STRATFORD: The Plays and the Place

 

After a two year, COVID-imposed respite, Ontario’s world-famous Stratford Festival is back. And it’s better than ever.

It’s better because in an addition to the stunningly produced plays, the festival just opened their newest theater, The Tom Patterson Theatre.

For many years, the festival had rented a city recreational center located along the banks of the Avon River and built a 500-seat theater inside that was deconstructed each year to make room for badminton courts in the winter.

They finally bought the building, razed it and built a magnificent structure that is artistic, high tech, beautiful and functional. Completed in 2020, the new Tom Patterson has been waiting for two years for enthusiastic audiences to fill up the glittering space with laughter, conversation and applause.

A trip to Stratford is always more than seeing top quality theater, It is also for taking in the charming city itself; its lovely gardens, good restaurants, European-looking downtown area and a picturesque river to walk beside. 

It’s about the plays and the place.

On my recent visit (3.5 hour drive from Lansing), I saw a musical, two Shakespeare plays and one modern adaptation of an American classic.

First, let’s clear up some misconceptions. It is not called the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, just the Stratford Festival.  That’s because it presents plays of every conceivable variety – classics, childrens, musicals, modern, and the newly commissioned. In addition, Stratford also offers a full list of lectures and discussions in their Forum series.

Our trip began with the highly anticipated Chicago, the musical by Kander and Ebb. For about fifteen years, most of the musicals at Stratford have been directed and choreographed by Donna Feore.  They have been bold, creative and extremely popular. This will no doubt be remembered as the Donna Feore era.

Presented in the 2000 seat Festival Stage, this newly conceived staging of the longest running Broadway musical was remarkable. One of Stratford’s trademarks is its high production value – costumes, sets, lights, wigs, shoes are all created at the festival. Chicago was overwhelming in sparkles and colors.

As in all Feore directed shows, this one was filled with explosive energy and personality. The production numbers sizzled with athletic dancing that captivated the audience. Although the leggy chorus girls were set up to be the centerpiece of the numbers, I was fascinated by the muscular and brilliant dancing of the guys.

Stratford newcomer Chelsea Preston as Roxie Hart and Jennifer Rider Shaw as Velma Kelly both displayed charisma, but their dancing was better than their singing.

Steve Ross as sad sack Amos Hart brought pathos and sensitivity to his singing of Mr. Cellophane – a highpoint of the show. His strong acting and singing combined to bring forth a memorable moment. After numbers cluttered with dozens of singers and dancers, Ross took the stage by himself and brought the entire audience to him.

Next up was a new adaption (by Jordi Mand) of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Performed in the Broadway-style Avon Theater, this was a production that was powerful because of its simple but imaginative staging (directed by Esther Jun). The show I attended had an audience of about 70% female. The woman sitting next to me said with a smile, “You’re outnumbered here.” 

As the protagonist Jo, Allison Edwards-Crewe was phenomenal.  She truly created a unique character that was fully realized.  When she narrated the story, it was as if she was speaking to the audience who were all her best friends.  She was the driving force of the play.

I appreciated the diversity of the performance: varieties of race, body type, and age. Some unsettling aspects of the play were dance scenes that used modern music and choreography in a play that was set in the Edwardian era. It didn’t bother me, as I saw it making the play relevant for all periods of time.

This beautifully realized play is a perfect way of introducing young people to great theater (especially girls).

The next two plays I saw were staged in the new Tom Patterson theater. This $100 million theater is truly breathtaking. The exterior of the building has the shape of the movement of the river and surrounded by beautifully designed gardens of perennials.

Inside the building, the public space flows around the performance area with magnificent bars of red Italian and gold Greek marble.  The entire building was raised several feet during construction so the outside views from inside are focused on the adjoining river rather than the busy street in between.

The old Tom Patterson was beloved by actors because it had a unique extended thrust stage that brought them into the seating area to create an intimate environment with the audience. The same stage was duplicated in the new theater, but with a slightly larger seating capacity (650) and state of the art theatrical technology.  The sound, lights and acoustics are superb. No amplification is used on the stage.

The austere Richard III took full advantage of the new technology of the theater.  Directed by the festival’s artistic director, Antoni  Cimolino, this dark play was intense.  It featured a gallery of Stratford all-stars– Colm Feore, Seana McKenna, Lucy Peacock, Michael Blake and many others.

Feore was a fierce but human Richard, displaying severe body movements to underscore a painful life with scoliosis. The audience was enthralled with the words (easily heard by all), the poetry and how this story of violent leaders still speaks forcefully about our current global politics. The final battle scene was a display of brilliant directing and stagecraft.

The final play I saw was another Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well. Although the acting and production were excellent, this was the least satisfying of any play I saw this season. There were moments of levity and humor, but the story was not easy to understand and had moral questions.  It is considered by many as one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays”.

I kept thinking, if Shakespeare’s name was not associated with this play, would we still be watching it 500 years after it was first written.

Whenever I leave Stratford, I am disappointed by not having the time to see the other plays that intrigue me. There are always treasures, some I’ve never heard of, that I never see. Many theater junkies go back two or even three times during the season to catch them all.

Note: Be careful when ordering tickets, prices are high for the flashier productions. Look for bargains. Also, not all of the plays run for the entire season. Study the schedule carefully to see what is available.

For theater lovers, the beauty of the city plus the outstanding theater, culinary choices and fascinating lectures, make the Stratford Festival like a Disneyland for adults