In 1962, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, lawyer and playwright Brian Doherty parlayed his love for the work of Irish playwright Bernard Shaw into a summer theatre festival, producing eight performances of Don Juan in Hell and Candida in the Court House auditorium. In this singular act of passion for theatre and culture, the Shaw Festival was born.
Today, with 10 productions each year performed in four theatres for an audience of more than 250,000, the Shaw Festival has grown to become a major Canadian cultural icon, a gem in this country’s rich cultural heritage. Inspired by the wit and passion of Bernard Shaw, the Shaw Festival is a contemporary theatre that features a smart, provocative, potent and diverse mix of plays from the past and present, performed by our talented Acting Ensemble. The result is theatre that is entertaining, challenging, surprising and above all else … unique. These plays are lovingly and artfully brought to the stage each year by a talented team of Canadian actors, directors, and designers, showcasing the incredible tapestry of talent that this country contributes to the world.
In 2016, our 55th Season, the Shaw Festival offers you 10 plays from April 9 to October 16. The Festival Theatre will stage three stunning productions, all definite “must-sees”. Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll’s classic and much celebrated book will hit the stage to celebrate its 150th anniversary in a new stage adaptation by director Peter Hinton - a perfect treat for all ages! A Woman of No Importance, Oscar Wilde’s wicked comedy comes to life under award-winning director Eda Holmes’ watchful eye. Sweeney Todd, the darkly comic and thrilling musical by Stephen Sondheim will mark Artistic Director Jackie Maxwell’s final directorial role after 14 years of tremendous leadership!
At the Court House Theatre, Annie Baker gives us a fresh and vibrant new version of Anton Chekhov’ Uncle Vanya. Also at the Court House, “Master Harold” …and the Boys, Athol Fugard’s indictment of apartheid and a modern masterpiece and The Adventures of the Black Girl in her Search for God, a one-act play adapted for the stage by Lisa Codrington from the short story by Bernard Shaw.
The 2016 Season also brings us Our Town, Thornton Wilder’s beloved tale of small-town America to be directed by Washington, DC’s Arena Stage Theatre Artistic Director, Molly Smith. And sharing the stage with Our Town, Bernard Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s Profession and Engaged, a hilarious comedy about a Scottish Don Juan by W.S Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan fame.
At the Studio Theatre, August Strindberg’s ode to marital discord, The Dance of Death and the Reading Series, where two plays will be read by our brilliant Ensemble members.
Winner of Trip Advisor’s “Certificate of Excellence” again in 2015 and recommended by the Wall Street Journal “You can always count on seeing the plays of George Bernard Shaw produced at the Shaw Festival with great skill and imagination” and as “directly comparable in scope and quality to such ambitious south-of-the-border classical festivals as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. If you're up for a weekend—or a whole week—of first-class theater, you should give very serious thought to going there”, The Shaw in historic Niagara-on-the-Lake makes for the ideal theatre getaway.
