Toronto event offers an evening of music and spirited debate
March 10, 2014…
Paul Gross, Steven Page and Hawksley Workman are
headlining the Stratford Festival Forum’s Shakespeare Slam on Wednesday,
April 23, at Toronto’s Koerner Hall.
This celebration marking
Shakespeare’s 450th birthday will be hosted
by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino, and will showcase the Festival’s 2014 season theme of Madness: Minds Pushed to the Edge.
Two teams of spirited debaters will square off on whether madness is inherent in the artistic process. On the one side are actor
Paul Gross, famed for his portrayal of Slings and Arrows’ mentally overwrought artistic director Geoffrey Tennant, and
Lisa Brown, founder and executive/artistic director of Workman
Arts, which celebrates and promotes the work of artists living with
mental-health and addiction issues.
Opposing them are Juno Award-winning musician, Festival composer and renowned troubadour
Steven Page and the Festival’s resident Rhodes Scholar, the hilarious and erudite
David Goldbloom, who, in addition to being past chair of the Festival’s Board, is
the senior medical advisor for the Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto
and the chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Once they’ve hashed things over, the music begins!
Hawksley Workman takes centre stage with his own brand of musical
performance that is certain to leave you wanting more – which you’ll be
able to find in Stratford, September 11 to 20, when he presents his
Bacchae-inspired cabaret
The God That Comes at the Forum.
Steven Page will also offer up one of his exuberant musical performances, featuring songs combining humour and
pathos in a memorable exploration of the evening’s theme.
The event culminates in a truly joyous grand finale, featuring Slam headliners and members of the Festival company.
Tickets
for the Shakespeare Slam go on sale March 11. They are priced from $39
to $54, with a student price of $29. To purchase, call the Stratford
Festival box office
at 1.800.567.1600. Tickets are also available through Koerner Hall.
The
Shakespeare Slam serves as the launch of the Stratford Festival Forum,
which will present more than 200 events this season, including featured
speakers
Margaret Trudeau, Jian Ghomeshi, Muhammad Robert Heft and
Camille Paglia, as well as concerts, comedy shows, screenings and
performance showcases exploring the playbill and the theme of Minds
Pushed to the Edge.
The Stratford Festival Forum is very pleased to welcome Bell Let’s Talk as a new partner and the Host Sponsor for the Shakespeare Slam as well
as selected Forum events that focus on mental health throughout the 2014 season.
Sustaining support for the Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Foundation.
Support for the 2014 Forum is generously provided by Nandita & Julian Wise.
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Stratford Festival 55 Queen Street | PO Box 520 | Stratford ON
| N5A 6V2
519.271.4040 x 2297
Box Office: Toll Free 1.800.567.1600 | Local 519.273.1600
stratfordfestival.ca
2014 Season
| April 21 to October 12
King Lear | Crazy for You | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | The Beaux’
Stratagem
Man of La Mancha | Alice Through the Looking-Glass | Hay Fever | King John
Mother Courage and Her Children | Antony and Cleopatra | Christina, The Girl King
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a chamber play
Man of La Mancha | Alice Through the Looking-Glass | Hay Fever | King John
Mother Courage and Her Children | Antony and Cleopatra | Christina, The Girl King
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a chamber play
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