Ashland

About the trip

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is back and not to be missed. Under its new Artistic and Executive Directors the audience has grown substantially last year and this year, and for good reason. We've seen 6 plays, 3 Shakespeare and 3 others, and they all were good - one of the best performances of Midsummer Night's Dream I've ever seen and Kate and Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew were excellent. Henry IV, Part 1 drew great applause from the audience, but having not seen or read it before I found the language too dense and would recommend that you sign up for a cost-free assisted listening device or eReader caption services unless you are familiar with the play. The non-Shakespeare plays were Come From Away, which won many Tony awards on Broadway; Emma, based on the Jane Austin novel, humerous,but not my favorite; and You Are Cordially Invited to the End of The World, a creative and humorous treatment of climate change that I Ioved and think it should travel to other theaters, but it's not everyone's cup of tea. Ashland is a 5-1/2 hour drive from SF, and there are a number of places to stop for lunch on the way. Some people prefer flying from SFO to Medford and renting a car or taking an Uber from the Medford airport to Ashland. If the connections all work this will save less than hour and driving has less chances for something going wrong and has less risk of delays.

Where to stay

The Ashland Springs Hotel is excellent, close to the theaters, well soundproofed and has a good restaurant (Larks). Ashland has a number of good B&Bs, all of which serve breakfast (the gourmet breakfast at the Ashland Creek Inn is particularly good)

Restaurants

Many good restaurants in walking distance to the theaters that you can go to before an 8p.m. performance. My favorite is Osteria La Briccola, an excellent Italian restaurant. If the weather is pleasant, I'd pick an outdoor table.

Questions?

Reach Bruce Mann at bruce.mann2240@gmail.com

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