The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is always a treat. Seen a show in an outside theater is next level…read moreawesome. Be aware, however this is Oregon, it can get cold, it can rain or it can even be pretty hot in October. So bring blankets and a jacket and get tickets for anything available.

It's a truly unique experience to see a production here! I got tickets for Into The Woods on a…read morebeautiful July evening and couldn't have been more pleased with it all. I got the lowest tier seats in the balcony and felt like my seat was still great! Highly recommend seeing at least one production here if you come to OSF to experience the ambience of this historic theater.

Gayle and I just returned from Ashland, and greatly enjoyed the following plays: A Midsummer…read moreNight's Dream, Come From Away, Smote This, King Hedley II, and Yellow Face. Gayle and I tried to force rate our play experiences which we found to be nearly impossible. In fact, the ones that we rated lower, were the ones that we'd love to see again. We also attended the 2025 productions of Julius Caesar, Jitney, Fat Ham, and As You Like It. We really think that OSF is on the up and up again (especially after the Save Our Season plea in 2023), and we look forward to the 2027 Season. We've already already booked our Hotel room and have our Presale order ready. A Loco-Motive For Murder anyone? Reflecting back, we have really appreciated the acting company in general, and Kevin Kennerly in particular. It was his version of MacBeth that brought us back to Ashland the 2nd time in 2024 and was so so good in the August Wilson plays (Jitney and King Hedley II). He's not the only distinctive star of course (such as Nell Geisslinger, Rodney Gardiner, or even Justin Huertas, among others), but we do remember actors that we'd love to see in almost anything.

After years and years taking on water, the ol' tub looks as if it might be stabilizing. Don't get…read moreme wrong, with a less than sterling crew like this it'll be hard to steam 24 kts, and whatever you do, no more Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner or like ptomaine offerings. Tim Bond knows what he's doing, so hope abounds. OSF no longer has a "resident playwright", presumably due to budget cuts, but that's not all bad as the previous RP was, ahem ... It's hard to imagine the days of sellouts and top grade actors returning, although next year has a Bedard/ Tufts collaboration, and that WILL sell out! This year the emphasis on flashiness ramped up a bit as Taming of the Shrew got good and frantic. No Covid, no wildfires, no Garrett garbage, so where are the playgoers? The stories being told are too often CRAP! Membership has dropped in half. HUH? New plays can be terrific, but year after year of klunky choices is at least partially to blame. This year: Come From Joy. Oh baby! And it was good to see Aunt Ester back on the stage. Remember her in 2007's Gem Of the Ocean? How about some Mamet, Fugard, Odets? It does NOT have to be ancient, but it oughta appeal to the ... oh, never mind. Just stop the nonsense and ... * There ARE promising young actors. I'll give you 6-1 that Nedderson shows up in A LOCO-MOTIVE FOR MURDER. There IS hope.

Wonderful small venue at the OSF. The Allen Elizabethan Theater is amazing and a gorgeous outdoor…read morevenue that I loved, but the Thomas Theater provides an intimate theatrical experience that cannot be had in the other two theaters at OSF. I saw two productions here during the 2025 season and thoroughly loved my experience. I got the lowest tier tickets and my seats were great...not a bad seat in the house here! Do make sure you get tickets early for these shows if they're a priority; the small capacity means it can sell out quickly.

Extraordinary facility! It is the best-designed, best-executed theater I've ever experienced…read more Comfortable seats, great sight-lines, and plenty of legroom.

I have seen some brilliant new plays at the Ashland New Plays Festival. I think they consistently…read morepresent important new interesting politically charged plays. They are showcasing plays that I think have had very important stances on social justice which I really like to see in plays. I try to make my way to as many of their shows as I can. I think it is very integrated in the theatre based community of Ashland. I think the Unitarian Church is a very good venue for staged readings, but i would certainly follow ANPF to a new location if it changes. Especially because it seems that each show is at capacity in the Unitarian church and if you don't get there early enough sight lines can be a problem, especially from the balcony; there is a railing that can be a really obstruction in the balcony. SOU students, you can discount tickets for $6 make sure to mention that you are a student. If you are buying tickets at the door make sure to have cash, they don't have any way of taking cards at the door. A really fun night out with friends. Make sure to stay for the talk-back with the Playwrights. It's always interesting to have the playwright in the room. And as the plays are in the process of being revised you can give input to the playwright in person! OSF fans, make sure to check it out. There are frequently OSF actors in the plays. It's fun to see them in a different setting.

This was such a fun experience, a great night out on the town. The food was excellent the drinks…read morewere even better. Entertainment is great very interactive. Went out on a birthday date here and it definitely didn't disappoint.

The Black Swan served as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 3rd theater from 1977 to 2001. I was…read morehere sometime in the late 1980s when a friend's parents lived in Ashland and our gang would come up a weekend of revelry and theater. This Building was originally an automobile dealership, and was acquired in 1969 as a second-floor scene shop and first-floor rehearsal hall for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Company members began using it to stage "Midnight" readings for one another, and is a practice continued to this day. They invited friends who brought other friends, and the place became an underground hit. The Artistic Director at that time recognized the opportunity to take risks with unconventional staging and subjects, and called for its development as a third OSF theater. That was a challenge as the place could hold only 138 seats, all within five rows of the stage. That required a certain amount of "tucking and squeezing." Each director also had to solve the problem of an immovable roof support in the middle of the stage, which inevitably became an integral part of many plays. For example, in one scene, with a horizontal piece added, it became a painting of a crucifixion. The Black Swan reverted to its earlier roles as working space in 2002 when it was replaced by the New/Thomas Theater. In 2011 it also became the home for the Black Swan Lab, which serves as an incubator for new writers and cutting edge dramatic works. Each year, several OSF actors are assigned to the Lab as one of their three regular repertory assignments. One graduate of the Black Swan Lab that I particularly enjoyed during the 2012 Season was "All The Way".

Friends took me to see Waitress for my birthday. It was so well done on every level that I felt…read morelike I was in New York City at a Broadway play. The voices were wonderful as was the music and the acting and the way they managed the stage. We and everyone else had such a good time. I actually don't think I stopped smiling through the entire musical, except at the sad parts, of course. We've all agreed we're going to buy season tickets for 2026. PS. As other reviewers have noted, I don't recommend having dinner here. The food is mediocre at best. It would be wise to have brunch or dinner at a nearby restaurant before coming to Cabaret. Now if they decide to hire a chef who knows how to manage food prep & service well, that might be a different story altogether.

Bartender messed up a non-alcoholic virgin drink for an alcoholic drink. I am DC straightedge, no…read moredrugs or alcohol. Plus I have health issues that I can't have alcohol. I consider alcohol a Poison so the bartender should be trained more because this is not right to give a dc straight edge with current health problems an alcoholic drink Would come back for the famous dick hay pie

This was one of the very best performances I have seen in many years. The one hour and 40 minutes…read moreseemed to fly by so quickly. The acting and direction was absolutely amazing from start to finish. Stunning! David Wiegan, Ashland

In Ashland, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is the "Big Dog" in town. However, at least a…read morefew "Off Broadway" options are available including (but not limited to); - Ashland High School - Ashland New Plays Festival - Camelot (5 miles north of Ashland) - Oregon Center for the Arts @Oregon Southern University - Oregon Cabaret Theater - Rogue Theater Company (RTC) Gayle and I had the recent pleasure of attending a performance of "Off Peak" at the RTC. It was performed at the Grizzly Peak Winery within a relatively small indoor "warehouse" venue and stared 2 noted OSF veterans (Michael Elich and Robin Goodrin Nordli). As afternoon performances of about 90 minutes are among our favorites, we not only stayed awake, but attentively enjoyed show. It was almost a full house and and enjoying a free glass of wine at the beginning was a nice touch. The Winery was just a short drive beyond Downtown Ashland. We'll be sure to check to RTC schedule before we return to Ashland on our next trip here.

Coraline should be playing here every year for Halloween. The movie is based in this town. The last…read moretime it played here was about 7 or 8 years ago. I never see anything worth watching when I walk by. If they played Coraline it would bring in people from out of town to come see it. It makes me sad there is no real acknowledgment of Coraline in this town other than a small plaque. Let's either do a Coraline festival or play the movie here! It would be such a waste not do so.. I hardly see anyone going to this theater and I don't want to see it get shut down.

Love the Varsity! Perfect theater for Ashland. Excellent programming. The independent films are…read moremuch better than the mainstream ones.

Everything went well, the staff is amazing, as is the venue. The performers put their"all" into…read moreeach performance.

I am sad to report such a low rating, but The George Harrison Tribute was a disappointment of epic…read moreproportion. Although each musician was talented, and could clearly carry a tune, the show in its entirety missed the point. This shared more like a junior high school recital and completely missed the mark on the essence of rock n roll. The Beatles era was absolute mayhem. Girls literally peed themselves when they experienced the Beatles. It was said that when the Beatles performed, they couldn't even hear themselves play because the screaming was so loud. This production played more like a talent show at an assisted living facility. The costumes were horrible. Since when is a Mohawk a Beatles era hairstyle? Why not give the players some Beatles wigs? Another noteworthy aspect of the show was the placement of each band member and how stationary they were. They felt separate from each other... there was no flirting... no sexuality. No grit. No emotional depth. And the best singer - the female who sang let it be.... (She was the best part of the show by the way) her outfit looked like something Bert and Ernie should be wearing. Who directed this? How could they not catch these (to me obvious) defects? Also- the women should have been off-book with their narrations. This made the show feel amateur. I wasted my money. I had to leave the auditorium at intermission - which was a first for me. I couldn't bear to suffer any longer. Camelot turned out to be Cam-a-little. No thank you. Never going back again. Boo.