The Stratford Festival’s 66th season in Stratford, Ontario, officially launches May 28 with the opening of The Tempest, featuring Martha Henry as Prospero.
Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino, who helms the Shakespeare classic, said, “Martha Henry’s return to the stage as Prospero promises to be a major theatrical event. Martha, one of our greatest artists, started her career at Stratford in 1962, playing Miranda in this magical play, so this is a wonderful full-circle moment.”
Six other productions also open this week; five additional stagings will follow throughout the summer.
The Music Man opens May 29 with Daren A. Herbert and Danielle Wade making their Stratford debuts. Donna Feore directs and choreographs the Tony-winning musical as well as The Rocky Horror Show, which will open June 2. The latter features Dan Chameroy as Frank N. Furter, Jennifer Rider-Shaw as Janet, and Sayer Roberts as Brad.
On May 30, Eugene O’Neill’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Long Day’s Journey Into Night, directed by Miles Potter, opens for Stratford audiences. The cast is led by Seana McKenna and Scott Wentworth as Mary and James Tyrone.
Oscar Wilde’s suspenseful comedy-drama An Ideal Husband opens May 31 with Tim Campbell, Brad Hodder, Sophia Walker, and Bahareh Yaraghi. Directed by Lezlie Wade, the production has set design by Douglas Paraschuk, costume design by Patrick Clark, and lighting design by Louise Guinand.
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Another Shakespeare classic, The Comedy of Errors, opens June 1. The modern reading with a gender-fluid production is directed by Keira Loughran. Among the cast are Beryl Bain, Jessica B. Hill, Qasim Khan, and Josue Laboucane.
To Kill a Mockingbird, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee and dramatized by Christopher Sergal, is the season’s Schulich Youth Play, opening the afternoon of June 2. Directed by Nigel Shawn Williams, the family-friendly production features Jonathan Goad as Atticus Finch and Irene Poole as Jean Louise.
The season's five additional productions are Brontë: The World Without, opening June 21; Coriolanus, opening June 22; Julius Caesar, opening August 16; and Paradise Lost and Napoli Milionaria!, both opening August 17.
For more information visit StratfordFestival.ca.
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