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[an error occurred while processing this directive] (none) Education and the OSF Institute Outreach programs connect with more than 200,000 people Ashland Daily Tidings The Oregon Shakespeare Festival reached a total attending audience of just under 375,000 in all three of its theaters last year. It was a record attendance. But the OSF education department under the auspices of the OSF Institute estimates the Festival and its members touched another 200,000-plus people through its various outreach programs for students, teachers and the general public. "Because Angus (Bowmer) was a teacher, education was always a part of the vision of the Festival," says Joan Langley, Director of Education and the OSF Institute. Educationally, there is literally something for everyone. For students, the Festival's educational repertoire includes special matinees with post-show discussions; workshops, prologues and discussions; an annual Summer Seminar for High School Juniors; the School Visit Program; the Bowmer Project for Student Playgoers, and a growing partnership with Ashland High School's theater program. For teachers, the Festival offers study guides; an "Inside Shakespeare" program, "Shakespeare in the Classroom," "Shakespeare on Stage" and the annual Preview Weekend for theater and English educators. For the general public, there are backstage tours, the Festival Noons Lecture Series; an OSF Round Table; Wake Up With Shakespeare, Prefaces, Park Talks, an Exhibit Center and the Elderhostel and Senior Ventures programs with Southern Oregon University. Langley is the right person to bring the theater into the schools and to those young people who might come to love it. In fact, she credits a summer-time visit to the OSF in 1976 for her lifelong passion for theater and theatrical education. A drama teacher of hers in high school suggested she visit the Ashland Festival, so she and a friend came to town and saw some plays and took a Backstage Tour. "It was absolutely a life-changing experience," she says. And that's the sort of experience the Institute tries to create for thousands of others, students and adults alike, when they come to Ashland or have a traveling Festival troupe visit their hometown. For those who want to jump into any of the Festival's offerings, there are many ways to do so. Some cost money, others are free. From lectures and concerts to "talks" in the park, those interested in experiencing more than just the in-theater experience may do so. "One of the extraordinary things about our patrons is they're very happy to dive into the offerings," says Langley. To give the talks and lectures, the Institute calls upon experts in the field such as Peter Saccio, Leon Black Professor of Shakespearean Studies at Dartmouth College, or James Black of the University of Calgary in Alberta, as well as the amazing lineup of professionals inside the company itself. In an effort to reach out to those who can't afford to come to Ashland, the Bowmer Project offers week-long seminars and playgoing experiences to 10 drama or English classes from four different counties in southern Oregon and northern California. They involved teacher training, backstage tours and tickets to two plays, and a visit to their classroom back home. Those taking part in the Bowmer Project also receive a "pass plus one," two tickets to a play later in the season. The partnership program with Ashland High School also has been a huge success, according to Langley and Education Associate Kim Thomas Donohue. In the fall of 1999, the teaching and training partnership led to the production of "The Miracle Worker," and this spring "Measure for Measure." OSF workers help with set design, props, costumes, acting, directing - the works. The goal? To make theater a part of people's lives, for their entire lives. "It's a life-long learning process," says Donohue. "Coming back to the theater you can continue to grow and learn." Or, as Langley, who came to Ashland to see an OSF production 24 years ago, says: "That's what the theater does. It provides the opportunity to have your life changed if you're willing to go there." [an error occurred while processing this directive] (none) [an error occurred while processing this directive] (none) [an error occurred while processing this directive] (none) Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2000 Lee Northwest Publishing