SOUTHERN OREGON (@kodi and others who live here)
I posted earlier today local news that the Oregon Shakespeare Festival has laid off 80% of its 500 employees, about 400. We have made the New York Times now...a dubious distinction but worth noting what a big deal this is (link sent to me by my friend halfway around the world in Timor Leste who grew up here.). Some may wonder why the closing of a theatre is a big deal. I used to work there and know many employees who are affected, so it’s a big deal personally.
But also, this is a town of about 22,000 and OSF is one of its largest employers and brings about 400,000 visitors to town. So the trickle down impact on small businesses and the atmosphere of the town is huge. This is being repeated in other theatre towns around the country, not just in Ashland. And we’re not even talking about people dying....
From the link:
“We’re trying to make sure we have enough cash to regroup and come back,” said Nataki Garrett, the artistic director of the festival, which in ordinary seasons has about 800 performances attended by about 400,000 people. “Without money coming in from ticket sales for current shows or future shows, we have to say we have this much cash, and it will last us this long.”
<snip>
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, founded in 1935, won the regional theater Tony Award in 1983 and presents contemporary work as well as classics; the festival has helped develop several shows that ultimately landed on Broadway, including the
Pulitzer-winning “Sweat” and the Tony-winning “All the Way.”
The festival, which has three theaters, has a particularly long season, running eight months of the year in Ashland, a Rogue Valley city just north of the California border. The city is heavily dependent on tourism — visitors to the festival sustain a number of hotels, restaurants and shops — and has had a rough few years because smoke from wildfires in the Northwest has forced the
cancellation of some outdoor performances and deterred some travelers.
Spring Culture Fell to Virus. In Oregon, Summer Theater Now Succumbs.