Nataki Garrett took on her new role as Oregon Shakespeare Festival's artistic director in 2019. Being in Southern Oregon, Ashland is near several wineries and vineyards. 22, 2022, 3:30 p.m. Oregon Shakespeare Festival Explore the 2023 Season Buy Tickets Rent Romeo and Juliet The Three Musketeers Twelfth Night Where We Belong O! She said those days trying to save a legacy institution from total collapse were terrifying and clarifying. Get our latest U.S. theatre coverage sent directly to your inbox each week, and our roundup of theatre education content each month. And Ashland is an absolutely charming town in which to just spend time wandering around, dropping in on shops and restaurants. While you may need a car to get to a few of them, that can be a great activity to pass the time. After the dark COVID years of 2020-1, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon is back on the boards, but that is a mixed blessing. She touched on themes we spoke about when she was hired, and again at the height of the pandemic, and sounded remarkably upbeat, resolute, and clear that shes in this for the duration. It's lovely. That kind of sentiment is good news for OSF, because changing demographics mean that theaters must work to expand their audiences to survive. The. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) takes place from March through October in Ashland, Oregon. Behind the scenes, Garrett has been changing the company's labor practices, restructuring everything from payment systems to rehearsal hours in order to ensure a more humane workplace that can attract and maintain workers of all backgrounds. Did we mention that it's completely free? Rothschild said in a column this summer that he admired OSF's diversity efforts, but thought the drop in the number of Shakespeare plays it produced showed that the theater no longer trusted Shakespeare to draw audiences. What???? Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. Nice work OSF. There was a comment about a transgender on stage and it was tastefully presented. Ashland, Ore., home of the festival, is itself about 91% white, according to the 2020 census. You know, were in this pandemic, and every theatre is going through the same thing, which is that less than 50 percent of the audience is coming back. This year we saw Island, a charming musical, Revenge Song, interesting story at the Elizabethan but needs to lose all the "f*** yous!" She did not add further detail. Once on This Island(2022): Dominique Lawson, Ayvah Johnson, Ciera Dawn, and Ensemble. Bianca Jones (left) and Erica Sullivan perform in Confederates at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Ore. Jenny Graham / Oregon Shakespeare Festival. And this years season is down to six in-person productions, down from last years eight. Meanwhile Anyania Musehired last summer as managing director of IDEA People, Culture, and Operationswill serve as interim chief operating officer, with oversight of finance, audience experiences, and education. The one man show we saw this year had a strong performer with a minimalist set, no musicians, etc so hard to judge the artistry that was once so great at OSF. Image Credit Oregon Shakespeare Festival. And they even have live stream options for select performances., As the name implies, the festival takes place in southern Oregon. Do we need to order theatre/play tickets well in advance or can we order them when we arrive? Do you need to book in advance to visit Oregon Shakespeare Festival? Thank you! Behind the scenes, Garrett has been changing the company's labor practices, restructuring everything from payment systems to rehearsal hours in order to ensure a more humane workplace that can attract and maintain workers of all backgrounds. A confusing mish mash of craziness, totally unlike its brochure blurb. We are not able to attend this last year and called today. I thought it was outstanding. The tour includes: *Transportation by luxury coach *Luxury accommodations at the Ashland Springs Hotel *Five performances *Chats with guest artists (from the shows we will be seeing) *Welcome and Farewell Dinner *Wine tasting tour No Romans, no vast sweep of history, just some vague modern day South American clad storm troopers or Smokey the Bear fire rangers, hard to tell which. Support American Theatre: a just and thriving theatre ecology begins with information for all. We may earn a small commission fee with affiliate links on our website. The community and artists have suffered through the pandemic and we want to return, but our recent experience has us bidding Ashland farewell. Plus, to expand to audiences beyond its usual subscription base, OSF has reduced ticket prices and is building upon its digital programs that began as a substitute for in-person performance. Great performances, but concerned by the general OSF direction. So now in 2022, buyer beware if you are going to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival! Garrett has directed no Shakespeare as of 2022, she plans to direct Romeo and Juliet in 2023, and produced only one of his plays, Robert OHaras critically lambasted 2017 production of Macbeth. Now the Festival is reopening, and Garrett is excited to announce a full season of shows for 2022. The festival, which dates back to 1935, was founded by Angus Bowmer. According to tax filings obtained by ProPublica, total revenue for the OSF Association plummeted from approximately $45 million in fiscal year 2019 to approximately $25 million in fiscal year 2020. Is this a good time to visit? However, we do have Box Office hours this time of year and general ticket sales begin Dec. 17. Still, according to a press release, OSF realizes it must invest in a strategy that will impact the long-term success of the organization.. Support American Theatre: a just and thriving theatre ecology begins with information for all. Like most theaters across the country, the audience is diminished; less than 50% have returned to OSFs reopened stages. the arts are like that and Ashland is a counter-culture place. www.confederationcentre.com From June to September, The Charlottetown Festival. Over the 10+ years of visiting, I saw at least five shows every year and quickly ticked off performances from Shakespeare's canon.. ROB WEINERT-KENDT: A lot has changed since we last spoke. During the pandemic, because of the stoppage, I was actually able to really focus on redoing our some of our systems on the artistic side. All the pandemic did was accelerate something that was already moving, and all of the things that were actually failing in the American theatre, it moved them up very quickly. Jenny Graham/Oregon Shakespeare Festival The 2022 lineup features eight on-stage plays and musicals, from classic Shakespeare to works by some of today's most exciting playwrights, performing in OSF's three theaters and, as an. OSF prices the tickets in two ways: Zones and ticket types. Starting this month, they will help the theater community and its patrons overcome a global pandemic that made . Theres nothing that cures the midterm mood quite like an OSF musical. No worries. White Christmas will be performed at the Thomas theatre of OSF. The season also includes a new play by MacArthur Prize-winning playwright Dominique Morisseau called Confederates, commissioned by OSF in collaboration with St. Paul's Penumbra Theater. "I guess I was expecting a theater company on crutches," Shakespeare scholar Daniel Pollack-Pelzner told NPR. OSF has recently been trying to offset deficits from the pandemics impact, including reducing its number of shows each season, shortening its calendar for performances and diversifying the shows it offers. Oregon Shakespeare Festival takes place in the three theaters in the festival's complex at 15 S. Pioneer St., Ashland, Oregon. All recommendations are independently reviewed and unless otherwise specified, FlightDeck has no sponsored affiliations with we review. So excited to have OSF back after the pandemic. ", People who love OSF but don't love the new mission have posted on Facebook and participated in letter-writing campaigns. We'll let you know when we launch! The current season is designed for "collective impact," Garrett said. So check with the box office ASAP about rush ticket availability for Oklahoma! "Recovery season," as Garrett calls it, includes Shakespeare stalwarts like The Tempest, but with a diverse cast, and King John, which in this production is an all-female and nonbinary cast performing a story about male power in imperial Europe. What drives the plot of the show is the inequity between rich and poor, white and Black, and other racial and economic disasters leftover from colonialism, ostensibly in Haiti. For tickets and more information, visit https://www.osfashland.org/. new artistic director Nataki Garrett has programmed her first full season, she had to focus on the theaters survival, An immersive show celebrates bingo-loving Southern Oregon civil rights leader Dr. G, Battered by pandemic, Ashland reimagines its tourism economy, Oregon Shakespeare Festival seeks accessibility focus as it emerges from the COVID pandemic, Nataki Garrett dedicates Oregon Shakespeares new season to the artists. My friend and I like to pick 3 modern plays at OSF and attend two during an overnight visit. But since they reopened, they've reduced their run time., Throughout the season, shows overlap each other, so you can see multiple shows in one visit. People who love OSF but don't love the new mission have posted on Facebook and participated in letter-writing campaigns to Garrett's office. Please join us in this mission by making a donation to our publisher, Theatre Communications Group. We laughed and cried. If you have a particular show (or shows) in mind, I would recommend checking availability and booking in advance. There is an entire new division built around inclusion, equity and access led by Anyaniya Muse, who was recently promoted to the role of Managing Director. Check with Box Office on day of show for availability. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival costumes are available to rent for your theatrical needs! "What I saw instead was a theater company on wings.". Garrett is focused on putting on stage both new works and new approaches to older works, because attracting and reflecting younger and more diverse audiences is fundamental to the entire ecosystem's survival. 2023 The Shakespeare Newsletter | All rights reserved. 477 were here. After two years of pandemic closures, audiences are back at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. An interim Executive Director with no professional theater experience named Paul Christie left shortly after. 541-482-2111 How Oregon researchers are testing 3D printing to reconstruct bone. I doubt he is old enough to have been around when these thugs were. We have to change the way we do that work. By Yet Garrett is moving forward. The audience now wears masks even during outdoor performances, and vaccinations are required. It has been my great privilege to work alongside Nataki and with such an exceptionally talented and dedicated staff and board., I am very grateful to David for all the work hes done, Garrett added in a statement. Special $15 "rush" tickets for youth (under 17) and college student audiences available one hour before designated shows. We saw four shows that were all outstanding. "My concern is that they have decided to essentially remake the OSF into something it wasn't instead of building on their strengths,really turning their back on its strengths," said Herbert Rothschild, a longtime OSF subscriber and local columnist, told NPR. One of the things Im focused on doing is I want to help my historical theatregoing audience learn how to be ambassadors. To my sister theatres who are still focused on this one generation of audience members, and who think that education programming is enough to bring people in, I have to say, our yield is about 13 percent of people who came to OSF as schoolchildren and come back one more time. The current line up of plays and their interpretation is often based on the new directors wish to present homosexuality in theater. I want to get people fired up: Liz Adkisson describes the inspiration behind the Sustainability Collective, What Happened While Hero Was Dead: A Comedic Tragedy, Interviews with Wrestling Coach Joel Gibson and Student-Athlete Evan Potter, Twitter Purchased by Billionaire Elon Musk, The shows not over till the playhouse caves in! There's no getting around it, Oregon Shakespeare Festival(OSF) had a rough 2022. Click. OSF received over $5 million in Paycheck Protection Program loan money during the pandemic, nearly all of which was forgiven. The festival run time. Rather, the restructuring is really about, are we a $44 million organization, like what I inherited? Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Miriam is a writer whose content focuses on travel, and other adventures abroad like studying or working as an English language assistant. We are traveling through Ashland in about a month but the show we want to see (Oklahoma) is sold out. Your submission has been received! Economy performances tend to fall on Tuesday, Wednesday matinees, and Thursday matinees., Standard performances are Wednesday evenings, Thursday evenings, Friday matinees, and Saturday matinees.. It is a masterful performance that shouldn't be missed. Tags:Shakespeare, Arts And Culture, Theatre. But over time, the theater has transformed what was once a small, rural town into an international tourist and arts destination, filled with cafes and shops, and bringing people in from all over. Theyre asking the Legislature for another round of funding to help them get back on their feet. 2022. "And that means that my mandate is to rethink the way we do things.". So how do you create a space in which the theatre is a public forum? Jones is so completely engaged with Wilson's stories -- jobs aborted because of racism, an encounter with the husband of a woman he is involved with, a brief prison term -- that it would appear that Wilson himself has taken the stage. I'd recommend purchasing tickets as soon as possible for any plays that are available on the dates you'll be in town. Other adventures abroad oregon shakespeare festival 2022 studying or working as an English language assistant at 15 S. Pioneer,! The tickets in two ways: Zones and ticket types through Ashland in about a on... Enough to have been around when these thugs were OSF musical pandemic, nearly all which! A donation to our publisher, theatre `` collective impact, '' Shakespeare scholar Daniel told... 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