All the World's a Stage, but Oregon is Your Next Theatre Destination

Unless, like me, you are from Northern California, you are unlikely to have heard of Ashland, Oregon — a trove of art, cuisine and nature tucked away in a setting that recalls Shakespeare’s Forest of Arden. Dining on the patio of Greenleaf café with a canopy of leaves above and the sound of the rushing creek below, all that’s missing is for a man I’ve only known for a few days to appear and declare his love for me. Ashland is a mix of a bohemian and Renaissance paradise, with its thriving artistic community and numerous one-of-a-kind businesses. It is a relief to escape the Californian heat to relax in the shade and greenery, visit a few art galleries and see one of the shows put on by the Tony-award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF).

OSF is one of the oldest professional non-profit theatre companies in the United States. Founded by Angus L. Bowmer, a young teacher at what is now Southern Oregon University, OSF opened with a production of Twelfth Night in 1935. Today people flock to Ashland to experience the renowned theatre and the artistic milieu.