2018 Shaw and Stratford Season Previews
Thoughts on the 2018 Seasons
at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and the Shaw Festival
By David Grapes – Arts
Journalist
February, 2018
Theatre patrons, who are
passionate about quality theatre here in the U.S., should consider a trip North
across the Canadian border into Ontario and spend some serious time exploring
North America’s two largest theatre festivals – The Stratford Shakespeare
Festival and The Shaw Festival. The American dollar appears to have stabilized
against the Canadian dollar, so the entertainment value when compared to the
costs of theatre tickets for Broadway ($150+ average) or in London is high. And
if you search the web, there are some excellent airfare deals for the upcoming
summer into Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson airport for about $500.00 to $800.00
from most major US airports. Rental cars are readily available at the Toronto
airport. (Try Hotwire.com for the best airport rental rates) Driving time from
the airport to either of the two festivals is less than two hours on four lane
highways. Remember – Passports are now REQUIRED for any border crossing!
The Shaw Festival
Located in historic
Niagara-on-the-Lake (30 miles North of Buffalo, 120 Miles South of Toronto)
along the beautiful Lake Ontario shoreline, The Shaw Festival is the only
theatre in the world that specializes exclusively in plays by George Bernard
Shaw and his contemporaries. During the last three decades, under the artful
and highly creative leadership of Christopher Newton and Jackie Maxwell, the Shaw
not only earned a reputation for innovative programming and stunning visuals,
but also became home to one of the finest acting ensembles in North America. Director
Maxwell, who led the theatre for more than a decade, retired as Artistic
Director at the end of the 2016 season and turned the artistic reins over to
Tim Carroll. While Carroll's first season was met a few mixed reviews from critics, the season turned out to be quite popular with the Shaw's
loyal audience. From all indications, advance ticket sales are quite strong for the 2018 season. Those of you who are interested in attending the limited run of Stephen Fry's Mythos Trilogy should order your tickets as soon as possible, as I expect many performances will be sold out even before the 2018 season officially opens.
For 2018 the Shaw Festival’s
ever expanding artistic mandate under Carroll will include two Broadway style musicals
(Grand Hotel and Oh What a Lovely War), contemporary
plays (Stage Kiss and The Baroness and the Pig), three Shaw
one acts, Shakespeare’s Henry V, a number of world and Canadian premieres, and
three varied evenings with English storyteller Stephen Fry. A season that one might find at any number of
Canadian regional theatres, but certainly unusual for the Shaw which has long
prided itself on producing period plays that are rarely produced at other
professional companies.
As the Shaw Festival celebrates
its 57th season this year, Carroll has also made major changes to the Shaw’s celebrated
acting ensemble. Missing are many longtime Shaw stalwarts such as Jim Mezon, Sharry
Flett, Moya O’Connell, Fiona Reid, Lorne Kennedy, Corrine Koslo, Peter Krantz,
Catherine McGregor, Nicole Underhay, Norm Browning and Laurie Paton to name a
few. They have been replaced by a few recognizable names from Stratford
(Michael Therriault, Yanna McIntosh) and lots of fresh new faces.
For his second season,
Carroll is again shaking the tree of tradition at Shaw. His 2018 offerings
include: a popular American musical Grand Hotel featuring the return of Shaw favorite Deborah Hay; the world premiere of C.S.
Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew directed
by Carroll, the satirical WWI musical Oh
What a Lovely War directed by Peter Hinton, O’Flaherty V.C. a Shaw Lunchtime One-Act, the Canadian premiere of
Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the
Baskervilles, Sarah Ruhl’s contemporary play Stage Kiss, The Baroness and
the Pig by Michael Mackenzie with Stratford’s lovely Yanna McIntosh, the
world premiere of The Orchard by
Sarena Parmar, the Shaw’s first Shakespeare production in its long history Henry V, two seldom seen Shavian shorts How He Lied to Her Husband and The Man of Destiny, and last but not
least, three different evenings with humorist Stephen Fry again with Carroll at
the helm. While certainly rich in
content, the 2018 season is missing one important element in my opinion. For the
first time in the Shaw’s 57 year history, the festival will not produce a full length
play by its namesake.
Another exciting development
over the past nine years has been the addition of an intimate fourth
performance venue – The Studio Theatre (which seats just under 200 patrons).
The new facility which was renamed last year to the Maxwell Studio Theatre has hosted
such diverse productions as John Osborne’s The
Entertainer starring Benedict Campbell, Caryl Churchill’s provocative
contemporary play Serious Money, When the Rains Stop Falling, Topdog/Underdog,
Helen’s Necklace, The Mountaintop, The Intelligent
Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures,
Middletown and the 2013 megahit production of Tom Stoppard’s theatrical gem
Arcadia, which later transferred to
Toronto for an additional run in 2014, August Strindberg masterwork The Dance of Death which featured the
all-world cast of Jim Mezon and Fiona Reid directed by Martha Henry. This year
with the closing of the Court House Theatre three of the mainstage productions
will move to this intimate flexible space. The change in venue will certainly
be a boon to the senior citizens, who often found it quite daunting to traverse
the long steep stairs in the old Court House Theatre.
2018 SHAW SEASON AT A GLANCE
Festival Theatre
The Magician’s Nephew – April 4 to October 13
Grand Hotel
– May 3 to October 14
Mythos: A Trilogy Gods. Heroes. Men – May 24 to July 15
The Hound of the Baskervilles – August 1 to October 27
Royal George Theatre
Stage Kiss
– April 11 to September 1
Of Marriage and Men: A Comedy Double Bill – May 13 to September 2
O’Flaherty V.C. – May 31 to October 6
Oh What a Lovely War – July 14 to October 13
Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre
The Orchard (After Chekhov) – June 7 to September 1
The Baroness and the Pig – June 10 to October 6
Henry V –
July 22 to October 28
David’s recommendations for the 2018 season
Grand Hotel – (Starring
Deborah Hay and Directed by Eda Holmes)
The Hound of the Baskervilles – (Directed by Craig Hall)
Mythos – (Starring
Stephan Fry)
The three Shaw one acts
ALSO OF INTEREST AT OR NEAR THE SHAW FESTIVAL
Secret Theatre (For members
of the new Secret Theatre Club)
Reading Series
Pre and Post-show Chats
Beyond the Stage Events
Friends Days
Shaw Conference
Teen Workshops
Summer Camps
Teacher Days
Niagara Falls
Old Fort Erie/ Old Fort
Niagara
Wine country excursions
Lake activities
Theatre and Hotel Packages
PLAY INFORMATION
TICKET PRICES
Range from $25.00 CDN (student matinees) to $225.00 CDN (Mythos)
Rush seats are available day of show
$30 rate for patrons under 30 years of age at any theatre
There are also excellent student discounts and group rates
available
BOX OFFICE
1-800-511-7429 or
905-468-2172
FAX
1-905-468-3804
ACCOMODATIONS
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE BED and BREAKFAST ASSOCIATION (BBA) 905-468-0123 or 1-866-855-0123. Box 1228, Niagara-on-the-Lake L0S 1J0. www.bba.notl.on.ca Members are identified by BBA in the listings. Call or visit our website for a free availability search or to book online. We maintain high standards and adhere to a code of ethics. Book with a member.
ABOUT HISTORIC BED and BREAKFASTS IN OLD TOWN CENTRE www.historicbb.com These private homes, built before 1850, are within 4 short blocks of a theatre, dining and shops. Visit our website or contact the following homes in the Bed and Breakfast section: Adam Lockhart’s Storrington House, Annette Twining House, Apple Tree Bed and Breakfast, Barrett Cottage, B&B’s “Pacific”, Blaney House, Burns House, Davy House, Regent House, The Rogers-Harrison House, Royal Manor, Saltbox 1820 Cottage, Schoolmaster’s House. Open year-round. Central air. Full breakfasts. Private parking. Smoke-free. All rooms have private en-suite bathrooms. $125-$225.
ACCOMMODATION ALTERNATIVES NIAGARA www.accommodationalternativesniagara.com A fine selection of licensed cottages, apartments and homes in Niagara, suitable to those who prefer privacy and self-catering accommodations. Nightly from $150, weekly from $1,000.
Check this blog in August for reviews of many of the 2018 Shaw Festival productions.
The Stratford Festival
Located in the bucolic hills
of Southern Ontario in the working-class town of Stratford, The Stratford
Festival has grown from its humble beginnings in 1953 (two Shakespearean plays
produced in a tent) to one of the largest and most respected theatre festivals
in the world, now under the capable leadership of Antoni Cimolino.
Having completed a 50
million-dollar capital and endowment drive a few years back, long time patrons now
enjoy improvements at all four of the Festival’s theatre venues, upgraded
electronic services, and enhanced production quality on stage. Exciting indeed has been the addition of a
fourth stage known as the Studio Theatre located above the Avon Theatre. This
small flexible space, which opened five years ago, is now home to new works by
Canadian playwrights, workshops, productions, and for the first time in its
short history – Shakespeare. However,
the Studio Theatre only seats 260 patrons, so if you want to see a popular
production in the Studio Theatre, you need to purchase your tickets well in
advance. That will be especially true this year as the Tom Patterson Theatre
has been closed to make way for the construction of an entirely new state of
the art performance facility.
Variety has always been a
hallmark of the Stratford Festival, where works by Shakespeare, Marlowe,
Moliere and Ibsen share the stage with Broadway musicals and the comedies of Oscar
Wilde and Noel Coward and although Shakespeare did not dominate the large
Festival Stage under previous Artistic Director Des McAnuff, now that Director
Cimolino is entering his sixth season, the Bard has once again returned as the
artistic heart of the festival and will dominate the Festivals large Festival
Theatre mainstage again in 2018.
This year Shakespeare lovers
will be treated to three productions including The Tempest (Martha Henrey, Graham Abbey, Brent Carver, Lucy
Peacock, Tom McCamus and Stephen Ouimette and André Sills – under the direction
of Antoni Cimolino), The Comedy of
Errors, Coriolanus and Julius Caesar (Seana
McKenna). The 66th season will also feature another remount of the
always popular American musical The Music
Man (directed and choreographed by Donna Feore) on the Festival Stage while
the campy Off-Broadway hit musical The
Rocky Horror Show, glams up the Avon Theatre stage.
Other gems in the 66th
anniversary season include Eugene O’Neil’s masterwork Long Day’s Journey Into Night, a timely production of Oscar Wilde’s
political comedy An Ideal Husband, (starring
Tim Campbell and Brad Hodder) under the direction of Lezlie Wade, not to
mention a production of To Kill a
Mockingbird (starring Jonathan Goad) and a new adaptation of Eduardo De
Filippo’s rarely produced comic masterpiece Napoli
Milionaria! Add to the mix two world premieres of Brontë, an exciting adaptation of Paradise Lost (featuring Lucy Peacock) and you have 12 amazing
reasons to visit North America’s largest theatre festival this summer.
The US dollar has fluctuated
in recent years against the Canadian dollar and it has been rising again this
year, making the trip an outstanding value for 2018. With Broadway prices
soaring to $160-$500+ a ticket, it is hard to imagine that you could get more
“bang for your entertainment buck” anywhere in the world than in Ontario,
Canada.
STRATFORD SEASON AT A GLANCE
Festival Theatre
The Music Man – April 17 to November 3
To Kill a Mockingbird – May 4 to November 4
The Tempest
– May 10 to October 26
Julius Caesar – July 31 to October 27
Avon Theatre
The Rocky Horror Show
– April 27 to October 31
An Ideal Husband – May 11 to October 28
Coriolanus
– June 9 to October 20
Napoli Milionaria! – August 2 to October 27
Tom Patterson Theatre
No productions until the new theatre is completed
Studio Theatre
Long Day’s Journey Into Night – May 5 to October 13
The Comedy of Errors – May 15 to October 14
Brontë – June
6 to October 13
Paradise Lost – August 1 to October 14
David’s recommendations for the 2018 season
Paradise Lost (starring Lucy Peacock)
The Rocky Horror Show (starring Dan Chameroy)
Napoli Milionaria (starring Tom McCamus) (Directed by Antoni Cimolino)
The Tempest
(starring Martha Henry and Brent Carver)
Coriolanus (starring
André Sills)
ALSO OF INTEREST AT STRATFORD
The Festival Forum
Family Series Events
Stageside Chats
Festival Tours
Celebrated Writers Series
Night Music – Special
concerts each Monday evening June to August in the Festival Theatre
A wide assortment of
classes, workshops, special events.
PLAY INFORMATION
www.stratfordfestival.ca
TICKET PRICES
Range from $20.00 CAN to $191.00 CAN
Rush seats are available day of show
There are also excellent student discounts and group rates
available
BOX OFFICE
1-800-567-1600
ACCOMODATIONS
1-800-567-1600
I recommend the Swan Motel
(Downie Street South)
Phone: 519-271-6376
Fax: 519-271-0682
E-mail: info@swanmotel.ca
David Grapes has been a theatre producer/director/playwright/educator and freelance theatre journalist for over forty years. He holds a BA in Theatre from Glenville State College and an MFA in Acting/Directing from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. You can also read his theatre reviews on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheatreNewsandReviews?ref=br_tf or follow him on Instagram @theatredavid or on Twitter @davidgrapes.
