The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) in Ashland, Oregon, is a cornerstone of American theater, renowned for its innovative interpretations of Shakespeare and compelling new works. More than just a venue for plays, Osf Ashland offers a profound cultural immersion, blending artistic excellence with the charm of a vibrant town nestled in the Pacific Northwest. The 2025 season promises another year of captivating performances, inviting audiences to explore timeless themes through fresh perspectives across its unique stages. Whether you’re a seasoned theatergoer or planning your first visit, the festival provides an unforgettable journey into storytelling, history, and human experience.
Beyond the stages, Ashland itself is a key part of the Osf Ashland experience. The town caters beautifully to festival visitors, with diverse dining options, unique shops, and stunning natural surroundings. Planning your trip to Ashland allows you to combine world-class theater with outdoor activities, exploring local culture, and enjoying the scenic beauty of Southern Oregon. It’s a destination that nourishes both the mind and spirit, making your visit to Osf Ashland a holistic and enriching adventure.
Exploring the Theaters of Osf Ashland
Osf Ashland is set across three distinct theater spaces, each offering a unique atmosphere and connection between actors and audience. Understanding these venues enhances your appreciation of the productions staged within them. Each theater has its own character, influencing how a play feels and resonates.
The Angus Bowmer Theatre
The Angus Bowmer Theatre is the festival’s main indoor stage, offering a proscenium setting with excellent sightlines and acoustics. This space allows for elaborate sets and technical effects, hosting larger productions that benefit from its traditional theater layout. Many of the season’s anchor shows are presented here, providing a classic theater experience.
It’s a comfortable and grand space, perfect for engaging with both classic dramas and expansive comedies. The design ensures that every seat feels relatively close to the action, fostering a strong connection between the performance and the audience. Attending a show in the Angus Bowmer Theatre is a quintessential Osf Ashland experience.
The Thomas Theatre
The Thomas Theatre offers a more intimate, flexible Black Box space. Its adaptable configuration allows for various staging styles, pulling the audience closer to the performance and creating a powerful, immediate connection. This theater is often home to more experimental or contemporary works, where proximity enhances the intensity and nuance of the storytelling.
Experiencing a play in the Thomas Theatre is an intense and often moving affair. The closeness to the actors makes the performances feel incredibly personal and impactful. It’s a space that encourages focus on character and text, highlighting the raw power of theatrical performance at Osf Ashland.
The Allen Elizabethan Theatre
Perhaps the most iconic of the Osf Ashland venues, the Allen Elizabethan Theatre is an outdoor space modeled after Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Seeing a play here, often during the warmer months, is a magical experience under the stars. The stage extends into the audience, creating an immersive environment reminiscent of historical performances.
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This theater truly captures the spirit of the festival’s origins. Sitting in the open air, watching Shakespeare’s words come alive as dusk settles, is an unparalleled theatrical moment. The energy of the audience and the actors in this space is palpable, making productions here highlights of the Osf Ashland season.
The 2025 Season at Osf Ashland: A Deep Dive
The 2025 season at Osf Ashland features a diverse lineup spanning classic tragedies, witty comedies, and powerful modern dramas. Each production is brought to life by talented directors and casts, promising compelling interpretations that resonate with contemporary audiences while honoring theatrical traditions. Let’s explore the plays that make up this exciting season.
Julius Caesar
“The evil that men do lives after them.” Shakespeare’s timeless political thriller returns to the Angus Bowmer Theatre. Directed by Rosa Joshi and produced in association with upstart crow collective, this production features a bold all-female and nonbinary cast. The play delves into themes of power, loyalty, and betrayal as Brutus and Cassius conspire against the triumphant Caesar.
This interpretation promises a dynamic and physical exploration of the classic text, bringing a fresh perspective to the familiar story. The choice of an all-female and nonbinary cast adds layers of meaning to discussions of power and ambition. It’s a production at Osf Ashland that invites audiences to reconsider a historical drama through a contemporary lens.
Promotional image for Julius Caesar at Osf Ashland 2025 season
The Importance of Being Earnest
Oscar Wilde’s brilliant comedy of manners, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” gets a fascinating new setting in this production. Directed by Desdemona Chiang, the play is transported to the British Malay Peninsula, exploring the social dynamics of a colonial melting pot. The story follows Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff as they navigate societal expectations through witty deception.
This innovative take retains Wilde’s sharp humor while adding cultural context from the British Malay Peninsula. The clash of Victorian expectations with a diverse cultural landscape promises a fresh and insightful look at this beloved classic at Osf Ashland. It reveals the absurd lengths people go to for acceptance and love.
Promotional image for The Importance of Being Earnest at Osf Ashland 2025 season
August Wilson’s Jitney
Artistic Director Tim Bond directs August Wilson’s powerful play, Jitney, in the Angus Bowmer Theatre. Set in 1977 Pittsburgh’s Hill District, the play centers on an unlicensed taxi company – a “jitney” – and the lives of the Black men who run it. The business faces threats of closure just as the owner’s estranged son returns from prison.
This production is a celebration of community, family, and resilience, marked by Wilson’s signature poetic language and vibrant dialogue. As Bond’s first production as Artistic Director, it holds special significance for Osf Ashland. The play offers a poignant look at the challenges and enduring spirit of a community.
Promotional image for August Wilson’s Jitney at Osf Ashland 2025 season
Shane
Adapted by Karen Zacarías from Jack Schaefer’s classic Western novel, Shane makes its West Coast Premiere at the Angus Bowmer Theatre, directed by Blake Robison. The story features ranchers, farmers, and a mysterious stranger with a violent past, all set against the backdrop of a looming range war in 1889 Wyoming. What sets this adaptation apart is its perspective through the eyes of a young boy.
Zacarías’s adaptation aims for cultural authenticity, challenging traditional myths about the American West. By widening the lens, it explores questions of what makes a good person and our own perceptions of good versus evil. This promises to be a thought-provoking addition to the Osf Ashland season, blending classic Western elements with a nuanced historical view.
Promotional image for Shane at Osf Ashland 2025 season
Fat Ham
James Ijames’s Pulitzer Prize–winning comedy, Fat Ham, comes to the Thomas Theatre, directed by Elizabeth Carter. This “Southern-fried take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet” follows Juicy, a queer Black protagonist in the South, whose life is upended when his father’s ghost demands revenge. The play blends dark comedy with deep questions of identity and fate.
Set at a family cookout, the play uses humor and heart to explore complex themes inherited from Hamlet, recontextualized within a modern Black, Southern setting. Its unique voice and fresh perspective made it a critical success, and its production at Osf Ashland is highly anticipated. It’s a witty and moving exploration of choices and self-discovery.
Promotional image for Fat Ham at Osf Ashland 2025 season
As You Like It
Shakespeare’s beloved pastoral comedy, As You Like It, directed by Lisa Peterson, takes the stage in the intimate Thomas Theatre. The play follows Rosalind and her cousin Celia as they flee to the Forest of Arden disguised, where identities shift and love blooms unexpectedly amidst a band of exiles. This production is set in the 1960s.
Bringing this song-filled comedy to the Thomas Theatre allows for a close, engaging experience with the characters and their journey of self-discovery. The 1960s setting promises a vibrant, free-spirited take on the classic themes of love, disguise, and finding one’s true self. It’s a joyful exploration of human connection at Osf Ashland.
Promotional image for As You Like It at Osf Ashland 2025 season
Quixote Nuevo
Octavio Solis’s modern adaptation, Quixote Nuevo, directed by Lisa Portes, arrives at the Thomas Theatre. This play reimagines Cervantes’s classic epic in the fictional border town of La Plancha, Texas. A brilliant professor battling dementia sees himself as Don Quixote and embarks on a quest to find his lost love, encountering border patrol drones and confronting his past.
Infused with Tejano culture and vibrant music, this adaptation is both groundbreaking and retains the heart of the original. It’s a magical retelling that celebrates life, love, human courage, and the complexities of the border experience. Solis is an OSF favorite, and his return with this acclaimed work is a highlight of the 2025 Osf Ashland season.
Promotional image for Quixote Nuevo at Osf Ashland 2025 season
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Shakespeare’s most domestic comedy, The Merry Wives of Windsor, directed by longtime company member Terri McMahon, will be presented in the iconic Allen Elizabethan Theatre. The portly Sir John Falstaff, down on his luck, attempts to woo two wealthy married women in Windsor, only to find himself the target of their clever schemes.
This production promises a joyful, dance-filled romp through mistaken identities and humorous trickery. Exploring themes of community, fidelity, and the antics of a small town, it’s a perfect fit for the open-air Elizabethan stage. Food, dancing, and dirty laundry are all part of the fun in this lighthearted addition to the Osf Ashland season.
Promotional image for The Merry Wives of Windsor at Osf Ashland 2025 season
Into the Woods
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s smash-hit musical, Into the Woods, returns to the Allen Elizabethan Theatre, directed and music directed by Amanda Dehnert with choreography by Ellenore Scott. This beloved show intertwines classic fairy tales, asking what happens after “happily ever after” when wishes come true, but at a price.
A repeat production from the acclaimed 2014 season, this musical is a perfect choice for the 90th-anniversary celebration at Osf Ashland. Its blend of humor, menace, irreverence, and singable score makes it a delight for audiences of all ages. Experiencing this magical journey into the woods under the night sky is a truly special event.
Promotional image for Into the Woods at Osf Ashland 2025 season
Beyond the Stage: Experiencing Ashland
A trip to see Osf Ashland is more than just attending plays; it’s an opportunity to immerse yourself in the culture and beauty of Ashland, Oregon. The town offers a delightful complement to the theatrical experience. Stroll through Lithia Park, a stunning urban park designed by the landscape architect of Central Park, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.
Ashland’s culinary scene is surprisingly robust for a town its size, with farm-to-table restaurants, cozy cafes, and wine tasting rooms showcasing local produce and regional wines. Exploring the town’s galleries, boutiques, and attending local events adds layers to your cultural visit, making your time at Osf Ashland a well-rounded experience.
Planning Your Visit to Osf Ashland
Planning ahead is key to making the most of your trip to Osf Ashland. The season runs from March through October, offering different experiences depending on the time of year – from the cozy indoor shows of spring to the outdoor magic of summer and fall. Check the OSF website for specific performance dates, times, and ticket availability.
Booking tickets in advance is highly recommended, especially for popular shows or during peak season. Consider purchasing a package if you plan to see multiple plays. Accommodation options in Ashland range from charming bed and breakfasts to hotels and vacation rentals, many within walking distance of the theaters. Factor in time to explore the town and its surroundings.
Frequently Asked Questions About Osf Ashland
Thinking about visiting the Oregon Shakespeare Festival? Here are some common questions:
When is the Osf Ashland 2025 season?
The 2025 season at Osf Ashland runs from March 7 through October 26, 2025, with specific dates varying by production.
How do I buy tickets for Osf Ashland plays?
Tickets can be purchased directly through the official Osf Ashland website ticketing page or by contacting their box office. Links are provided with each play description above.
What kind of plays are performed at Osf Ashland?
Osf Ashland performs a mix of Shakespearean classics and new works, often with modern interpretations or focusing on diverse voices and stories. The 2025 season includes Shakespeare, American classics, a musical, and contemporary plays.
Are the Osf Ashland theaters indoors or outdoors?
Osf Ashland has three main theaters: the Angus Bowmer Theatre (indoor proscenium), the Thomas Theatre (indoor Black Box), and the Allen Elizabethan Theatre (outdoor). Performances are scheduled in the appropriate venue.
Is Ashland, Oregon easy to get to?
Ashland is accessible by car via I-5. The Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport (MFR) is the closest airport, located about 15 miles north of Ashland, with shuttle and rental car services available.
Experience the Rich Tapestry of Osf Ashland
The 2025 season at Osf Ashland is an invitation to explore the depths of human experience through extraordinary theatrical art. From classic tragedies re-envisioned to contemporary stories that challenge and delight, the festival offers a rich tapestry of performances set against the beautiful backdrop of Ashland, Oregon. Plan your visit to Osf Ashland and prepare to be transported by the power of live theater, cultural exploration, and the unique charm of this special destination.