Oregon Shakespeare Festival takes it outside.

(From McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.)

Byline: Marty Hughley

Here it is mid-June, and we're already at the midpoint of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival season. Four months have passed since February's opening-night "Romeo and Juliet." Six of the year's 11 productions are up and running, and two of those ("Seagull" and "The White Snake") will close in the next few weeks.

Yet this weekend feels like a beginning, with three plays set to open on the Elizabethan Stage in Ashland. Those venerable boards are where the festival began in 1935, and despite the expansion into indoor theaters and a nine-month season, summer nights and starry skies remain defining elements of the OSF identity. So when the performances return to the open-air Elizabethan, the festival really feels like it's under way and in its element (until the nights get decidedly warmer, remember to bring a blanket).