Planning a Summer Trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival takes place from February to October in Ashland ,Oregon. Having never been to Oregon and seeing that a great play by one of my favorite playwrights was on the schedule and one of my favorite actors was appearing in a play, I decided to plan a trip to the OSF this summer. Here are some of the easy steps you, too, can take if you want to visit this festival.

Consider when you're going. A lot of people have to travel in summer because of their work schedules. It turns out though that tickets and hotel rooms are cheaper in the off season (not between June and September.) I don't regret making my plans for the end of July, but I do think, next time I decide to go to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, if I do choose to go again, I will try to go at a different, cheaper time of year.

Use the festival website. The Oregon Shakespeare festival website makes planning a trip easy. It has a calendar giving you the times and dates of all of their performances throughout their season. It lists places to stay, including their websites, and offers other information about getting around in the town of Ashland. The website also offers an online planning book you can use to make note of your reservations in one central place.

Head For Medford. One thing I found out about going to Ashland is that it is not most easily reached by the Portland, Oregon airport. Instead, visitors land in a town caled Medford. The helpful OSF website pointed me in the right direction so I could find airlines that go to Medford. Unfortunately, my favorite cheap airline, Southwest, was not one of them. However, for a fairly reasonable price, I was able to book flight on a major airline. Shuttle services and rental cars are also available at the Medford airport. For your reference, you might want to know the airport code: MFR. It helps when you look up flights. There are of course ways to get from Portland to Ashland, such as by Greyhound Bus on a six hour drive.

Think outside the Bowmer. The Bowmer is the indoor theatre where many of the OSF plays are performed. However, in the summer, especially, who wouldn't want to see Shakespeare under the stars. Look into getting tickets for shows performed in the Elizabethan Stage/Allan Pavillion, the OSF's outdoor venue.

Think outside the Bard. Another thing I learned about the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is that it isn't just Shakespeare. Great classic and contemporary plays by other authors are a huge part of the goings on. One of my favorite playwrights, August Wilson, seems to be performed quite often. You can also find Chekov, Miller, Wilder, shows fresh off Broadway, and even new voice premieres.

Buy tickets early if you like matinees. If you are travelling in the summer, the peak time for the OSF, you will likely find that matinees sell out quickly. When I started making travel plans in April, I found late July matinees were already sold out for some of the shows I wanted to see. This is another case of the early bird catching the good tickets.

Get a membership. If you are planning to spend some of your summer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, consider getting a membership. I bought one at the cheapest level, about fifty dollars and even at that level, you get good benefits like half-price rush tickets when they're available, access to the members lounge and post-matinee discussions, a gift shop discount, pre-sale options early in the season, and, of course, a tote bag. There's always a tote bag.

Check out other activities. If you go to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, many of the plays you will see will begin at the traditional 8PM hour. This leaves you a lot of time to do other things. While the festival does offer tours behind the scenes and discussions of the plays, there's also all kinds of outdoor activities in this scenic area, according to the OSF website.

Search for Guber. I have to admit one of the reasons I looked into heading to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival this summer was that I happened to see one of my favorite actors, Anthony Heald (Scott Guber, Boston Public) was appearing in two OSF plays this season. Heald, a Tony nominee, is a regular performer with the company, and probably the most well-known of the sizable company. The OSF website tells you who the cast is of each show, so, if you want to see a TV actor (he's also been in some films like Silence of the Lambs.), look for Anthony Heald in the cast list.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival sounds like it's going to be great. I had a good time planning my trip, so I'm sure the actual trip will be just as fun. Shakespeare and the Pacific Northwest sound like a pretty good summer combination.