Open to the sky, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre seats 1,200 people. Featured in the photo is the 2018 set and ensemble of Romeo and Juliet. Photo by Kim Budd.
Eliminating barriers and making theater accessible to all is a mission for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, supported by the Oregon Cultural Trust.
The festival is expanding the accessibility of its performances this season by further embedding American Sign Language interpretation into programming, and adding Spanish-language captions for its production of “Quixote Nuevo” by Oregon playwright Octavio Solis.
ASL+ weekends in June and July of 2025 will also include interpreters for pre- and post-show discussions, in addition to performances. Captioning and audio description is available by reservation, as are assisted listening devices.
Shiree Dyson, associate managing director of the Festival’s inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility department, says community engagement is embedded in OSF’s legacy.
“We believe in the core principle that all should feel welcome and should experience a sense of belonging here at OSF,” says Dyson.
Story by Max Tapogna
