Stratford Season: Short Drive - World Class Theater

The biggest challenge when attending the Stratford Festival in Ontario Canada, the world class theater festival a comfortable 3-hour drive from Lansing, is what plays to NOT see.

The choices are difficult.  Stratford offers 12 plays - big and brash musicals, new works, classic theater, Shakespeare (of course), children’s plays, comedies and plenty of standards.  And sometimes the best plays are the ones you’ve never heard of before.

A few days at Stratford is like being at Disneyland for theater lovers: A charming town complete with a river and graceful swans, gourmet restaurants, lovely B&Bs and of course spectacular plays performed in comfortable theaters with stunning production value. I’m always frustrated by hearing about the great shows I missed.

For a recent trip I saw four plays: Nathan The Wise, Billy Elliot, Merry Wives of Windsor and Little Shop of Horrors.   They were presented in all three Stratford theaters (The Tom Patterson Theater, is being rebuilt and will open next spring).

After a long drive to Stratford, beginning in Cleveland, I was a little concerned if I would stay awake for a play I had never heard of.  But Nathan the Wise was a compelling drama, beautifully acted and directed with the entire audience completely engaged. 

Written in 1779 by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing during the German Enlightenment, Nathan takes place in 12^th century Jerusalem. It was a time when Jerusalem was run by a Sultan and Jews, Christians, and Muslims all got along well together.

The 12-person cast includes a dervish, a Knight Templar, a Christian Brother, soldiers, a Jewish merchant and many other interesting characters.  Although the play is wordy, the interacting of all these wild mixes of different people, mixing elements of politics, religion, family and business is endlessly fascinating. 

Director Birgit Schreyer Duarte had a minimalist set but kept a firm hand on weaving the many issues being discussed – issues that are still relevant today, as illustrated by the modern clothing the actors wore.

The only Shakespeare I saw was the comedy Merry Wives of Windsor.  This production was directed by the artistic director of the Festival, Antoni Cimolino and features many long-time Stratford stars.

The setting for Merry Wives is the 50’s, in a brick house not unlike the houses in Stratford, Ontario itself. 

It was a tight, enthusiastic and very funny production – Stratford at its best. The design was superb, complete with poodle skirts, letter tee shirts, a very inventive beauty shop and a house that never stopped evolving to accommodate the many scenes of the play. The entire stage was a feast for the eyes.

The play features one of Shakespeare’s most favorite characters, the rotund Falstaff, played here by Geraint Wyn Davies.  Along with fellow Shakespeare pros, Davies displayed a dazzling array of sight gags, physical jokes and of course Shakespeare’s astounding language. 

This goofy comedy keeps the audience laughing from beginning to end and is a wonderful introduction to Shakespeare for all newbies to the Bard.

One cannot diminish the importance of musicals to Stratford.  Thanks to choreographer and director Donna Feore, Stratford’s musicals draw full houses regularly.  And while lovers of musicals don’t necessarily love Shakespeare, Stratford is confident that they will try out some of their more serious fare along with the song and dance and may broaden their interests and give the Festival a broader audience. 

Last year, Feore’s production of “The Rocky Horror Show” was extended into December, making it the longest running show in Stratford’s history.

This year, again, Feore is directing and choreographing both musicals.

The first one I saw was Billy Elliot and it is already a big Stratford hit.  If you remember, this was a popular movie several years ago, and Elton John created a musical from it. 

Somewhat based on truth, it tells the story of an 11`-year-old boy growing up in a coal mining town in northern England that is going through a huge labor crisis.  The town is filled with tough, brawny miners but Billy finds his calling from ballet dancing. This causes problems with his family and the townspeople.

They imported a talented dancer/actor, Nolen Dubuc along with his family, from Vancouver for the lead role. And he is true triple threat – a talented dancer, singer and actor.  He supports the entire show and he does so brilliantly.

Dubuc exudes pathos and depth when he sings “The Letter” along with his dancing teacher (Blythe Wilson) and his dead mother (Vanessa Sears). It’s the high point of the play.

As expected, Feore creates stunning dances, mostly for the men, and manages to make sense of her huge cast.  I have never been a big fan of Billy Elliot, and this production, even though it was first class, did not change my mind.

For me, the one play, that I could not find fault with was Little Shop of Horrors.  This small quirky, dark show was done masterfully.

Presented in the Avon Theater (similar to a Broadway house) this R&B/Motown-style show hummed along with humor, edginess and spectacular performances.

I have seen this show several times, and it’s difficult to get the pieces to work well together: the trio of girl singers styled after the Supremes, the down and dirty blues singer who voices the man-eating plant , the masochistic dentist and the three stars: Seymour the nebbish flower shop worker, his heartthrob Audrey, and Mushnik, the owner of shop. 

Each role is distinctive and must sell the character with conviction, which they did.

Donna Feore hit the bull’s eye with this show.  The trio sings with great pizazz and each time they appear on stage they are in different costumes along with fresh choreography. You never know what to expect when they sashay in front of the footlights

Stratford revels in creating spectacular sets and props, and they really did their thing with creating Audrey 2, the plant.  It is cute, evil and scary, all at once.

The show’s big song is the quintessential belter, “Suddenly Seymour”.  Gabi Epstein and Andre Morin sang the tune with their full passion and power.  It was a stunner. 

I’ve never seen Little Shop of Horrors done better.

The Festival continues through October.  For tickets and information, go online to stratfordfestival.ca