Students and staff from De Anza College will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Ore. this summer between August 26 to 30, English instructor and trip leader Brian Smith said. The trip costs $675 and includes transportation, lodging, food and front row seats at all the shows.

According to Smith, this year’s group will be watching five to six plays, which include, but are not limited to Shakespeare’s works.

The festival has been around since 1935, and started out as a repertory theater, where the same actors would play different roles. They now have a cast of over 100 people and the operation has evolved from one to three theaters.

There is an open air outdoor Elizabethan theater that seats about 1,500, “just like it would have been in Shakespeare’s time except with new technology; it the same set up though,” Smith said. There is also the Angus Bromer Theater, and the New Theater, which is “an experimental place. They can change the seating elevation and setting of the seats, the company also creates its own costumes and props,” Smith said.

The company is the top two-rated theater company in the United States. They put on about 11-13 plays per season. Not all of them are Shakespearean plays, only about 4-5 Shakespeare plays are performed during the season, which runs from mid-February to the end of October.

To attend, students need to register for Elit 97 in the summer and pay a $400 deposit, payable by check or credit card. After April 15, the price goes up to $725. “It costs $695, which is an incredible deal. Last year the same trip cost $800, there are 39 places in the group going from De Anza, including myself so space is limited, and we might take some people from Foothill,” Smith said. Spaces are given on a first come, first serve basis, and are likely to fill up fast, as Foothill’s trip was canceled due to budget cuts.

“Last year five students were sponsored by De Anza College through an essay writing contest, but this year because of budget cuts that is not happening,” he said.

The $695 includes double occupancy rooms, and students are allowed to choose their roommates. Those who wish single or other accommodations may upgrade for an additional price. The fee pays for Motor Coach transportaion, lodging, breakfasts and dinners, two pre-event classes and the tickets for the shows. The De Anza group will be seated in the A grade seating close to the stage. The program will include morning-after discussions of the performances; two actors will talk to the group about their roles and how they got into theater.

According to Smith, the best part of the trip is that “everybody sees something different. Based on what you focus on in the play, you feel like you are part of the whole experience.” The difference between reading these plays or seeing them performed is like “like listening to a record, and then watching that record being performed in concert,” Smith said.

English instructor Bob Dickerson has been to the festival 12 times in the 20 years De Anza participants have atttended. He is looking forward to seeing “Pride and Prejudice” based on the Jane Austen novel. “I want to see if they can make it work on the stage,” he said.

The thing that keeps Dickerson coming back to the festival, he said, is the opportunity to watch then discuss the plays. “The best Shakespearean play I have seen there is ‘Henry IV Part I,’ and the best modern play was McNally’s ‘Lips Together, Teeth Apart’ … they always do incredible versions of August Wilson’s plays,” he said.

The chance to see a play performed professionally is what draws many people in, including English instructor Julie Pesano, who has been going to the festival since 2002 and is looking forward to “Hamlet.” “I’m a ‘Hamlet’ junkie. I know it’s cliché as all people say they love ‘Hamlet,’ but as a person who feels like she thinks too much, ‘Hamlet’ speaks to me,” Pesano said.

Pesano beleives “half the fun is going with a big group who also loves theater and Shakespeare. It’s kind of like summer camp for lit lovers. You can make new friends, talk about great plays, and get college credit for it.”

Those interested in participating in the festival should contact Brian Smith at [email protected].