One of the banners for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival that downtown Ashland.
John Rosman / OPB
When most people think of Ashland, they think of Hamlet, and Othello, and Rosalind. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is celebrating its 80th anniversary this season. The little, former lumber town in southern Oregon has changed over the last eight decades, in large part, because of this iconic theater festival.
Michael Dawkins, Ashland planning commissioner, has lived in Ashland his entire life. He remembers growing up in a different, more conservative version of the town.
"When I started first grade in '52, it was assumed that at least half of us would be working or married to someone in the wood products industry," Dawkins says. "By the time I graduated, we had [only] one mill with two shifts."
OSF was yet to become the forefront attraction in the town. People did, however, still want to be a part of the Shakespeare experience and show support to the organization.
"There was always that undercurrent, in particularly the business leaders in our community, who were very supportive of the festival and as the festival over the years grew, the community and the festival became basically one," Dawkins says.
The festival soon transitioned from being a month long to having an indoor and outdoor season. Historic preservation consultant George Kramer says the real estate in the 1990s drew more people to Ashland, but older residents were a bit resistant to the changes.
"A lot of people in town that come to town want it to be just the way it was when they moved here," Kramer says. "For those of us who have been here a longer time and recognize how much Ashland changed to become the wonderful city we all love, we aren't quite that afraid of the change."
Southern Oregon University has a standing relationship with the organization that allows students to audition each year for the Fair program, an internship provided by OSF.
"A lot of our students have been working there for years and years and years," says Eric Levin, chair of Southern Oregon University's theatre program.
The businesses in Ashland have seen positive growth as more tourists are attracted to the city. Denise Baxter, executive director and founder of the Ashland Art Center sees the festival as an opportunity for more sales.
A music store in downtown Ashland.
John Rosman / OPB
“The city itself is really working hard to keep up with keeping those tourist dollars here,” Baxter says. “When it comes to sales in art, visual arts, we make 60 percent of our sales in a period of three months — July, August and September.”
The University theater program has seen a positive effect on its ticket sales as well.
"When the Shakespeare Festival closes, our audiences go up," Levin says. "We get more people in to see us."
OSF does have an off season, when the tourism levels simmer down and businesses have to find other ways to sustain themselves.
"It's a challenging time for us, but we are innovative and we are creative," Baxter says.
The festival stands out and is known nationally for its productions.
"In the context of all of history, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival might now be an important place. But if you take theater history, it's really one of the only non-New York theaters that gets mentioned in the history books," Levin says. "It was the first Shakespeare festival, and now you can't go anywhere without some kind of summer Shakespeare festival."
OSF's popularity has been a boon for the entire town.
“As the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is developing, the businesses [are] developing around it like a blanket,” Baxter says. “Now what you see is this wonderful Shakespeare festival, but it is enveloped by a tremendous community called ‘Ashland.’”