Located just three blocks from OSF theaters, this 1913 Craftsman bungalow provides travelers with vintage furnishings and modern comforts. Their breakfasts were, hands down, the best I’ve enjoyed in all my years of visiting. Scrumptious and served with a lot of interesting conversation and no sense of rushing. Jon & Carmen Reinhardt have been innkeepers for a long time, and they clearly enjoy their work.

The rooms are comfortably furnished with luxurious beds, private baths, air conditioning, ceiling fans, wifi, and private entrances.

This is one of the best places I’ve stayed in all my years of visiting Ashland.

Highly recommended.

http://www.cowslip.com/

Set on five acres of farmland with gorgeous views and beautifully landscaped gardens, the Inn is a delight for visitors to enjoy. Most of the rooms are in the elegantly restored 1896 farmhouse, with a sumptious private cottage and barn. There is a family of goats and geese adding to the atmosphere.

The Inn has incredibly good breakfasts, and wonderful hiking (or biking, borrowing one of the loaners from the Inn) trails to help burn it off. The rooms are very comfortable, with one of the best beds I’ve ever slept on.

Highly recommended.

http://www.countrywillowsinn.com/

The house is gorgeous, with wonderful common areas inside and out. As a special bonus, the pool is wonderful (and highly recommended during the summer months). There is a lot of privacy, each room has an outdoor sitting area and many have fireplaces and whirlpool baths. All of the rooms have wifi, private entrances, air conditioning, cable TV, and kitchenettes with microwave ovens and small fridges. A full breakfast is included.

This is a wonderful place, one of the best B&Bs in town.

Highly recommended.

http://www.shrews.com/

Just a bit over four blocks from the theater, all of the rooms are air conditioned with private baths, wifi , and a subtle ‘green’ sensibility that adds to the excellence of this accommodation. Of special note are the hearty, healthy, tasty, breakfasts and the ample tea served at 4pm. Most of the food served is sourced from organic and local providers.

The B&B has fresh flowers in every one of its seven rooms. The nine Garden Suites have kitchenettes, private entrances, and decks overlooking the garden. Travelers staying in the  suites have a continental breakfast and most of the suites have Jacuzzi tubs. (They can also pay a bit more and join the regular breakfast.) The B&B and Suites are two separate properties caddy-corner from one another. It began life as a boarding house, and has been run by the friendly and informative Deedie and David Runkel since 2002. (Check out their lively reviews of each season’s plays on their website!)

The innkeepers are making changes with an eye toward making the inn as green as possible. For example, they’ve installed hot water on demand heaters and new windows in the Garden Suites. The (100% cotton and scent free) sheets are dried outside.

The rooms are spacious and quiet. The beds are comfortable and the location is great.

Highly recommended.

http://www.ashlandbandb.com

Located on the north end of town, just off the main thoroughfare and surrounding a lovely courtyard, each unit also has a vine-covered outdoor seating area where you can enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. It is surprisingly quiet (and you may be visited by the local cat, a friendly boy who will graciously accept your skritchins and then catch lizards for fun). The three bedrooms even have upstairs balconies to enjoy.

The Cottages are very clean and comfortable with air conditioning, wifi, cable, and barbeques. Julia and Mark Roupp have been the owners for many years now, and although they aren’t on site, they are just a phone call away.

No pets, no smoking, they don’t take credit cards, and a deposit is due with your reservation.

Highly recommended.

http://www.abbottscottages.com

First off, I appreciate the fact that they offer non-Coke/Pepsi sodas, so you can actually have sugar instead of man-made chemicals in your drink. Then, they do an excellent job of providing a menu made from locally sourced and organic providers.

I had the house salad. This is a large plate of field greens (which vary by season) with goat cheese, candied hazelnuts, aged rosemary goat cheese and a marionberry balsamic vinaigrette. Served with a side of bread, this is a delicious salad that fills you up.

The boys had grilled cheese and soup. Half of a grilled Tillamook cheddar sandwich with tomato served alongside a cup of (that day) tomato-basil soup. The sandwich was golden on the outside and gooey on the inside and perfectly matched the sweet-sour tanginess of the tomato soup.

Service was a little odd; I think our server was in training. She did great, but the fact that her ‘work; was checked up on by another overly-inquisitive server was unsettling. Then again, it may be the fact that we were sitting with a celebrity. Three sodas and our meals came to less than $40 (not including our tip).

We often have a meal at Larks when we visit, and we think they are best at lunch and brunch. (Brunch is particularly fun as the menu changes based on what is available from local farmers, creameries, meat producers, and seafood providers.)

We had a fairly typical breakfast: French toast for me, a ‘full house’ for him (two eggs, meat, and a choice of toast, muffin, scone, or bagel). The orange juice was fresh squeezed, the apple juice top quality. I had the bacon as a side, and it was lovely to have that natural (no nitrates) taste alongside the sweetness of the syrup. All of the food was well-prepared and tasty.

Service was good – she came by enough so that our water glasses remained full and coffee (a friend sat with us) remained hot and plentiful. Our breakfast, including juice and sides, came to $31 (not including tip).

Serving breakfast until noon, Greenleaf is an excellent choice for a good meal and a good price.

The play begins outside the New theater – the first brilliant decision made was to hold this play in their most versatile and interactive space. They went for a completely stripped down set – a series of boxes create the occasionally needed stage, table, chair or bed. Many of the actors play multiple parts, and rest in the wings, rarely leaving the audience’s visual awareness. As you approach the New Theater, the walkway is lined with tall white banners which, in stark language, describe leaders from many ages and backgrounds . . . all of whom have been assassinated. The banners continue inside and upstairs, bringing you into history. I didn’t realize it the first time I saw the production (I saw it twice, and would see it again in a minute), but Cassisus (Gregory Linnington) was wandering the lobby, occasionally chatting with people in a delightfully friendly manner. As the time to begin draws near, all of the actors stand in front of one of the four seating areas,casually chatting with the people in the front row. Vilma Silvia strides out, dashing in boots and a military-style leather jacket.

“Good evening, everyone” she called out, “I’m Vilma Silvia and tonight I will be playing Julius Caesar.”  (Surprise and consternation and then a strong sense of anticipation works its way through the audience.) “I’m going to need your help tonight throughout the play. Whenever I make this motion –” and here she threw her arms up into a V over her head — “I’m going to need to you to yell and clap and shout.” Can you do that? Let’s try it.”

*noise*

“That wasn’t really loud enough, can we do it again?”

*louder noise*

“Hmmm…  One more time.”

This time, we thundered, trying to be as loud as possible and just as the noise peaked the actor’s ran onstage, shouting the opening lines, and we were transported to Rome, watching the triumphant entrance of Julius Caesar, another member of the vox populi. It was extraordinary, as was the production. Vilma Silvia was magnificent — hard as nails, casually owning her power as a leader, and content with her popularity. Jonathan Haugen’s Brutus is fair-minded, but falls a bit too easily into his brother Cassius’ plotting, all the while giving one of the best performances I’ve seen from him over the years. We see clearly how envy can bring a good man down. Linnington’s Cassius is certainly “lean and hungry” and he wears his ambition like a shield, elegantly and passionately decrying the rise of a monarch who will displace the republic.

Seeing a woman stabbed to death — brutally — brought an extra dimension to the horror of her assassination, another interesting plot twist created by a strong woman as Caesar. With a simple shift in gender Cassius’ diatribe against Caesar as he makes the case for overthrow comes across as a sexist rant. I found Caesar’s cold reasoning a clever counterpoint to the impetuous and often unrealistic political scenarios of the other characters. When Mark Anthony (performed superbly by Danforth Comins) grieves, it is all the more poignant.

The 2011 Julius Caesar is one of the best OSF has produced in the past two decades.

So it was with anticipatory pleasure that I waited all year for the new production; I was intrigued by the idea of a 70s setting, and Bill Rauch always does good work. This is a difficult play for modern audiences – the choice between the chastity required by one’s religion and the life of a brother doesn’t seem like a difficult one; but I trusted OSF to make me feel it, once again.

Sadly, this production did not wow me.

It opens beautifully, with three women cleaning a board room, singing softly. When they pull out guitars from the refuse cart and transform into mariachis, I smiled with happiness and settled in for another fascinating take on Shakespeare’s timeless scenarios. A few things felt a bit gimmicky – elegant Cristofer Jean’s transvestite Mistress Overdone was just on the edge, but several audience members were completely fooled by his transformation. And I particularly did not like the scene when the friar (Anthony Heald) and Isabella smoke cigarettes together and plan for the “greater good”; I felt it diminished her purity, which perhaps was the point. While I’m talking about the things I didn’t like, Stephanie Beatriz’s performance was stiff and awkward. I felt like I was watching a new actress, a tween even, and she never found her rhythm.

However, Kenajuan Bentley’s Lucio was prime excellence, a jive-talking stud who *owned* his part. Ramiz Monsef’s Pompey was smoothly snarky, hitting the comedic notes like a jazz musician. Rene Milan’s Angelo is tightly-wrapped passion and oily evil. I loved the 70’s counterculture, urban vibe, and the set design by Clint Ramos was excellent.

All in all, I’m glad I saw this play, but it doesn’t come close to the power of the earlier version that lives within my memory.

~review by Lisa Mc Sherry for Ashland Link

To answer, I must crib from another ’09 production and “equivocate” just a bit (ha ha ho ho, I am a wit…): yes and no. Moliere’s original work has far more of a point to it than Goldoni’s does, and likewise this adaptation finds itself more grounded, perhaps more nuanced… which is a fine quality in and of itself but not exactly in sync with the farcical tone that permeates the show for most of its duration.

I’ll get back to the comparison later. In and of itself, The Imaginary Invalid has a lot going for it. Moving the period of the play from Moliere’s day to the 1960s has clearly inspired Christopher Acebo, pulling double duty this go-’round as Scenic AND Costume Designer. The set is particularly striking, with plenty of mod touches for you to peruse during intermission or to pass an early arrival. The costumes were just perfect, setting the time without slavish period accuracy, enhancing the overall sense of whimsy that the production has going for it. Lighting, by Lighting Designer Lap Chi Chu, is mostly standard with the exception of a cute running joke about incompetent sign language – here the joke is significantly highlighted by well-timed isolating spotlight/darkness contrast. I’m certain there’s a technical term for this, and I’m certain I don’t know it. Readers? Help me out here.

Now then: the cast. (This is theater, after all, there must’ve been acting.) I have to begin by thanking the heavens for K. T. Vogt. Her one other star turn at OSF, as Ethel Toffelmier in The Music Man, was fine but buried in a mediocre production (I know I know… it’s been 2 years, drop the tomatoes already), but here she absolutely owns the lead role of Toinette. She’s funny, she’s charming, she sings, she sighs, she is great. God bless Tracy Young for not feeling like the role had to go to some winsome ingenue to keep our attention – K. T. is just divine. (Although, she hits a punchline and nods at the audience liiiiiike 3 times too much. It’s cute, but “too too.”) Our other lead, David Kelly as Argan, also delivers his usual fine, funny performance. As the titular Invalid he carries the heart of the show around with him in his wheelchair, usually to great effect, but he’s also saddled with a couple of moments that I most fault the show for – could he be more to blame than the adaptation itself, botching the delivery somehow? I don’t think so, but in the moment you’re likely to hold it against him. Hold fast! He’s doing what he can. Relative newcomer to the company Kimbre Lancaster stands out as Angelique, as does Festival stalwart Jeffrey King as Argan’s brother Beef Manheart; at least, I assume that’s how “Beralde” translates from the French.

So, in a funny production with swingin’ music (guided skillfully once again by Paul James Prendergast) and a general feeling of panache, why aren’t I absolutely 100% raving? Two reasons: the end of the 1st half and the end of the 2nd half. The first half ends with a sudden bout of real anger and emotion, which marks the first time that the play shows any anger or nuanced emotion. As for the finale… as I walked out of the premiere I heard a very highly placed member of the Festival (who wasn’t speaking to me, and thus shall remain nameless) say to his/her companions that the ending “was a very brave choice.” Yeeeeeaaah, ok; maybe. But you know how the Light Brigade is heralded for bravery but they all knew they were going to die and maybe somebody should have said something? Same dif. It’s not that the end is absurd – actually once it’s revealed you can see that it informs a couple of earlier scenes with added poignancy. It’s just that it’s so tonally off from the rest of the production. There’s nothing in the show that makes you think something like this could happen, and while the creative team here may be thinking “we want to avoid being formulaic!” my response is two-fold. One: you based the production on a 500 year old Italian theatre form known for trading in formula! And two: whatever you think you accomplished by bucking convention, it felt like seeing A Midsummer Night’s Dream only to have the two pairs of lovers say “enh, this is stupid” and set up match.com profiles instead of getting married. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t a ton of fun to be had – I really, really, enjoyed 90%+ of the show. It was just a shame that the last thing you learn, and thus the first bit of conversation you’re likely to have about the play, is a great big lump of “huh?”