THE TOUR INCLUDES: 6 nights deluxe accommodations at the Ashland Springs Hotel Top category seats for 8 performances, plus a special dinner theatre evening Full breakfast daily plus four dinners pre-performance lectures and a backstage tour airport-hoteltransfers On-site tour direction by an Aria Tours representative Cost: $3475 US Single Supplement: $750 US Balance Due: April 7, 2009

OPTIONS FLIGHTS We will be happy to make any flight arrangements, including reward travel with your preferred carrier, for $75 per person. Return flights should be booked to Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport in Medford, Oregon. TOUR ADDITIONS The itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and desires. Please call us to discuss any changes or amendments you wish to make. INSURANCE We strongly recommend that all tour members purchase cancellation insurance upon registration. We can assist you with this, though you are welcome to purchase a policy at your own discretion. If you would like information on the policies offered by our supplier, please contact us for details, or click HERE for an insurance brochure and application.

Founded in 1935, the Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival, held each year in the lovely town of Ashland, is among the oldest and largest professional non-profit theatres in the nation. Each year the OSF presents an eight-and-a-half-month season of eleven plays in three theatres plus numerous ancillary activities, and undertakes an extensive theatre education program.

The 2009 season will be anchored by four plays by William Shakespeare, and we will see all four, including a Macbeth directed by one of the world's leading stage directors and interpreters of Renaissance drama, Gale Edwards. Other plays on our programme include the 300-year-old Italian comedy The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, the Spanish classic about the knight errant and his squire Sancho Panza, and Meredith Willson’s classic The Music Man.

Accommodations are at the historic Ashland Springs Hotel—the finest property in town. We have included pre-performance lectures, a backstage tour and four lovely meals, including an evening at the Oregon Cabaret Theatre, in addition to full breakfast each day.

THE ITINERARY

Tuesday, July 7
Arrivals at Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport (MFR) in Medford (30 minutes from Ashland), where you will be met and transferred to the Ashland Springs Hotel, walking distance to all venues at the Festival. This evening, we gather in Larks Restaurant in the hotel for a Welcome Dinner.

Wednesday, July 8
After a morning at leisure, we gather and walk to the Angus Bowmer Theater for a matinée performance of Shakespeare's masterful tragedy Macbeth. After dinner at leisure, we include the optional Preface (30 minutes) to Much Ado About Nothing prior to attending a performance of the play at the Elizabethan Stage.

Thursday, July 9
Late morning, we offer an optional backstage tour of the three main Festival venues: the Elizabethan Stage, the Angus Bowmer Theatre and the New Theatre. This walking tour explores the history, design and technology of repertory theatre. Note: The regular tour is a walking tour and has six flights of stairs. In the afternoon, we return to the Bowmer Theatre to attend the matinée performance of Equivocation, Bill Cain’s high-stakes political thriller, with ties to both Macbeth and Henry VIII. In the evening, we enjoy dinner at the Oregon Cabaret Theatre. We are treated to a performance of the The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee during our repast.

Friday, July 10
Following a morning at leisure, we attend the matinée performance of Goldoni's farcical The Servant of Two Masters at the New Theatre. In the evening, we offer another Preface prior to the performance of Cervantes' magnificent Don Quixote on the Elizabethan Stage.

Saturday, July 11
Enjoy the day at leisure in Ashland. In the evening, we gather for a superb early dinner in one of our favourite local restaurants before attending the performance of Meredith Willson's classic The Music Man at the Bowmer Theatre.

Sunday, July 12
After a morning at leisure, we attend the matinée performance of Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well at the New Theatre. We then enjoy a Farewell Dinner at another excellent restaurant near the Festival campus before attending our final performance: Shakespeare's Henry VIII.

Monday, July 13
Departures to Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport are included.