Shi eAPearean F e s tiv a l^ Ashland Is World Renowned
ir u By DoyU D- s ***y
Um o i d 'f 'b l
“ '" ‘«h ' «'•» »’
any ..evei
ever presented during hisartivitw r.— __
l day I ?..y
I... 1,1 Globe
G ," bt’ theater
theater <»f
of h his
m n‘7 for m«ntti«, in prcpara-
a J
'ieW Elizabethan theater in lifetime.
ve7
i° r t? ‘ iest,vaJ which this ying the C hautauqua sell for pro-
The
i . J a “n d of“ lhe N a t i o n of J
Oregon Shakespearean
8<opeW
«alnm g an international | ductions. Then, on Ju ly 4, 1935,
Festival,
which was started in
J
C An«us Bowmer a
xMouanu saw the first two bnake-
Southern Oregon College profes • Ashland oas
oeen
buzzing with
has
lx-en
rt;j
A , L. i . _ »•
. ■
Five of Shakespeare’s plays •pvarean plays tnat were later
Avun jum e aso yvm i L V “ " '" " ' T h e '7 ’ tud/ n t of Shakespeare. I .Ma as a part
of A
shland's »»
Fourth
' Ahei,U‘r has been rebuilt dur- of July celebration will take will be presented in their origin to evolve into tne Oregon ohake-
,r
,,i,
‘.e i)a8t three yeara 1,1 P ',p - place for the third time since the “Hr m 7 staru,ng August 2 with ^pturean h estival.
..................... ..
w«n thin August. It was revived
Homed and Ju lie t” O ther plays
i k
yearly ,e8tiv“1
in 1947, following six years of I - M a glven indudfc "Klchard It.” j n e loiiowmg year, tne f e s t i
•Shakespeare’s works, as great a
val /rssotiauon was organizeu
wartime inactivity. The town of ! ••or,dao 'n' ner N ight’s
D ream ,” m en so,uU ltin Oregon b ^ m e ss-
. DCbello, and the well known
/a m in g of the Shrew .”. In all i m ,Und tlV1C Jeadtrs a t its helm,
/ r , p t v ‘uus lwo plays were pre-
i.r,dh »P ay wlH b t Presented sev i senu.-d
and ’ Borneo and
eral times with the final perform-1 Ju lie t again,
was added to the rep e r
S s Ct°M 1Udinii * * feStivaJ -
toire. By then the Festival nad
? i>tOpC and PrfcsU«e. and
An unusual sidelight to the
1 ^ / t e u coming irom ail
the iact thal with the pai-ts ol tne Hogue Hiver valley
Elizabethan theater, the plays S u i e n u
‘e'' and
CoUe«e
may be presented as Shakespeare
originally wrote them. B oTm er eu1U 1 m 7'|an° lhul play WM add‘
P 'n n k out that through the years cu, m e lam m g ol tne Shrew .”
Shakespeare's plays have been rvgain in ly jg lour plays were
rew ritten m any times to m eet the ptesenieu, this tune, Tne Com-
oi \
c'n ors' "The M erch an t
until the present dey venuun^
emce,
m e lam ing oi the
at l e t s ? ' f y i,Un‘ the oriKlnals, - u e w ,
anu
The T w e l f t h
nL it 1
far as thc actual stag- ty g n t. n n a by iyjg the bhake-
,n« Is concerned.
B opeufean r estival was no longer
t..X be i * » for ^ i s Shakespear- me su u g n n g orain eiulu of rvn-
-* -
tim Ue 'w i WaS A°rn ln the m id- u-» ^ow .nei, out tatber a grow-
moiiCö when Angus Bowmer
e v e n t uraw ing attention to
glimpsed the a l m o s t X g i t
ano iisnianu from ia r
:
nanus of the old Chau- -n o wiue. n s evidence oi this
t m t t U' Juing »landing nea, t..e o tte n o s only U, exam ine the ree-
S k
e i,!° A shland’s
U th la m os ox me Association, in 193b
rm. .
1,1 y ta rs «one by, the tne atienuance doubiea tne lirst
C hautauqua building, in ¡¿alitv y vai » ligures. Then in 1937 the
a cement wall encompassing atteuoance tripled that of 193b.
X r ly
acre- bad been a pop.
uo pei cent increase over 1937
f
e ' •s';l,Jtn7 ' rn Oregon entertain »as snown in 1933.
center. But
bv 1935
n.,
Then came 1939 and the Festi-
I n tu itn
re t s growth
and years
of id"e‘
ai s most outstanding year It
shell i n ? th rnmd the C hautauqua •as m m at year th at Bowmer
dino nt0 hard,y more tban a fa- witn aA2e ,AanUng 01 th<-' b h rew ”
Vour boating will be more
th?i’f'h 1.en»lory ° f the gay daXs of
u n a east ol nearly 40 players
the C hautauqua circuits.
mi a tour ol C alnorm a and the
fun with an Evinrude Motor
The C hautauqua shell w a s in oan rraneisco world’s fair
H
was a t the la ir tnat they r e c e i v i
mor Ä
8 condiA
tion when Bow- m en nr,eaCOgmUon by p r e s e n t ^
A l first saw it. As he recalls the
toetdent, -The
, hough“ ^ ~ m en play Oelore the e x D o s i t i n n
aum ence In addition ^
e ac
U, , me was of its strange re-
We have four lino, of Boat», •>cc,.»»nri -», and pul- 's
rnai
production,
the
cast
gained
U r ?fa qhe ¿° the old Globe thea- m 7 m J nr r m P° puJarity b y ^ a S
• all and «... ,he
’
Ui of Shakespeare’s day.” Bow-
e returned to the college n . tun J ? CdUlo^m a lrjP m lu ll cos
tume,
complete
with
street
ra/ y that afternoon, found a emthes
and the handy Sportoman
authentic to Shakespeare’»
s k S : d ° \ t theFG,obe theater a«d
also
his
h Everyone who saw
Gas, Oil and Automobile accessories
nis tough draw ing claimed it to
a
°?
C hautaaRua shed
with a roof on it.”
ies ol productions before it a&M-
SEE I S DURING YOUR VACATION
doned activity during the wax
DmTne W
th l en° ugh for Bowmer,
£
Highway M W"1’’ 24 MU,W ,r"m M* C“» fo rn i. border
,,n i?g tbe ensuing weeks he
called together his college plav
t ' S ter
iaL aonfd s S Ld lhem ™ r e &
Phone Ashland 25438
Of v7m ce” kes^*ar^ “M erchant
M g h t” 1 S im 0? >The Twelfth
i . gn;- J Simultaneously, he in- stage, but also of the elaborate
erested the Ashland Cham ber of
Contmerce on the project of read- « « tu m e s and props built up
mg six years of productions,
. — 1 *
in the spring of 1947, the Fes-
7 e a l i^
latl?n’ defunct for six
izm An revived and reorgan
b e ^ o m n a Ve AsWand C ham
ber of Commerce turned a h e l n
t° w ard rebuilding the
theatre. And Angus Bowmer <->nn
more called his players togeth'
er and started r e h e a r S . *
— , |
K tu in to life nUll
void «... u A ' ‘is summer und
'U hland. ‘tí,7 h X Í K that" h '
Rogue Valley
M a r in e Co.
I'or Your Vacation...
Don’t Throw This A w a y
BECAUSE YOU’LL BE BACK
V. A. M iller
KOOCE K,VEK. OREGON
CACIFIC
Has Listings
Dairy, Stock and Emit Ranches
Beautiful River Homes
Eor a home in Rogue River Valley
Look Up The ^tillers
A IP WWW W »’»»W «1 ______
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PREVENT FIRES
KEEP OREGON GREEN
u
Uieatre itself is unique It
7 n ? h 0IHy civic owned E li^ b e th
an theatre in the world. In fact
only th ree other Elizabethan the
alers of any kind are standing to-
? a2u ?nd
these, only one is
used lo r productions. This one
was converted from a tannery in
M adderm arket, N o r w S ? ^ E n £
The rem aining two stand only
i ? i n fh°S1v e,S for si«htseers. O nt
in u r thu FoI«e r M emorial library
m W ashington, D. C., w hile
bcUllduiS th at was once
Part of the San Diego Exposition.
W hen Bow m er found there was
O?egonntto lnter^st in southern
festival, he w m t
U
search before designing^h™As^'
land theatre. As a res5 lt i e
CMh68 m ° A oi the features of tl
Globe and F ortune theaters th ^
ShJu buUt in i s l a n d
d urh
? h S r P hare S Tfe’ The AshJai d
die s t a v i 3® a f°re stage, a ml
1
and a back sta^p
S
rak s,age
™
t i l e This much Will serve f
win fe? tlval this year. Then wo
''i l l be continued until a lar •
iuriiZnh° e Shaped balcony for t
audience is completed, in tr >
m« the E m StyIe’ Then su rr°un
ira te S h o tCOnles Wil1 be an els
a ‘^azSe 7 f eK dgeesana S rden> W'
flowers and sh^rubs s y m i o ^ - '
S ’as ^ Pee are'S d3y as * PossH e