While Oregon may be better known for outdoor sports and adventure, the state also offers plenty of indoor excitement, especially when it comes to its wealth of theater companies performing everything from Shakespeare to musical comedy and experimental drama.
The delightful small city of Ashland in southwestern Oregon is the home of the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), which presents an annual eight-and-a-half month season of 11 plays in three theaters: the outdoor 1,190-seat Elizabethan Stage, the 600-seat Bowmer Theater and the 270-seat New Theater. Each season typically includes three plays by Shakespeare and eight others by classic and contemporary playwrights.
Along with providing ticket discounts for groups of 15 or more, Oregon Shakespeare Festival offers behind-the-scenes walking tours of the theaters and prop display area, enabling participants to get a look at plays in the making and even try on costumes and wigs. Informal talks by actors and other OSF members are provided throughout the season.
Ashland is also home to the Oregon Cabaret Theater, which combines dining with musical comedy entertainment in a renovated church building with stained-glass windows, a crystal chandelier and tiered seating areas. Ticket and dining discounts are offered to groups of 20 or more.
In Portland, the big news on the drama scene is the relocation of Portland Center Stage, one of the city’s leading performing arts companies, to the historic Portland Armory building. The turreted, castle-like Armory underwent a $36.1 million renovation last year and now offers several spaces available for special events, including a 599-seat main theater, a 200-seat studio theater with flexible seating and an outdoor function area.
Portland Center Stage, which began as an off-shoot of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and is now one of the nation’s 25 largest regional theater companies, presents a varied season of classic and contemporary plays and musicals.
Portland’s Imago Theater focuses on contemporary, experimental theater and has originated productions that have been presented throughout the country, including Broadway. Along with scheduled performances, the Imago Theater, located in a renovated 1922 building, offers rental spaces that include a 220-seat theater and an elegant 3,500-square-foot ballroom.
A blend of theater, dance, aerial work, acrobatics, and live music is the creative force behind Do Jump! Extremely Physical Theater, a 30-year-old company based in Portland. The company, which frequently performs at the 800-seat Newmark Theater at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts, also creates customized performances for private events.
For More Info
Do Jump! Extremely Physical Theater 503.241.7179
www.dojump.org
Imago Theater 503.231.3959
www.imagotheater.com
Oregon Cabaret Theater Festival 541.488.2903
www.oregoncabaret.com
Oregon Shakespeare Festival 541.482.2111
www.osfashland.org
Portland Center Stage 503.445.3802
www.pcs.org
