Stratford Festival

Stratford Festival’s 2024 season features a collection of 12 productions, together with more than 150 events at the Meighen Forum, reflecting on the idea of “A World Elsewhere.”

The 2024 season will feature three Shakespeare plays, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night and Cymbeline, along with the early Victorian comedy London Assurance by Dion Boucicault, the Ibsen masterpiece Hedda Gabler; the North American première of Wendy and Peter Pan, an adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s classic children’s book, by Ella Hickson; and Edward Albee’s 21st century classic The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?

Two musicals will be presented. The Festival Theatre will be home to the hilarious musical comedy Something Rotten!, with book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell and music and lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick. At the Avon Theatre, it’s the Tony Award-winning La Cage aux Folles, with book by Harvey Fierstein and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman.

The season will also feature three world premières: Salesman in China by Leanna Brodie and Jovanni Sy; a new adaptation of Margaret Laurence’s classic The Diviners by Vern Thiessen with Yvette Nolan; and Get That Hope by Andrea Scott.

FESTIVAL THEATRE

• Twelfth Night By William Shakespeare: Director Seana McKenna’s production of Shakespeare’s delightful comedy Twelfth Night will feature Laura Condlln as Malvolio and Jessica B. Hill as Viola, with Sarah Dodd as Maria, Deborah Hay as Feste, Vanessa Sears as Olivia, André Sills as Orsino, Scott Wentworth as Sir Toby Belch, and Rylan Wilkie as Sir Andrew Aguecheek.
• Something Rotten! – Book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell: Brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are playwrights toiling away in the shadow of the great William Shakespeare. Desperate for a hit, Nick visits a soothsayer who predicts that the next great thing in theatre will be something called “a musical.” Wary but trusting, the brothers set off to create a new theatrical genre – only to find Shakespeare wants in on the act. Featuring songs like “God, I Hate Shakespeare”, “Will Power” and “Hard to Be the Bard”, the Tony Award-winning musical Something Rotten! is perfect for the Stratford stage and for all audiences, whether they know and love Shakespeare or are just jumping on the bandwagon now.
• Romeo and Juliet By William Shakespeare: Director Sam White’s production of Shakespeare’s heartbreaking tragedy Romeo and Juliet will feature Jonathan Mason as Romeo and Vanessa Sears as Juliet, with Graham Abbey as Capulet, Jessica B. Hill as Lady Capulet, Andrew Iles as Mercutio, Glynis Ranney as Nurse, and Scott Wentworth as Friar Lawrence. When two young star-crossed lovers lock eyes across a crowded dance floor, their fate – and the fate of two rival families, the Capulets and Montagues – is sealed. The most celebrated romance of all time, Romeo and Juliet is a cautionary tale, timeless in its warning against insatiable revenge, blind hatred and familial pride.
• London Assurance By Dion Boucicault: This delightful comedy follows Sir Harcourt Courtly, an over-the-hill London fop, as he arrives at Oak Hall to claim his wealthy and scandalously young bride. But Courtly’s plan for a get-rich-quick weekend in the country is scuttled by the arrival of his dissolute son, Charles, disguised as “Augustus Hamilton,” and the witty Lady Gay Spanker. Celebrated as one of the great British stage comedies, London Assurance is a brilliant precursor to the works of Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw.

AVON THEATRE

• La Cage aux Folles, Book by Harvey Fierstein: Jean-Michel and Anne are deeply in love and about to get married. The only problem is their parents. Anne’s father is a politician and head of the Tradition, Family and Morality Party. Jean-Michel was raised by his two fathers, Georges, a nightclub owner, and Albin, a drag performer. Before the wedding occurs the two couples must be introduced. The orchestration of that meeting makes for hilarious theatre with a touching and emotional conclusion. Winner of 11 Tony Awards and two Oliviers, La Cage aux Folles was also adapted into a hugely successful movie, The Bird Cage, starring Nathan Lane and Robin Williams. The hit musical La Cage aux Folles, directed by Thom Allison, will feature Sean Arbuckle as Georges and Steve Ross as Albin, with Juan Chioran as Edouard Dindon and M. Renaud, James Daly as Jean-Michel, Aidan deSalaiz as Francis and Heather Kosik as Anne.
• Wendy and Peter Pan Adapted by Ella Hickson: Ella Hickson’s beautiful adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s beloved Peter Pan puts Wendy centre stage in a reimagined journey to Neverland, home of Hook and the Lost Boys. This thoroughly modern adventure delivers the same unforgettable thrills, spills and fairy dust of the original tale, along with a powerfully moving twist. Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, it opened to rave reviews and now the Stratford Festival has secured the rights to the North American première.
• Salesman in China By Leanna Brodie and Jovanni Sy: In 1983 Arthur Miller travels to China to collaborate with another giant of the theatre, actor and translator Ying Ruocheng. Their vision is to mount a Mandarin version of Death of a Salesman with Ying in the iconic role of Willy Loman and Miller directing (despite not speaking a word of Chinese). They soon confront the challenges of staging a play about the American Dream in the heart of Communist China. Against enormous obstacles and with the world watching, Ying and Miller must discover whether art can indeed build bridges between two seemingly irreconcilable cultures.

TOM PATTERSON THEATRE

• Cymbeline By William Shakespeare: Imogen, daughter of the monarch Cymbeline, has married against her parent’s wishes, but this is only the beginning of her woes. When her husband is tricked by the villainous Iachimo into believing her unfaithful, Imogen embarks on a daring adventure to clear her name. In the process she finds herself and a new family which helps pull back a world on the brink of war.
• Hedda Gabler By Henrik Ibsen: In Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen created one of the most fascinating heroines of the stage. Newly married to a man she finds uninteresting, Hedda becomes reacquainted with an old friend, a historian like her husband, with a fatal flaw that Hedda exploits out of jealousy. Ibsen, thought to be the father of modern drama, brings all of his skill to the character of Hedda, building an intricate psychological portrait of a woman out of step with her surroundings.
• The Diviners Based on the novel by Margaret Laurence: Considered a masterpiece of Canadian literature, Margaret Laurence’s The Diviners is the story of Morag Gunn, a woman who perseveres through every challenge life throws at her to become the person she was meant to be. Adapted by a team of some of Canada’s best theatre creators, The Diviners points us towards a path where we might reconcile with the injustices of our colonial past and achieve a collective peace.

STUDIO THEATRE

• The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? By Edward Albee: Martin is turning 50 and is at the top of his game. He has just become the youngest architect to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize. He has a perfect marriage and a loving son. But he can’t remember a damned thing! Probed by his best friend about his distraction, Martin makes a startling confession, one that will tear his life apart. Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, this drama was written by Edward Albee in 2000 and won the Tony Award for best play in 2002.
• Get That Hope By Andrea Scott: Daddy wants to win the lottery, Mommy’s still bitter about, well…everything, Simeon has war-related PTSD, and Rachel just wants to get out of her parents’ apartment and have a home of her own. It’s Jamaica’s Independence Day, sweltering, and everyone is on edge so, of course there’s a city-wide power outage. This new play by award-winning playwright and producer Andrea Scott, loosely inspired by Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, looks at a dysfunctional Jamaican-Canadian family that has no idea how to communicate without wounding. But never forget, “sometimes you need a little bit of suffering to get that hope.”

Tickets:

Varies

How to get tickets?

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April 16 to October 27, 2024 – Schedule

• Twelfth Night — April 26 to October 26 | Opens May 27
• Something Rotten! — April 16 to October 27 | Opens May 28
• Romeo and Juliet — May 6 to October 26 | Opens June 1
• London Assurance — August 7 to October 25 | Opens August 22
• La Cage aux Folles — May 6 to October 26 | Opens May 31
• Wendy and Peter Pan — May 21 to October 27 | Opens June 15
• Salesman in China — August 3 to October 26 | Opens August 23
• Cymbeline — May 10 to September 28 | Opens May 29
• Hedda Gabler — April 25 to September 28 | Opens May 30
• The Diviners — August 7 to October 2 | Opens August 24
• The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? — June 26 to September 29 | Opens August 9
• Get That Hope — July 21 to September 28 | Opens August 10