Ontario's Stratford Festival: It Starts with a Fanfare…

By Arnie Greenberg
Contact Arnie at ultours@gmail.com

(There is nothing more thrilling than the opening fanfare, seen above, at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, says Arnie Greenberg. All photos courtesy the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada)

Every time I hear the trumpet fanfare at the Stratford Festival, the hair rises on the back of my neck. There is something magical of those trumpets, as they call the ticket holders into the impressive Festival Theatre.

That doesn't mean that it is less enticing to attend the other theatres attached to the Festival. I just get a personal charge as the trumpeters appear on the balcony above the waiting crowd.
The curtain is going up. That's been the message here since 1957. Countless theatergoers have thrilled to what has been offered on the Festival theatre stage.

And what a stage it is! There is no place in the theatre from which people have difficulty seeing the excitement that unfolds. You are captured as the actors appear and bring you the best possible renditions of some of Shakespeare's greatest plays.

(The Stratford Festival Theatre at Stratford)

And it's not only Shakespeare that you will see here. This season, the Festival offers King Lear with Brian Bedford -- the director playing the lead in what many say is the bard's greatest tragedy.

The great and celebrated Canadian actor Graham Green is Shylock in the controversial and popular Merchant of Venice.

But if it's musicals that you enjoy and you want to relive the escapades of Curly and Jud Fry in the untamed wilderness of the human heart, you can see Rodgers and Hammerstein's charming Oklahoma. This turn-of-the century story will send you home humming.

If it's a good laugh you want, there is also a chance to see Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband. It asks the question: 'Is it social convention or true love that makes for an ideal marriage?'
Richard Monette, the talented artistic director of the Festival, will direct this witty offering himself.

(The interior of the Avon Theatre at Stratford)

But there are other theatres as well. At the refitted Avon Theatre you can see Peter Donaldson as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, based on the Pulitzer Prize novel by Harper Lee and dramatized by Christopher Sergel.

For music lovers there's George Gershwin's My One and Only, whch includes popular golden oldies like 'S'wonderful' and 'Nice work if You Can Get It'.

The Avon also offers The Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare's wild comedy about mistaken identity. Richard Monette will direct a super cast of experienced Stratford actors. It will be his 14th and last season as Artistic Director. This will be the 200th Shakespearean production.

(An artist's rendering of a theatre tent going up at Stratford. Admire it when you stroll the grounds)

The Tom Patterson Theatre and the Studio Theatre will offer Othello with Philip Akin as Othello and Jonathan Goad as treacherous Iago.This is a must for me. But there are other interesting items on the agenda, too, like Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men with Graham Greene as Lennie.

From July 29 to September 23, you can see some of Stratford's great names, like Martha Henry, and Fiona Reid, who join the cast of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance.

Unfortunately, the great Stratford actor, William Hutt, who had decided to return to the stage in A Delicate Balance after retiring in 2005, cited medical reasons for not returning this year after all.
The Toronto-born actor, who was the mainstay of a celebrated cast for so many years, is now 87 years old. He stated that he could not fulfill the requirements of the rehearsal and performance schedule. At 87 the stressful demands would be too much.

(The actor William Hutt)

Hutt appeared regularly since 1953 and was awarded the Order of Canada. He has a star on Canada's Walk of Fame and was one of the first people to receive the Governor General's Lifetime Achievement Awards.

I was in the audience two years ago for the last play William Hutt appeared in at Stratford. As Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest, Hutt was still a major presence. Stratford will go on but there will be something missing without William Hutt on the stage.

(Night descends on the Studio Theatre)

But that's not all, as the Studio Theatre offers the acclaimed Australian play, The Blond, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead. In the same theatre you can also see Seana McKenna in a one-woman show about Anne Hathaway. It is simply called Shakespeare's Will by Canadian Vern Theissen.

The other two plays at the Studio are The Odyssey
by Nobel Prize winner Derek Walcott about Caribbean traditions. And to complete the series, the David Edgar play, Pentecost, searches for the connections between art and identity.

That's obviously too much for one visit. Some people return again and again. You must select your plays in advance, as sales are brisk at this time of the year. But that's not the only thing to do in this historical Ontario town.

(Rent a canoe or take a river tour on the Avon River, which meanders through town)

Since a river, aptly named the Avon, meanders through town you can canoe or take a river tour, or you can picnic at the water's edge as the beautiful white swans drift by.

The town has no end of bed and breakfast accommodations, great bars and restaurants, and excellent golf. There are lectures about the plays, backstage tours or many music nights starting on June 25 with Broadway Favorites. There are buffet lunches or dinner followed by a talk on one of the plays. I'll be at the King Lear talk on July 18.

(A statue of the bard himself is seen in the distance in this lovely Elizabethan garden setting you can savor at the Stratford Festival)

You can meet celebrated writers for readings and discussions. Here's a chance to listen to the words of Margaret Atwood and that of Austin Clarke, whose The Polished Hoe won him a prestigious Giller Prize.

There are workshops, courses and even a Shakespeare school. It never ends. How can you miss what hundreds of thousands have witnessed over the years!

(Antoni Cimolino, at left, Executive Director, talks theatre at the Tom Patterson Theatre)

The rest is up to you. It's a short jaunt on super highways from Detroit, Chicago, Toronto or Montreal. It's there with its arms open, waiting for you. For further information, call toll free at (800) 567-1600 or visit www.stratfordfestival.ca. Ask for the 2007 booklet that lists hotels, restaurants and all ticket information. And if that's not enough, it's all in Canadian dollars.

My recommendation is The Victorian Inn on the Park. This modern hotel is near the Avon River and within walking distance of the Festival Theatre. Call (800) 465-4106 or you can visit www.victorian-inn.on.ca.

No need to worry about your car in this fully air-conditioned hotel nestled in a verdant parkland with an 18-hole golf course just across the road. I have never failed to enjoy my stay there.

Do it quickly. The curtain is going up and the trumpeters are poised to herald you into Canada's most prestigious theatre.