News from the Stratford Festival

I have been falling behind with my updates on what's been going on in the arts world as of late, so I will do my best to rectify that situation in the coming weeks as I bring you up to date on the news coming out of many of our arts organizations in Niagara and beyond.

The Stratford Festival has been busy lately even though the season is over, as planning is already well underway for next season, and already we are getting updates on a regular basis as to what is coming up next season at Stratford.

The past few seasons Stratford has been running a weekly bus service direct from downtown Toronto to the Festival, and returning after the evening show for a very attractive rate.  It is an interesting option for many people like myself who find it tiring on that long drive home after the theatre in the evening, and other commitments prevent us from staying overnight.  I wish the same service could be offered from here in Niagara, but that likely will never happen.

But it has been announced next season there will be regular bus service provided for theatre-goers travelling in from the Detroit area for a fee of only $ 40 per person.  Considering the amount of gas involved and all the driving, not to mention the Ambassador bridge crossing at Windsor, you can see where that option should prove very attractive indeed.

I don't think I have ever been at Stratford in the summer when I have not run into someone from Michigan state, where the Stratford Festival is almost a religion for some.  I can see this being a very popular run for the Festival.

Speaking of travelling, Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino along with Executive Director Anita Gaffney are both in England right now meeting with counterparts at the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

One of the news items coming out of that trip, announced earlier this week, is the fact the Stratford Festival next season will launch an annual series of films of its productions to movie houses around the world, making them the first major theatre company in North America to act on this initiative pioneered by the two British theatrical institutions.

Stratford has a long history of recording their productions for DVD sales in their gift shops, such as the ever-popular Brian MacDonald Gilbert & Sullivan productions of several years ago.  Many Stratford shows over the years have also been filmed for broadcast on television here in Canada, as well.

But now, they will take on the world and show just how special our interpretations of the Bard's works really are and how they measure up on the world stage.  The ultimate goal, according to Cimolino and reported this week in the Globe & Mail, is to stage and then screen the complete works of Shakespeare.  This will give schools across Canada the opportunity to replace their foreign productions of Shakespeare's works with Canadian productions on DVD.

This will no doubt prove to be a win-win for the Festival, as they help to nurture the young theatre goers in Canada so they will hopefully become the subscribers of the future, and showing the films around the world generates more interest in the Festival on an international level.

Now, they won't start filming everything, of course, just select productions in each season at least at first, but it is a start.

Looking at the playbill and casting for next season, released just recently, you can easily see where the filming will begin next season, and the obvious first choice would have to be King Lear, which will feature the return of stage and screen actor Colm Feore in the title role.  He has not been back at the Festival in five years, and his name still has drawing power beyond Canada's borders.  Reliable veteran Stephen Ouimette will play the Fool opposite Feore in Lear, by the way.

Feore will also be appearing as Archer in The Beaux' Stratagem, directed by Cimolino at the Festival Theatre next season.  Also appearing in the cast will be Lucy Peacock, Martha Henry and Mike Shara, so that will be one to watch for next season as well.

Other highlights on the playbill for 2014 include two musicals once again:  the ever-popular Man of La Mancha will be onstage at the Avon Theatre with Tom Rooney and Chilina Kennedy as Cervantes and Aldonza, respectively; and Josh Franklin and Chilina Kennedy pair up for The New Gershwin Musical, Crazy for You, directed and choreographed by Donna Feore at the Festival Theatre.

There will be not one but two productions of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream next season as well.  One will be at the Festival Theatre directed by Chris Abraham and starring Stephen Ouimette as Bottom along with Evan Buliung and Jonathan Goad sharing the roles of Tatania and Oberon, believe it or not, and Chick Reid as Puck along with Tara Rosling as Lysander.

The second production of A Midsummer Night's Dream will be presented as a Chamber Play, directed by Peter Sellars at a location yet to be announced.  There will be a group of four actors playing all of the roles:  Sarah Afful, Dion Johnstone, Trish Lindstrom and Mike Nadajewski.

The rest of the 2014 playbill will feature Alice, based on Alice Through the Looking-Glass adapted for the stage by James Reaney; Noel Coward's Hay Fever starring Cynthia Dale and Lucy Peacock; Tom McCamus and Seana McKenna in Shakespeare's King John; Seana McKenna playing the title role in Brecht's Mother Courage along with Geraint Wyn Davies and Ben Carlson, directed by Martha Henry; Geraint Wyn Davies and Yanna McIntosh in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra; and newcomer Jenny Young will play Queen Christina in Christina, The Girl King at the Studio Theatre, directed by Vanessa Porteous.

So there you have it.  I'm already excited about next season and this past season only ended last month!  Ah, anticipation...

See you at the theatre!

November 10th, 2013.