Stratford Festival’s opening week began with Antoni Cimolino’s production of Macbeth

STRATFORD, Ontario -- The Stratford Festival’s 64^th season – based on the theme After the Victory – got underway officially with the gala opening of Macbeth, directed by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino and featuring Ian Lake in the title role, with Krystin Pellerin as Lady Macbeth.

“Our creative teams, acting company and artisans have together made some of the most exciting and diverse experiences ever for Festival audiences,” says Mr. Cimolino. “Our season about victory and loss, I sense, will be a sure win for all who visit Stratford.”

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrkRb9nzgclViwu6zniqTly78dg2DGFN0

The week included five more openings:

·         A Chorus Line, directed and choreographed by Donna Feore, featuring Dayna Tietzen and Juan Chioran.

·         All My Sons, directed by Martha Henry, featuring Joseph Ziegler and Lucy Peacock

·         The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, directed by Tim Carroll, featuring Sara Farb, Ruby Joy, André Morin and Gareth Potter.

·         As You Like It, directed by Jillian Keiley, featuring Petrina Bromley, Cyrus Lane and Seana McKenna.

·         Shakespeare in Love, directed by Declan Donnellan, featuring Luke Humphrey and Shannon Taylor.

 

The 2016 season also includes about 200 events at the Stratford Festival Forum, featuring an impressive lineup of some of the world’s most engaging intellectuals, artists and cultural figures including James Shapiro, Shakespeare scholar and author of The Year of Lear; historian Margaret MacMillan; Harold Hongju Koh, legal advisor for the U.S. Department of State under Barack Obama; Tony-winning actress Donna McKechnie, who originated the role of Cassie in A Chorus Line; New York Post columnist Michael Riedel, author of the award-winning Broadway history Razzle Dazzle; defence lawyer Dennis Edney, who represented Omar Khadr; award-winning journalist and CBC foreign correspondent Nahlah Ayed; Retired Lieutenant-General, Senator and celebrated humanitarian Romeo Dallaire; award-winning author Jane Urquhart; criminal lawyer Donald Bayne, who recently represented Senator Mike Duffy; leading Indigenous author, poet and critic Lee Maracle; author Monia Mazigh, wife of Maher Arar; and Andrew Downes, director of mental health for the Canadian Armed Forces.

There is plenty more to come this season, with a second round of openings from June 21 to 22 featuring:

·         A Little Night Music, directed by Gary Griffin, featuring Ben Carlson, Cynthia Dale and Yanna McIntosh.

·         Breath of Kings: Rebellion, conceived and adapted by Graham Abbey, directed by Weyni Mengesha and Mitchell Cushman, featuring Graham Abbey, Araya Mengesha, Tom Rooney and Geraint Wyn Davies.

·         Breath of Kings: Redemption, conceived and adapted by Graham Abbey, directed by Mitchell Cushman and Weyni Mengesha, featuring Graham Abbey, Araya Mengesha, Tom Rooney and Geraint Wyn Davies.

Four more shows open August 18 and 19:

·         Bunny, by Hannah Moscovitch, directed by Sarah Garton Stanley, featuring Maev Beaty.

·         The Hypochondriac, directed by Antoni Cimolino, featuring Stephen Ouimette and Brigit Wilson.

·         The Aeneid, by Olivier Kemeid, translated by Maureen Labonté, directed by Keira Loughran and featuring Gareth Potter.

·         John Gabriel Borkman, directed by Carey Perloff, featuring Seana McKenna, Lucy Peacock and Scott Wentworth.

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Stratford Festival
55 Queen Street | PO Box 520 | Stratford ON | N5A 6V2

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Box Office: Toll Free 1.800.567.1600 | Local 519.273.1600

stratfordfestival.ca

2016 Season|April to October

Macbeth | As You Like It | Breath of Kings: Rebellion| Breath of Kings: Redemption
A Chorus Line | A Little Night Music | Shakespeare in Love| The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

All My Sons|John Gabriel Borkman|Bunny |The Aeneid| The Hypochondriac