The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is my favorite! When I used to have dreams of becoming an actor, OSF was my #1 dream job. It’s pretty much the only place in the states where an actor can make a (so-so) living as an actor doing Shakespeare/classical work.
For four or five years after I first moved to Oregon in 1995, we would go down every summer to see a play or two. My aunt and uncle were big donors/season ticket holders so we got to sit in the front row for like every production, which was the equivalent of this then-still-in-the-closet boy’s wet dream.
In between junior and senior year of high school, I even went to a two-week theater camp there. (The admission process was nearly as difficult and competitive and onerous as undergrad.) Besides seeing all the productions, we also took classes with the actors and had talking sessions with the artistic staff. It was unreal. That summer I saw their production of Stop/Kiss and not only ended up writing every college essay on it and its effect on me, but also knew: I had to move to New York, and I had to come out as a gay man. I haven’t been back since then, but don’t get me wrong: I LOVE OSF!
My mom emailed today that she wants us to go again this summer and particularly pointed out the LBJ play, “All the Way” to entice me. I, however, found this and couldn’t get over its absurdity. Like I said, anyplace else and I would immediately ridicule and dismiss it. But it’s OSF, so…
Any American that’s not been to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival hasn’t truly lived. It’s like being Italian and never having gone to La Scala. Or British and never having gone to the National Theatre.
