Thanks to the Bard, Ashland has been a beloved theater town for decades. Over the years, other companies have joined the stage, and the Rogue Valley is currently home to more active, thriving performing arts organizations than one would expect from a remote river valley—theaters, choirs, bands, and even a symphony.

From the Oregon Cabaret Theater, that packs houses in the heart of town, to Rogue Theater Company, which has a home stage at a nearby winery, there are more options for your stage schedule than ever before.

So below I’m happy to highlight a few of my favorite theater arts organizations in Ashland. Stay tuned for an update on nearby tasting rooms and winery restaurants. I hope to serve you at breakfast soon!

Many of you come to Ashland for the theater, and over breakfast I’m often asked what else is worth seeing while we’re here. One company I’ve been pointing people toward lately is Rogue Theater Company. It’s a smaller, newer outfit, built around close-up, text-driven productions—plays that are meant to be listened to rather than watched from a distance. Their 2026 season includes Stella Lou, Angels in America, Constellations, and Death and the Maiden—a solid cross-section of contemporary work and modern classics.

They perform at the Richard L. Hay Center, which is a comfortable, thoughtfully designed space and easy to fit into an evening out. If your trip is anchored around the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, this is the kind of place I’d suggest adding to the mix—something a bit different in scale and tone, and a good way to round out a theater stay without straying far from what brought you here in the first place.

If you’re here for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and looking to add one more night out, the Oregon Cabaret Theatre is every bit as entertaining as the Bard. It’s a exceptional local theater with a repertoire that leans heavily toward musicals (along with the occasional comedy or mystery).

The scale is more intimate than OSF, but the operation is impressively polished, and it’s become a dependable option for guests who want something lively, tuneful, and beautifully produced.

Practically speaking, it fits neatly into an OSF-centered itinerary: the venue is close by, housed in Ashland’s historic “Old Pink Church,” and it runs a full, year-round schedule with multiple productions each season.

I’m thrilled to report the Bard is back, and by all accounts, better than ever. The 2026 season is a full one, spread across the Bowmer, Thomas, and Elizabethan theatres from spring through fall. Shakespeare is well represented with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, and Henry IV, Part One, while the lineup also makes room for American classics like A Raisin in the Sun and August Wilson’s King Hedley II, along with more contemporary voices in Yellow Face and You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!

There’s also a musical in the mix this year—Come From Away—which brings a different kind of evening to the schedule, alongside Emma, Kate Hamill’s adaptation of the Jane Austen novel, and the solo performance Smote This, A Comedy About God… and Other Serious $H*T. Taken together, it’s the sort of season that gives you options: Shakespeare, new work, American drama, and a musical or two, all running long enough that you can choose what fits your stay and let the theater set the pace of your time in Ashland.

Graham Sheldon
Innkeeper
graham@ashlandcreekinn.com
AshlandCreekInn.com