ASHLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a major tourist draw in Southern Oregon, is exploring changes to its famous outdoor theater after losing millions because of smoky wildfire conditions in 2017 and 2018.
The annual summer theater festival uses Ashland High School’s indoor theater when smoke shuts down its outdoor 1,190-seat Allen Elizabethan Theatre, and the festival has added matinee performances at that theater as well.
The festival is looking for a permanent solution to volatile air quality issues, Paul Christy, the festival’s acting executive director, told the Ashland Tidings. The festival has hired a prominent professional in theater construction to explore ideas for a rebirth of the Elizabethan Theatre, he said.
Ideas include a retractable roof and a redesign of the seating to encircle the stage so theatergoers are closer to the actors, he said.