Oregon Shakespeare Festival - Ashland, OR - William Shakespeare on Waymarking.com

The following verbiage comes from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival website to describe its rich history:

Our History

Founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer, the Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is among the oldest and largest professional non-profit theatres in the nation.

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival traces its roots back to the Chautauqua movement, which brought culture and entertainment to rural areas of the country in the late 19th century. Ashland's first Chautauqua building was erected in 1893, and in 1905, the building was enlarged to accommodate an audience of 1,500. Families traveled from all over Southern Oregon and Northern California to see such performers as John Phillip Sousa and William Jennings Bryan during the Ashland Chautauqua's 10-day seasons.

In 1917 a round, dome-covered structure was erected in the place of the original Chautauqua building. The structure fell into disuse, however, when the Chautauqua movement died out in the early 1920s. The dome was torn down in 1933, but the cement walls remain standing today, surrounding the Elizabethan Stage (renamed the Allen Elizabethan Theatre in 2013).

Angus L. Bowmer, an enthusiastic young teacher from Southern Oregon Normal School (now Southern Oregon University), was struck by the resemblance between the Chautauqua walls and some sketches he had seen of Elizabethan theatres. He proposed producing a "festival" of two plays within the walls, in conjunction with the City of Ashland's Fourth of July celebration. The City cautiously advanced Bowmer a sum "not to exceed $400" for the project. SERA (State Emergency Relief Administration) funds provided a construction crew to build the stage and improve the grounds.

The Oregon Shakespearean Festival was officially born on July 2, 1935 with a production of Twelfth Night. The Festival presented The Merchant of Venice on the 3rd and Twelfth Night again on the 4th. Reserved seats cost $1, with general admission of $.50 for adults and $.25 for children. Even at these prices, the Festival covered its own expenses. The Festival also absorbed the losses of the daytime boxing match that the City — which feared that the plays would lose money — held onstage.

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The following Shakespeare plays have been performed at this theater over the years as listed on placards that hang in front of the Allen Elizabethan Theatre:

1935	1936	1937	1938
Twelfth Night	The Merchant of Venice	Twelfth Night	Twelfth Night
The Merchant of Venice	Twelfth Night	The Taming of the Shrew	The Merchant of Venice
	Romeo and Juliet	Romeo and Juliet	The Taming of the Shrew
			Hamlet
1939	1940	1947	1948
Hamlet	Much Ado About Nothing	Hamlet	Othello
The Taming of the Shrew	The Merry Wives of Windsor	Love's Labor's Lost	The Merchant of Venice
The Comedy of Errors	As You Like It	Macbeth	Love's Labor's Lost
As You Like It	The Comedy of Errors	The Merchant of Venice	King John
1949	1950	1951	1952
Romeo and Juliet	Henry IV, Part I	Twelfth Night	The Tempest
A Midsummer Night's Dream	As You Like It	Measure For Measure	Julius Caesar
The Taming of the Shrew	Antony & Cleopatra	King Lear	Henry V
Richard II	The Comedy of Errors	Henry IV, Part II	Much Ado About Nothing
Othello
1953	1954	1955	1956
Coriolanus	The Winter's Tale	Timon of Athens	Richard III
The Merchant of Venice	The Merry Wives of Windsor	Henry VI, Part III	Love's Labor's Lost
Henry VI, Part I	Henry VI, Part II	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Titus Andronicus
The Taming of the Shrew	Hamlet	All's Well That Ends Well	Romeo and Juliet
		Macbeth	Cymbeline
1957	1958	1959	1960
The Two Gentlemen of Verona	Much Ado About Nothing	Measure For Measure	The Taming of the Shrew
Pericles, Prince of Tyre	Troilus & Cressida	Antony & Cleopatra	Julius Caesar
As You Like It	The Merchant of Venice	The Mask of the New World	The Tempest
Henry VIII	King Lear	Twelfth Night	Richard II
Othello		King John	The Tragedy of the Duchess of Malfi*
1961	1962	1963	1964
A Midsummer Night's Dream	As You Like It	The Merry Wives of Windsor	The Merchant of Venice
All's Well That Ends Well	A Comedy of Errors	Romeo and Juliet	King Lear
Henry IV, Part I	Henry IV, Part II	Love's Labor's Lost	Twelfth Night
The Alchemist*	Coriolanus	Henry V	Henry VI, Part I
Hamlet	A Thieves Ballad*		Knight of the Burning Pestle*
1965	1966	1967	1968
Much Ado About Nothing	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Pericles, Prince of Tyre	Cymbeline
Macbeth	Othello	Antony and Cleopatra	Hamlet
The Winter's Tale	The Two Gentlemen of Verona	The Taming of the Shrew	As You Like It
Henry VI, Part II	Henry VI, Part III	Richard III	Henry VIII
Volpone*
1969	1970	1971	1972
The Tempest	The Merchant of Venice	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Troilus & Cressida
Romeo and Juliet	The Comedy of Errors	Much Ado About Nothing	Henry IV, Part II
Twelfth Night	Julius Caesar	Henry IV, Part I	The Taming of the Shrew
King John	Richard II	Macbeth	Love's Labor's Lost
1973	1974	1975	1976
The Merry Wives of Windsor	Titus Andronicus	The Winter's Tale	Henry VI, Part II
As You Like It	The Two Gentlemen of Verona	Romeo and Juliet	Much Ado About Nothing
Othello	Twelfth Night	Henry VI, Part I	The Comedy of Errors
Henry V	Hamlet	All's Well That Ends Well	King Lear
1977	1978	1979	1980
Measure For Measure	Timon of Athens	The Tragical Hist. of Dr. Faustus*	The Merry Wives of Windsor
Antony and Cleopatra	Richard II	As You Like It	As You Like It
Henry VI, Part III	The Tempest	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Coriolanus
The Merchant of Venice	The Taming of the Shrew	Macbeth	Richard II
			Love's Labor's Lost
1981	1982	1983	1984
The Two Gentlemen of Verona	The Comedy of Errors	Much Ado About Nothing	Troilus & Cressida
Henry IV, Part I	Romeo and Juliet	Richard III	The Winter's Tale
Twelfth Night	Julius Caesar	Cymbeline	The Winter's Tale
Othello	Othello	Hamlet	The Taming of the Shrew
	Henry V
1985	1986	1987	1988
All's Well That Ends Well	Titus Andronicus	The Shoemaker's Holiday*	Romeo and Juliet
King John	Measure For Measure	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Henry IV, Part I
The Merchant of Venice	As You Like It	Macbeth	Twelfth Night
King Lear	The Tempest	Richard II	Love's Labor's Lost
1989	1990	1991	1992
The Two Gentlemen of Verona	The Merry Wives of Windsor	The First Part of Henry VI	The Conclusion of Henry VI
Much Ado About Nothing	The Winter's Tale	Julius Caesar	All's Well That Ends Well
Henry IV, Part II	The Comedy of Errors	The Merchant of Venice	As You Like It
Pericles, Prince of Tyre	Henry V	The Taming of the Shrew	Othello
1993	1994	1995	1996
A Midsummer Night's Dream	Much Ado About Nothing	The Merry Wives of Windsor	Love's Labor's Lost
Antony and Cleopatra	The Two Noble Kensmen	Twelfth Night	The Winter's Tale
Richard III	The Tempest	Richard II	Romeo and Juliut
Cymbeline	Hamlet	Macbeth	Coriolanus
The White Devil*
1997	1998	1999	2000
The Two Gentlemen of Verona	Measure For Measure	Henry IV, Part II	Henry V
Timon of Athens	The Comedy of Errors	Othello	Hamlet
As You Like It	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Much Ado About Nothing	Twelfth Night
King Lear	Henry IV, Part I	The Three Musketeers*	The Taming of the Shrew
	Cymbeline	Pericles
2001	2002	2003	2004
Troilus and Cressida	The Winter's Tale	A Midsummer Night's Dream	The Comedy of Errors
The Merry Wives of Windsor	Titus Andronicus	Antony and Cleopatra	Henry VI, Part I
The Merchant of Venice	Julius Caesar	Romeo and Juliet	King Lear
The Tempest	As You Like It	Richard II	Henry VI, Parts II & III
	Macbeth	Wild Oats*	Much Ado About Nothing
2005	2006	2007	2008
The Tragical Hist. of Dr. Faustus*	The Two Gentlemen of Verona	Romeo and Juliet	The Comedy of Errors
Love's Labor's Lost	Cyrano De Bergerac*	As You Like It	A Midsummer Night's Dream
Twelfth Night	The Winter's Tale	The Taming of the Shrew	Coriolanus
Richard III	The Merry Wives of Windsor	The Tempest	Othello
	King John		Our Town*
2009	2010	2011	2012
Much Ado About Nothing	Twelfth Night	Love's Labor's Lost	Troilus and Cressida
All's Well That Ends Well	Henry IV, Part I	Measure For Measure	The Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa
Henry VIII	The Merchant of Venice	Henry IV, Part II	Romeo and Juliet
Macbeth	Hamlet	Julius Caesar	As You Like It
Don Quixote*		Pirates of Penzance*	Henry V
2013	2014
A Midsummer Night's Dream	The Comedy of Errors
The Taming of the Shrew	The Two Gentlemen of Verona
The Heart of Robin Hood*	The Tempest
Cymbeline	Richard III
King Lear	Into the Woods*

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*Not Shakespeare Plays

Location Type: Theater Property Type:: Public Date of event:: July 2, 1935 Location notes:: Please visit the Oregon Shakespeare Festival website link below to get the latest schedule of plays and ticket prices. URL for Additional Information:: [Web Link] If other, please explain:: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/28/2020 Rock Chalk visited it