.