Stratford Festival has hired only Canadian directors for 2017 season
By
Mark Schadenberg
Is
it interesting that all of Canada is celebrating 150 years of Confederation
when truly only 4 provinces formed our great country in 1867?
You
may recall from your elementary school days that Upper Canada (Ontario), Lower
Canada (Quebec), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia were the original four
provinces. Prince Edward Island, Manitoba and even the far west British
Columbia joined the country soon thereafter, as did the Northwest Territories.
Nunavut
was created in 1999.
Newfoundland
and Labrador joined the party in 1949.
GRAND
THEATRE – LONDON
The
Colony Of Unrequited Dreams is a play with its theme surrounding Newfoundland
and its premier Joey Smallwood and their efforts to join Canada in 1949.
Written by Wayne Johnston, and created into a play by Robert Chafe, the
production is celebrating Canada’s 150 years until April 8 on the stage on
Richmond Street in London.
Colin
Furlong has the difficult task of bring Smallwood to life. Furlong is not only
from Newfoundland, but a grad of Memorial University, and has tackled this role
in the past (including February of this year in St. John’s), so his verbal
battles with character Sheilagh Fielding and others will be well rehearsed.
Johnston
is from Goulds in Newfoundland and also studied at Memorial.
It’s
interesting to see that The Globe And Mail published a list of Canada’s Top 100
books ever and The Colony Of Unrequited Dreams was on the list. I realize I
should locate this book from the library and skim through its pages, but I do
find it interesting that the website for Wayne Johnston lists this publication
as fiction.
That
reminds me, with the 150th birthday year well underway, I should get
to work on my personal top 150 CanCon songs of all-time.
www.stratfordfestival.ca
STRATFORD
While
William Shakespeare is not Canadian content, the Stratford Festival hires a
large congregation of our country’s most talented actors, singers, directors, dancers,
set builders, makeup and wardrobe pros, and promotions people.
In
2016, Stratford Festival made a profit (see the story below from the
Beacon-Herald), and it’s 2017 schedule includes Shakespeare works such as Romeo
& Juliet, and Twelfth Night, plus musicals Guys & Dolls and HMS
Pinafore. The calendar for the three Stratford stages also features Treasure
Island, Tartuffe, and The Changeling.
A
world premiere is part of the Stratford lineup this year, and it was
commissioned specifically for Canada 150 and written by Colleen Murphy.
The
play The Breathing Hole (July 30 – Sept 22) is penned by the 63-year-old
playwright known also for The Piper, The December Man and The Goodnight Bird.
The Breathing Hole, according to its storyline noted online, looks at the
progress of the north of Canada as a country from the perspective of a polar
bear.
Many
preview stories for Stratford Festival in 2017 can be seen online, but the
noteworthy fact I glean from many is that all directors for the upcoming season
are Canadian. The excitement of the season can easily be seen in one quote from
a Globe And mail story from artistic director Antoni
Cimolino.
“All of the directors in
this season are Canadian – but that wasn’t by design, I wasn’t hitting a
quota,” he says. “I was thinking about the development of the community – and
there were specific people I wanted to bring in. I’m very excited about the new
directors.”
The legend Martha Henry,
for example, will direct Twelfth Night. Also, Donna Feore has the reins for
Guys & Dolls, and Cimolino is listed as the director of The School For
Scandal.
INNERKIP
My son is Roger in 101 Dalmations this weekend in Innerkip. It's not a Canadian play, but many Oxford County children from the ages of 7 to 9 have spent many hours rehearsing for their roles as 99 black-and-white puppies and 2 adult Dalmations enjoy quite an adventure.
My son is Roger in 101 Dalmations this weekend in Innerkip. It's not a Canadian play, but many Oxford County children from the ages of 7 to 9 have spent many hours rehearsing for their roles as 99 black-and-white puppies and 2 adult Dalmations enjoy quite an adventure.
The K2K productions group is part of YFC in the Woodstock area. See the poster for ticket details.
LINKS:
Mark Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior Real Estate Specialist
(SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty
Independently Owned & Operated, Brokerage
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
(519) 537-1553, cell or text
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter: markroyallepage
Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . .
Destination
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