Torquil Campbell, Adam Gopnik and Rufus Wainwright will debate and entertain
The Stratford Festival offers an invitation to see Shakespeare in a whole new light, channeled through
the remarkable perspectives of some of Canada’s most provocative
thinkers and performers,
Torquil Campbell, Adam Gopnik and Rufus Wainwright.
On Shakespeare’s birthday, April 23, the Festival will be in
Toronto to present the Shakespeare Slam, a thought-provoking and
irreverent event to mark the launch of the Festival’s newest initiative,
The Forum.
This celebration of culture – both classical
and pop – will look at how Shakespeare continues to entertain and
inspire in today’s world. Like The Forum itself, the evening will offer
insightful debate, along with music and other entertaining explorations.
“The Shakespeare Slam brings together three of the most original, lively and unpredictable talents we could find,” says
Antoni Cimolino, the Festival’s Artistic Director and creator of
The Forum. “They each have a love for Shakespeare and a passion for
creating new work that is on the most thoughtful edge of contemporary
culture. I, of course, have money on the outcome
and predict it will be a monstrously entertaining evening.”
To start the evening, one of Canada’s most famous essayists,
New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik, will face off against the country’s favourite hipster
Torquil Campbell, lead singer of the indie rock band Stars and
cultural contributor to CBC’s Q. The subject of their polemic: classical
or pop culture – which has the reigning impact on our world?
Rufus Wainwright, singer, songwriter and
composer extraordinaire, will take the evening to new heights with a
performance of some of his own songs set to Shakespeare’s words.
The Slam will also feature a musical performance by Torquil Campbell, accompanied by multi-instrumentalist
Julian Brown. They will perform Stars hits that are part of a new theatrical work, currently described as a reflection on
Hamlet, which Mr. Campbell is developing for the Stratford Festival with Ann-Marie MacDonald and Alisa Palmer.
Mr. Cimolino is launching The Forum in this, his
first season as Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival, as part of a
new direction – one he hopes will make a visit to Stratford an
all-encompassing, stimulating and immersive cultural
experience.
“Through the diverse offerings of The Forum, I hope
that we can offer transformational experiences that will allow our
productions to resonate more deeply and personally with each patron,”
says Mr. Cimolino.
“We have to offer audiences more ways to explore
the work on our stages, to make the connections between the great
classic plays and life today,” he says. “As part of that, it is critical
to have contemporary voices alongside those of ancient
times: it anchors our current experience to the bedrock of hard-won
knowledge of those who came before us. The Shakespeare Slam will provide
a taste of what is to come at Stratford, with diverse perspectives that
stimulate, provoke and challenge our perceptions
and assumptions about our work and our society.”
The Shakespeare Slam will be held at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23, at Koerner Hall, 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto.
Tickets, priced from $30 to $45, $20 for students,
go on sale Tuesday, February 26, and are available through the Stratford
Festival box office, at 1.800.567.1600, or Koerner Hall’s Weston Family
Box Office, at 416.408.0208.
Support for the inaugural season of The Forum is
generously provided by Kelly and Michael Meighen, with media sponsorship
provided by
The Walrus.
The Stratford Festival’s 2013 season also begins on April 23. It features
Romeo and Juliet, Fiddler on the Roof, The Three Musketeers,
The Merchant of Venice, Tommy, Blithe Spirit, Othello,
Measure for Measure, Mary Stuart, Waiting for Godot, Taking Shakespeare and
The Thrill, along with more than 150 Forum events.
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