Stratford Shakespeare Festival production history explained
This page describes the production history of the Stratford Festival.
The Stratford Festival (formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival, the Stratford Festival of Canada, and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival) is a summer-long celebration of theatre held each year in Stratford, Ontario.[1] Theatre-goers, actors, and playwrights flock to Stratford to take part—many of the greatest Canadian, American and British actors have played 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 Gilbert and Sullivan to Broadway musicals to contemporary works. By 2017, only three of the 14 productions were based on Shakespeare's works.[2] The following is a chronological list of the productions that have been staged as part of the Stratford Festival since its inception.
On February 17, 2015, AP News reported that the Stratford Festival plans to film all of Shakespeare's plays.[3]
1953
1954
- Measure for Measure – by William Shakespeare
- The Taming of the Shrew – by William Shakespeare
- Oedipus Rex – by Sophocles
1955
- Julius Caesar – by William Shakespeare
- King Oedipus – by Sophocles
- The Merchant of Venice – by William Shakespeare
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
- King John – by William Shakespeare
- A Midsummer Night's Dream – by William Shakespeare
- Romeo and Juliet – by William Shakespeare
- H.M.S. Pinafore – music by Arthur Sullivan, libretto by W. S. Gilbert
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
The 1986 season was staged by Artistic Director John Neville with Shakespeare plays produced against a modern play with similar themes or characters (i.e. Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead).[4]
1987
Artistic Director John Neville staged the 1987 season with an Anti-War theme.[4]
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
The 2013 season was staged by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino around the themes of Societies Divided and The Outsider
2014
The 2014 season was staged by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino around the theme of Madness: Minds Pushed to the Edge
2015
The 2015 season was staged by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino around the theme of Discovery, with a selection of 13 plays that explore "eureka" moments
2016
The 2016 season was staged by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino around the theme of After the Victory
2017
The 2017 season was staged by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino around the theme of Questions of Identity
2018
For the 2018 season, Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino has chosen 12 productions that explore the theme of Free Will
2019
For the 2019 season, Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino has chosen 12 productions that explore the theme of Breaking Boundaries
2020
The 2020 season had a theme of Power, and was to mark the opening of the new Tom Patterson Theatre Centre.
In March 2020, as preparations for the upcoming season were underway, the Festival was forced to announce performance cancellations and layoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A month later, the entire 2020 season was put on hold and effectively cancelled. Just before the season's cancellation, Cimolino announced that all productions that had been filmed as part of the Stratford Festival On Film series would be streamed online for free, with a different production being shown each week. Throughout the summer of 2020, the Festival produced four web series which, along with all the filmed productions and other Stratford documentaries and interviews, were launched in October 2020 on the new Stratfest@Home web streaming service. Some of the cancelled stage productions were presented in subsequent seasons.
2021
In April 2021, the Stratford Festival announced a season of plays and cabarets, most of which took place under canopies outside the Festival and Tom Patterson Theatres with reduced cast sizes and social distancing. Only Three Tall Women was presented indoors at the Studio Theatre. The 2021 season theme was metamorphosis.[5]
Plays
- Three Tall Women – by Edward Albee
- R + J – by William Shakespeare, adapted by Ravi Jain, Christine Horne & Alex Bulmer
- A Midsummer Night's Dream – by William Shakespeare
- The Rez Sisters – by Thomson Highway
- I Am William – by Rébecca Déraspe
- Serving Elizabeth – by Marcia Johnson
Cabarets
- Why We Tell the Story: A Celebration of Black Musical Theatre – curated and directed by Marcus Nance
- You Can't Stop the Beat: The Enduring Power of Musical Theatre – curated and directed by Thom Allison
- Play On! A Shakespeare-Inspired Mixtape – curated and directed by Robert Markus, Julia Nish-Lapidus and James Wallis
- Freedom: Spirit and Legacy of Black Music – curated and directed by Beau Dixon
- Finally There's Sun: A Cabaret of Resilience – curated and directed by Sara Farb and Steve Ross
2022
2023
2024
Frequency of production of Shakespeare's plays
Comedies
- The Tempest - 1962, 1976, 1982, 1992, 1999, 2005, 2010, 2018
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona - 1975, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2010
- The Merry Wives of Windsor - 1956, 1967, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1995, 2011, 2019
- Measure for Measure - 1954, 1969, 1975, 1976, 1985, 1992, 2005, 2013
- The Comedy of Errors - 1963, 1975, 1981, 1989, 1994, 1995, 2007, 2018
- Much Ado About Nothing - 1959, 1971, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1998, 2006, 2012, 2023
- Love's Labour's Lost - 1961, 1974, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1992, 2003, 2008, 2015, 2023
- A Midsummer Night's Dream - 1960, 1968, 1976, 1977, 1982, 1984, 1989, 1993, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2021
- The Merchant of Venice - 1955, 1970, 1976, 1984, 1989, 1996, 2001, 2007, 2013
- As You Like It - 1959, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1996, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2016
- The Taming of the Shrew - 1954, 1962, 1973, 1979, 1981, 1988, 1997, 2003, 2008, 2015
- All's Well That Ends Well - 1953, 1977, 1982, 1988, 2002, 2008, 2022
- Twelfth Night - 1957, 1966, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1994, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2017, 2024
- The Winter's Tale - 1958, 1978, 1986, 1998, 2010
- Pericles, Prince of Tyre - 1973, 1974, 1986, 2003, 2015
- The Two Noble Kinsmen - 2002
Histories
- King John - 1960, 1974, 1993, 2004, 2014
- Richard II - 1964, 1979, 1983, 1999, 2016, 2023
- Henry IV, Part 1 - 1958, 1965, 1979, 1984, 2001, 2006, 2016
- Henry IV, Part 2 - 1965, 1979, 2001, 2016
- Henry V - 1966, 1980, 1989, 2001, 2012, 2016
- Henry VI, Part 1 - 1966, 1980, 2002
- Henry VI, Part 2 - 1966, 1980, 2002
- Henry VI, Part 3 - 1966, 1980, 2002
- Richard III - 1953, 1967, 1977, 1988, 1997, 2002, 2011, 2022
- Henry VIII - 1961, 1986, 2004, 2019
Tragedies
- Troilus and Cressida - 1963, 1987, 2003
- Coriolanus - 1961, 1981, 1997, 2006, 2018
- Titus Andronicus - 1978, 1980, 1989, 2000, 2011
- Romeo and Juliet - 1960, 1968, 1977, 1984, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2008, 2013, 2017, 2021, 2024
- Timon of Athens - 1963, 1991, 2004, 2017
- Julius Caesar - 1955, 1965, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1998, 2009, 2018
- Macbeth - 1962, 1971, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2016
- Hamlet - 1957, 1969, 1976, 1986, 1991, 1994, 2000, 2008, 2015, 2022
- King Lear - 1964, 1971, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1996, 2002, 2007, 2014, 2023
- Othello - 1959, 1973, 1979, 1987, 1994, 2007, 2013, 2019
- Antony and Cleopatra - 1967, 1976, 1993, 2003, 2014
- Cymbeline - 1970, 1986, 2004, 2012, 2024
Note: All 3 parts of Henry VI were performed in 1966 and 1980 in an abridged version. In 2002, using the Barton/Hall method of combining 1 Henry VI with the first half of 2 Henry VI, and the second half of 2 Henry VI with 3 Henry VI, the plays were renamed Henry VI: Revenge in France and Henry VI: Revolt in England. In 2016, "Richard II" and "1 Henry IV" were combined as were "2 Henry IV" and "Henry V". The Plays were renamed "Breath of Kings: Rebellion" and "Breath of Kings: Redemption".
Works by other authors produced three times or more
- Alice Through the Looking-Glass - 1994, 1996, 2014
- The Cherry Orchard - 1965, 1987, 1998
- Cyrano de Bergerac - 1962/1963, 1994, 2009
- The Gondoliers - 1962, 1983/1984, 1995
- Guys and Dolls - 1990, 2004, 2017
- H.M.S. Pinafore - 1960, 1981, 1992, 2017
- The Importance of Being Earnest - 1975/1976, 1979, 1993, 2009
- Long Day's Journey into Night - 1980, 1994/1995, 2018
- The Mikado - 1963, 1982/1983/1984, 1993
- The Music Man - 1996, 2008, 2018
- Oedipus Rex - 1954/1955, 1988, 1997, 2015
- The Pirates of Penzance - 1961/1962, 1985, 1994, 2012
- Private Lives - 1978, 2001, 2019
- The School for Scandal - 1970, 1987, 1999, 2017
- She Stoops to Conquer - 1972/1973, 1985, 2015
- Tartuffe - 1968/1969, 1983/1984, 2000, 2017
- The Three Musketeers - 1968, 1988, 2000, 2013
- Waiting for Godot - 1968, 1984, 1996, 1998, 2013
External links
Notes and References
- http://www.cbc.ca/arts/theatre/story/2007/07/17/stratford-festival.html CBC Arts report,, 2007
- Web site: WHAT'S ON . . 2016 . Stratford Festival . Stratford Festival . 6 March 2017 . DISCOVER OUR 2017 PLAYBILL.
- News: Kennedy . Mark . Stratford Festival plans to film all Shakespeare's plays . February 17, 2015 . . February 17, 2015 .
- Robert Cushman, Stratford Festival of Canada. Fifty Seasons at Stratford. Madison Press Books.
- Web site: Stratford Festival. Stratford Festival.