hen the Oregon Shakespearean Festival in Ashland first dangled fine drama before an audience in 1935, boxing matches were staged, just in case Shakespeare couldn't draw a crowd. Now the Shakespeare festival in Ashland, about 300 miles south of Portland, is the one of the largest in the country, attracting more than 100,000 people a year.

The slogan in days of yore was, "Stay four days, see four plays." These days, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival still puts on four Shakespeare plays, but also seven others.

And the festival runs much of the year, from the end of February to early November, with the highlight being the opening of the 1,200-seat outdoor theater on June 20. It joins the festival's two indoor theaters, the 600-seat Angus Bowmer and the 270-seat New Theater, which are already in full swing.

This year, the festival presents the premieres of four productions, the two-play cycle of "Continental Divide," by David Edgar, an examination of American politics; "Lorca in a Green Dress," a look at the murder of the Spanish playwright Federico García Lorca, by this year's Pulitzer-winning dramatist, Nilo Cruz, and a new translation of Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" by Jerry Turner.

Before Shakespeare reinvented Ashland, this southern Oregon town of 20,000 was known for its naturally carbonated water, dubbed Lithia Water because it contains lithium. Thought to be salubrious for bathing and drinking, is still piped into drinking fountains in Lithia Park and the Plaza, Ashland's town square.

Ashland has much more to offer visitors than Lithia Water (its bad-egg taste pronounced "yucky" by many a daring drinker). There are plenty of excellent restaurants, and shops, bookstores and galleries line Main Street, the Plaza and the recently renovated Historic Railroad District. Nearby are abundant opportunities for outdoor recreation, like rafting on the Rogue River about 20 miles to the northwest.

SUSAN G. HAUSER lives in Portland, Ore.

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