The words bring back memories of high school English classes and of a young Will Shakespeare courting Anne Hathaway. To travelers in England, it also reminds one of the Royal Shakespeare Theater on the banks of the Avon River and of its spectacular productions of classic plays.

Four venues host numerous shows from April through November, as the Stratford Festival - in part a celebration of William Shakespeare (sfatue at lower left) and his work - enjoys its 54th year.
Stratford on Avon also exists in the New World and a relatively easy eight hour drive from Chicago in southwestern Ontario. It's three hours east of Detroit with limited access highways most of the way. For the past 53 years, Stratford has been the home to North America's version of its English ancestor. This year's season at the Stratford Festival of Canada runs from Apr. 19 until Nov. 6 and attracts visitors from across the U.S. and Canada. Audiences are offered top-of-the-line performances and talent in drama, musical theater, contemporary productions and classical Shakespearean plays in four venues in this town of only 30,000 people.

Stratford, Ontario was founded in the 19th century as a railroad town and became a major center for all three Canadian railroads when locomotive repair shops opened there. It was a one industry town.

When the rail lines closed their shops in the early 1950's, the town was economically devastated. Among a number of actions designed to bring about an economic revival, local resident Tom Patterson organized a committee to explore the possibility of creating an annual Shakespearean festival. He called on Tyrone Guthrie, a famous Irish producer and director to form the core company that has since developed into a world recognized theatrical presence.

The Festival Theater, a structure built exclusively for the annual performances houses most of the classic productions as well as the musicals. Seating 1,824 people, it boasts a thrust stage designed by Tyrone Guthrie and constructed during the years of his tenure in Stratford. The stage can be reset within 1-1Ž2 hours to permit both matinee and evening shows of different plays. While we were there, we saw "As You Like It" and "The Tempest" both Shakespearean and both excellent experiences. The former was staged in costumes dating to the 1960's and, though the language was original, the plot seemed somehow to adapt to those unsettling times. "The Tempest" featured William Hutt as Prospero. Now at age 83, it's a role he has performed countless times in the past and if it could ever be said of anyone, he owns the part. Though Hutt has announced this is to be his final season of performing, he is at the top of his form and literally commands the stage when he appears.

Of the four venues, one, named for Tom Patterson, holds its 487 member audience close to the action in unique ways. Using a thrust stage, the audience surrounds the players on three sides. We were present at a performance of an adaptation of the Dostoyevsky novel, "The Brothers Karamazov." This world premier handled the complexities of the difficult book quite well.

The Festival's third venue is the Avon, a converted 1904 theater which later became a movie and was renovated into a proscenium stage in 2002 seating 1,093 people. The production of Tennessee William's "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof," was outstanding. While it's unfair to review preview presentations of plays and though the official opening of the season at Stratford doesn't get underway until early June, the degree of professionalism shown during the preview performances we witnessed bodes well for the entire season. The final venue is The Studio, a small house which presents experimental theater.

We were fortunate to tour the back stage area of the Festival Theater. All costumes and props are made in-house. As a result a crew of about 150 people sew and construct the things that are a part of the theatrical ambiance. It's said that there is such a thing as stage magic. If that's true, the magic is fashioned from fiber glass, Styrofoam, foam rubber and metal to create illusions that, to the audience, look like the real thing. Until you've handled a ham sandwich with cheese, mustard and white bread that is entirely made of foam rubber, you haven't seen the effects of a prop makerŒs artistry. Tours of this sort are available to the public through the Festival office. We also visited the costume warehouse, another place where magic is the rule. Costumes from each production are carefully labeled, stored and inventoried for future use. Stratford has the largest collection of costumes on the East coast and one of the world's largest assortments of props and historical artifacts. While each costume used in a production is designed and tailored to fit the actor in the role, the same play might be set in several different periods. For example, "As You Like It" was previously presented as the experience of outcasts arriving in colonial Canada in the 1700's. Obviously, 18th Century costuming and hippie costumes from the 1960's bore no resemblance to each other, but each were used with the same lines and plot twists.

There are also the props ‹ crowns, swords, armor, hats and wigs, furniture and china, table wear and plates with entrees ready to serve a picnic or a feast. Everything necessary to bring a drama to life and fulfill the expectation of an audience is a part of the collection. Bins are filled with antique typewriters and telephones from every era. There is a vast collection of crowns sufficient to top virtually every crowned head that ever reigned in Europe.

Over 1,000 people find employment at the Festival fulfilling Tom Patterson's dream to help support Stratford's population. As the largest repertory company in North America, the Festival also maintains a conservatory. Each year, 13 people are accepted into the program which pays the participants a full wage and offers them the opportunity to audition for Festival productions after they complete their training. This year there are fourteen different shows on the four stages in Stratford with some of the talented cast members appearing on several of them.

In addition to the industry created by the Festival, there are some 200 bed and breakfast establishments open for visitors to Stratford. It's a small town with nothing located more than a couple of miles from its center. Our stay at The Old Rectory Bed and Breakfast was delightful. Its owners are both accomplished chefs and their breakfasts attest to their experience. From there, it's about a three block walk to the center of town which boasts a range of shops and restaurants that would do credit to much larger cities. Later, we spent a couple of nights at the Swan Motel located on the outskirts of the town, yet only two miles from the center. It's a quiet, beautifully-maintained facility in a park like setting. One thing that impressed us was the fact that most of the establishments we visited had a huge percentage, in some cases as high as 80 percent, of their clientele returning year after year.

Dining in Stratford is also a treat. It's apparent that people who enjoy classical theater also relish gourmet dining and several restaurants in Stratford cater to those tastes. The Church Restaurant, located in a renovated church structure is an outstanding example. The interior has multi-level seating and, while served by the same kitchen, the former Church belfry offers a less formal dining facility. Owner Mark Craft has operated The Church for the past 17 years. His menus reflect sophisticated tastes and entrée choices are wide ranging. The Bistro is another with its blackboard menu changing on a daily basis depending on what can be bought fresh from the market. Considering the fact that a U.S. dollar now buys about $1.25 Canadian dollars, Canadian dining is a relative bargain.

You can also picnic by the Avon river. At one time, the railroads wanted to use the banks of the river for their right-of-way. Wisely, the town fathers and the citizens of Stratford refused the railroad's request and decided, instead, to dedicate parkland along the river banks. They even imported a herd of swans who now glide gracefully through the water. Along the shore, picnic tables and benches offer a place to relax, to absorb the lessons of the dramatic productions and, incidentally, to feed the swans who have learned how to deal with tourists to their advantage. Some visitors stop at the nearby York Street Kitchen which allows you to build your own sandwich ‹ with a little help from owner Susie Palach.

In the classic movie, "The Maltese Falcon," Humphrey Bogart's curtain line paraphrases Prospero's line in "The Tempest "(It's) the stuff that dreams are made of." That is what makes the Stratford Festival such a defining experience. Your imagination might have been dulled by reality TV or movie special effects but here, in this tiny Canadian town, it can be revived, restored and polished into a brilliance that's not available in many places in the world.

Resources: Stratford Festival of Canada: 1-800-567-1600 www.stratfordfestival.ca Stratford Visitor's Bureau: 1-800-561-7926 www.city.stratford.on.ca The Old Rectory: 1-519-271-7498 www.oldrectorystratford.com Swan Motel: 1-519-271-6376 www.swanmotel.on.ca The Church Restaurant: 1-519-273-3424 www.churchrestaurant.com Back to top of page | Journal Home