Stratford Shakespeare Festival

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For other uses, see Stratford Shakespeare festival (disambiguation).

The Festival Theatre

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival (formerly known as the Stratford Festival of Canada) is a summer-long celebration of theatre held each year in the Canadian city of Stratford, Ontario.^[1] Theatre-goers, actors, and playwrights flock to Stratford to take part — many of the greatest American and Canadian actors play roles at Stratford. It was one of the first and is still one of the most prominent arts festivals in Canada.

The Festival's primary mandate is to present productions of Shakespeare's plays, but it also produces a wide variety of theatre from Greek tragedy to contemporary works.

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 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, being that the town shares the name of Shakespeare's birthplace. Stratford had originally been a major railway junction and had fallen into decline when the railway yards were moved. 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."^[2]^[3]

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.^[4]^[5]

[edit] 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. In 2008 an outdoor venue (the Festival Pavillion) will be added. 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, and lectures.

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 12th, 2008 it was announced that Shipley and Maraden would be stepping down, leaving Des McAnuff as sole Artistic Director.^[6]

Starting in 2008, Stratford's original Festival Theatre will focus on the works of Shakespeare, a request made by the new artistic directors (one play by Shaw will also be presented). The newly renovated Avon Theatre will now be the host for various musicals (confirmed to be Cabaret and The Music Man for the 2008 season) and classic plays. The Tom Patterson Theatre and Studio Theatre will continue to showcase world premieres and various Shakespeare and other playwright's works.