After a 20+ year hiatus, Dad and I headed once more to Ashland, OR for the Shakespeare Festival - and also the Britt Festival. We were joined by our good friends and Dad's old roomies, the Nebekers and the Heders. (Well, he was actually only a roommate with Jim and Ry, but Helen and Sarah were along for the ride!!)
We aren't dead sure, but are pretty sure we like Cedar City better - but it's probably a matter of familiarity more than anything else - since this was only our third time at Ashland. We've been to Cedar too many times to count. This is their outdoor theater - it has more covered space than Cedar does. We saw Merchant of Venice here. It was a well-done performance, but afterward we were thinking that maybe we don't like the whole premise the story is built on. The costuming was odd - period clothes with modern touches - like tall boots, capes - and Levis?? I'm not sure that worked very well.We saw Hamlet at the indoor theater - and it was completely modern costuming - and that worked really well. There was some use of American Sign Language with the ghost of Hamlet's father. And the traveling minstrels used hip-hop and rap and all that worked well also. It was a wonderful performance - Hamlet was amazing - very emotional and believable. Ophelia did a great job too. I think I understood the play a lot better because of how well it was presented.
We picked restaurants somewhat at random - Helen and Jim have been coming every year for 3o years, so they had some recommendations - but we really ate well!! Mostly we slept in and had late brunches and early dinners. It worked! Herb tea after the show in the hotel lobby rounded off the day for us all. The hotel was old and European style - and the bathrooms were shared among the tenants - it worked fine - much to my surprise - and delight!
On Friday night, we went to Jacksonville to the Britt Festival - it's an outdoor venue - you sit on the grass on blankets and watch the show. It was Pink Martini - whom I'd never heard of, but they are a fave of Nebekers and Heders. They are Portland-based and very popular in Europe. They were good - we felt well-rewarded for our efforts huffing and puffing uphill to the show - after driving all over town to find a parking place!!
I was thinking that Shakespeare has played a fairly major role in our married and family life. Not bad for someone who went to college knowing nothing about Shakespeare except what Marlon Brando did in Julius Ceasar !
We went to church on Sunday at the Ashland Ward, then bid adieu until next year. Dad and I were pretty tired - we crashed after only a couple of hours of driving - in Corning CA - home of The Iron Skillet - a not bad restaurant if you're ever in Corning!!
We got home Monday around 5 p.m. - and we're even unpacked and ready to face Tuesday!!
