Libby Appel (born May 14, 1937)[1] served as the fourth artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) from 1995 to June 2007.

[2] Appel directed more than 25 productions at OSF, and her artistic vision influenced the 11 plays presented each year during her tenure.

Appel has been intent on attracting an audience that is both younger and less white, while keeping the sophisticated seniors who flock to Ashland.

“I think to contemporize the speech, or bastardize it, is dumbing it down.”[11][12] In 18 seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Appel directed: Pride and Prejudice, Paradise Lost, A View from the Bridge, The Cherry Orchard (her own adaptation from an original translation), The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale (2006 and 1989), Bus Stop, Richard III, Napoli Milionaria!, Henry VI, Parts One, Two and Three (co-directed with the adapter, Scott Kaiser), Richard II, Macbeth, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, The Trip to Bountiful, Three Sisters, Henry V, Hamlet, Henry IV, Part Two, Measure for Measure, Uncle Vanya, King Lear, The Magic Fire (also at the Kennedy Center), The Merchant of Venice, Breaking the Silence, Enrico IV (the Emperor), The Seagull (Portland).

(Chronological order, most recent at the top)[9] Appel has completed five commissions from OSF for new versions (from literal translations from Russian to English by Alison Horsley) of The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and Ivanov.