Stratford Shakespeare Festival

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival (formerly known as the Stratford Festival of Canada) is an internationally recognized annual celebration of theatre running from April to November in the Canadian city of Stratford, Ontario. Theatre-goers, actors, and playwrights flock to Stratford to take part &mdash; many of the greatest Canadian, British, and American actors play roles at the Stratford festival. It was one of the first and is still one of the most prominent arts festivals in Canada and is recognized worldwide for its productions of Shakespearean plays.

The Festival's primary mandate is to present productions of William Shakespeare's plays, but it also produces a wide variety of theatre from Greek tragedy to contemporary works. Shakepeare's work typically represents about a third of the Festival's offerings.

The success of the festival dramatically changed the image of Stratford into one of a city where the arts and tourism play important roles in its economy. The festival attracts many tourists from outside Canada, mainly those British and American, and is seen as a very important part of Stratford's tourism sector.

History


The Festival was founded as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival of Canada, due mainly to Tom Patterson, a Stratford-native journalist who wanted to revitalize his town's economy by creating a theatre festival dedicated to the works of William Shakespeare, as the town shares the name of Shakespeare's birthplace. Stratford was a railway junction and major locomotive shop, and was facing a disastrous loss of employment with the imminent elimination of steam power. Patterson achieved his goal, and the Stratford Shakespearean Festival became a legal entity on October 31, 1952. British actor and director Tyrone Guthrie agreed to become the festival's first Artistic Director. On July 13, 1953, actor Alec Guinness spoke the first lines of the first play produced by the festival: "Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer by this son of York."

This first performance took place in a giant canvas tent on the banks of the River Avon. The season lasted six weeks and comprised just two plays: Richard III and All's Well That Ends Well. In the second year the playbill expanded, and included the first non-Shakespeare play, Oedipus Rex. The Festival Theatre was opened in 1957, and was deliberately designed to resemble a tent, in memory of those first performances. The Festival Theatre's thrust stage was designed by British designer Tanya Moiseiwitsch to resemble both a classic Greek amphitheatre and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and has become a model for other stages in North America and Great Britain.

Today
The Festival runs from April to November, and has four permanent venues: the Festival Theatre, the Avon Theatre, the Tom Patterson Theatre, and the Studio Theatre. Although the Festival's primary mandate is to produce the works of Shakespeare, its season playbills usually include a variety of classical and contemporary works and at least one musical.

The Festival Fringe runs during the season, and features music concerts, readings from major authors, lectures, and discussions with actors or management.

Long-serving Artistic Director Richard Monette retired in 2007 after holding the position for fourteen seasons. He was replaced with an artistic team consisting of General Director Antoni Cimolino and Artistic Directors Marti Maraden, Des McAnuff, and Don Shipley. On March 12, 2008 it was announced that Shipley and Maraden would be stepping down, leaving Des McAnuff as sole Artistic Director.

The 2011 season features 12 productions four plays by Shakespeare, two musicals (one at the Festival, one at the Avon), and six other plays.

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is listed as a Major Festival in the book Shakespeare Festivals Around the World by Marcus D. Gregio (Editor), 2004.

Artistic Directors

 * Tyrone Guthrie (1953–1955)
 * Michael Langham (1956–1967)
 * Jean Gascon (1968–1974)
 * Robin Phillips (1975–1980)
 * John Hirsch (1981–1985)
 * John Neville (1985–1989)
 * David William (1990–1993)
 * Richard Monette (1994–2007)
 * Marti Maraden, Des McAnuff, Don Shipley (2007–2008)
 * Des McAnuff (2008-2013)

2011 season

 * Twelfth Night – by William Shakespeare
 * The Merry Wives of Windsor – by William Shakespeare
 * Titus Andronicus – by William Shakespeare
 * Richard III – by William Shakespeare
 * Camelot – by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe
 * Jesus Christ Superstar – by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
 * The Grapes of Wrath – by John Steinbeck
 * The Homecoming – by Harold Pinter
 * The Misanthrope – by Molière
 * Hosanna – by Michel Tremblay
 * The Little Years – by John Mighton
 * Shakespeare's Will – by Vern Thiessen

2012 season (announced)

 * Much Ado About Nothing – by William Shakespeare
 * 42nd Street – book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, music by Harry Warren
 * Henry V – by William Shakespeare
 * The Matchmaker – by Thornton Wilder
 * A Word or Two – by Christopher Plummer
 * The Pirates of Penzance – music by Arthur Sullivan, libretto by W. S. Gilbert
 * You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown – music and lyrics by Clark Gesner, based on characters created by Charles M. Schulz
 * Cymbeline – by William Shakespeare
 * Elektra – by Sophocles
 * Wonderlust – by Morris Panych, music by Marek Norman
 * The Hirsch Project – by Alon Nashman and Paul Thompson
 * The Best Brothers – by Daniel MacIvor
 * ''MacHomer – by Rick Miller

Theatres

 * Festival Theatre
 * Avon Theatre
 * Tom Patterson Theatre
 * Studio Theatre