STRATFORD SHAKESPEAREAN FESTIVAL OF CANADA

Established in 1952 the Stratford Festival is one of North America’s longest running arts organizations. Running in repertory from April to October with the works of Shakespeare at the core of its artistic mandate it seeks to bring classical and contemporary theatre alive for an increasingly diverse audience. The goal is to stimulate the exploration of ideas and issues – both through the playbill itself and through thematically related events in the Meighen Forum ranging from panel debates to musical concerts. Other key activities include supporting the development of Canadian theatre practitioners through specialized coaching activities New Play Development and the Playwrights’ Retreat artisan apprenticeships the Birmingham Conservatory for professional actor training and the Langham Director’s program for the development of early and mid-career directors. Innovative forms of artistic exploration and new play development take place under the auspices of the Laboratory and educational and youth programs are offered for students and teachers of all levels. An invaluable resource for researchers is the Stratford Festival Archives the world’s largest archival collection devoted to a single theatre. In addition to hosting visitors in person in Stratford the Festival continues to invest in digital content for the subscription-based streaming platform Stratfest@Home.

In 2024 attendance to the main playbill productions was 429 018. The Meighen Forum added another 167 events to the season including tours concerts lectures panel discussions and more generating attendance of a further 11 567. Our 2024 playbill included 12 titles across four theatres. This included Twelfth Night Something Rotten! Romeo & Juliet and London Assurance at the Festival Theatre; La Cage Aux Folles Wendy & Peter Pan and Salesman in China at the Avon Theatre; Cymbeline Hedda Gabler and The Diviners at the Tom Patterson Theatre and The Goat or Who is Sylvia? and Get That Hope at the Studio Theatre. In total there were 639 performances factoring in a 3-week extension of Something Rotten! and La Cage Aux Folles. The Festival welcomed eight playwrights to the annual Playwrights Retreat and hosted 16 new play development workshops. The Langham Director’s Workshop hosted six early and mid-career directors who were mentored by more seasoned directors and then had an opportunity to showcase their learnings at a season-end presentation. There were eight participants in the Birmingham Conservatory’s 1-year actor training program. In Education programming included youth workshops and camps pre- and post-show chats and workshops teacher professional development and various customized programs for schools and youth. A total of 16 968 participants took part. One of the 2024 productions was filmed and was released on Stratfest@Home. Stratford’s 2022 production of 1939 was remounted at Canadian Stage and the Belfry Theatres in 2024 and our 2023 production of Casey & Diana was remounted at Soulpepper in 2024. In addition Stratford’s 2022 production of Little Women was produced at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre in 2024.