The Tony Award–winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) has launched its 84th year and Bill Rauch’s final season as artistic director. Previews began March 1 and the 2019 season officially kicked off March 8-10 with the openings of Shakespeare’s As You Like It (director, Rosa Joshi), Cambodian Rock Band (director, Chay Yew), Hairspray—The Broadway Musical (director, Christopher Liam Moore) and the world premiere Mother Road (director, Bill Rauch), a drama by Southern Oregon–based playwright Octavio Solis.
The 2019 season is dedicated to the memory of Paul Allen, and all those who have chosen to make a difference in the world through their generosity. When Paul and his sister Jody Allen were young, each year their parents would pack them up and make the road trip from Seattle to Ashland to watch Shakespeare classics performed in front of a rapt audience. In the intervening years, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation has supported multiple OSF programs and helped construct both the Thomas Theatre and the current iteration of OSF’s flagship Allen Elizabethan Theatre.
“Generations of theatre-goers have been delighted by the magic on OSF stages—and much of that magic has been made possible by Paul Allen,” said OSF Artistic Director Bill Rauch. “This season’s playbill embodies the remarkable power of rotating repertory that makes the Oregon Shakespeare Festival such a thrilling place to experience live theatre. The excellence of artistry lives in every project and in our commitment to innovative classics as well as new works that often become the classics of tomorrow.”
Once again U.S. Bank is sponsoring the season. “We are very proud to partner with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with 2019 being the 40th anniversary of our partnership,” said Chris DuBose, U.S. Bank market president for southern Oregon and northern California. “We are very excited about the phenomenal lineup of classic and new plays OSF will be performing in the 2019 season.”
The full 2019 playbill includes:
Ask You Like It, Mother Road, Hairspray—The Broadway Musical and Indecent in the Angus Bowmer Theatre; Cambodian Rock Band, Between Two Knees and How to Catch Creation in the intimate Thomas Theatre; and Macbeth, Alice in Wonderland and All’s Well That Ends Well in the outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre. La Comedia of Errors, a bilingual (Spanish and English) adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s zaniest comedies, will be performed at a variety of show times an in a variety of spaces, including OSF’s Thomas Theatre and Hay-Patton Rehearsal Center, and in local communities.