Stratford Festival
@stratfest.bsky.social
North America’s leading repertory theatre company
🎭 Classics, new plays, musicals & Shakespeare
🎟️ 2025 season now on stage!
💻 Stream via STRATFEST@HOME
https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/
🎭 Classics, new plays, musicals & Shakespeare
🎟️ 2025 season now on stage!
💻 Stream via STRATFEST@HOME
https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/
"Stratford and its namesake theater festival offer a bit of everything for the casual theater fan and the obsessives like me. I’m already counting down the days until I can go back."
Read more about Hour Detroit Magazine's theatre trip to Stratford:
https://ow.ly/P9zK50Xj2vS
Read more about Hour Detroit Magazine's theatre trip to Stratford:
https://ow.ly/P9zK50Xj2vS
October 28, 2025 at 4:06 PM
"Stratford and its namesake theater festival offer a bit of everything for the casual theater fan and the obsessives like me. I’m already counting down the days until I can go back."
Read more about Hour Detroit Magazine's theatre trip to Stratford:
https://ow.ly/P9zK50Xj2vS
Read more about Hour Detroit Magazine's theatre trip to Stratford:
https://ow.ly/P9zK50Xj2vS
Antoni Cimolino announces casting for the 12 productions set to take the stage in 2026, his final season as Artistic Director.
Click here for details: www.stratfordfestival.ca/Media/NewsRe...
Click here for details: www.stratfordfestival.ca/Media/NewsRe...
October 20, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Antoni Cimolino announces casting for the 12 productions set to take the stage in 2026, his final season as Artistic Director.
Click here for details: www.stratfordfestival.ca/Media/NewsRe...
Click here for details: www.stratfordfestival.ca/Media/NewsRe...
Time to hit the brakes!🚗 Before the day is over, we #AskAnArchivist one last thing: are there any automobiles in your collection?
Many cars, buses and military vehicles (some 2D) have made appearances in past productions. Can you name the shows?
#StratfordFestivalArchives
Many cars, buses and military vehicles (some 2D) have made appearances in past productions. Can you name the shows?
#StratfordFestivalArchives
October 16, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Time to hit the brakes!🚗 Before the day is over, we #AskAnArchivist one last thing: are there any automobiles in your collection?
Many cars, buses and military vehicles (some 2D) have made appearances in past productions. Can you name the shows?
#StratfordFestivalArchives
Many cars, buses and military vehicles (some 2D) have made appearances in past productions. Can you name the shows?
#StratfordFestivalArchives
💃 We #AskAnArchivist: do you have any female firsts represented in your archives?
Tanya Moiseiwitsch was our first designer and designed the Festival Theatre thrust stage in 1953 – quite the feat, considering the first female directors didn’t hit our stages until the 1970s.
Tanya Moiseiwitsch was our first designer and designed the Festival Theatre thrust stage in 1953 – quite the feat, considering the first female directors didn’t hit our stages until the 1970s.
October 16, 2025 at 8:01 PM
💃 We #AskAnArchivist: do you have any female firsts represented in your archives?
Tanya Moiseiwitsch was our first designer and designed the Festival Theatre thrust stage in 1953 – quite the feat, considering the first female directors didn’t hit our stages until the 1970s.
Tanya Moiseiwitsch was our first designer and designed the Festival Theatre thrust stage in 1953 – quite the feat, considering the first female directors didn’t hit our stages until the 1970s.
We #AskAnArchivist: are there any Taylor Swift related items in your archives?
You could say we're experts on 'the fate of Ophelia'. This doll carried by Adrienne Gould, Ophelia in 2008's Hamlet, starts off pristine, but like its owner, ends the play broken and drowned.
You could say we're experts on 'the fate of Ophelia'. This doll carried by Adrienne Gould, Ophelia in 2008's Hamlet, starts off pristine, but like its owner, ends the play broken and drowned.
October 16, 2025 at 7:01 PM
We #AskAnArchivist: are there any Taylor Swift related items in your archives?
You could say we're experts on 'the fate of Ophelia'. This doll carried by Adrienne Gould, Ophelia in 2008's Hamlet, starts off pristine, but like its owner, ends the play broken and drowned.
You could say we're experts on 'the fate of Ophelia'. This doll carried by Adrienne Gould, Ophelia in 2008's Hamlet, starts off pristine, but like its owner, ends the play broken and drowned.
We're prepared for anything! 🧟 We #AskAnArchivist: what item in your archives will help you survive a zombie apocalypse?
Prospero's staffs from The Tempest can be used as walking sticks and even weapons – they are also magical and can be used to control the weather.
Prospero's staffs from The Tempest can be used as walking sticks and even weapons – they are also magical and can be used to control the weather.
October 16, 2025 at 5:01 PM
We're prepared for anything! 🧟 We #AskAnArchivist: what item in your archives will help you survive a zombie apocalypse?
Prospero's staffs from The Tempest can be used as walking sticks and even weapons – they are also magical and can be used to control the weather.
Prospero's staffs from The Tempest can be used as walking sticks and even weapons – they are also magical and can be used to control the weather.
Taking the world by storm! 🌏 We #AskAnArchivist to show us something from your collection in a foreign language.
This poster hung in the lobby of the Mhat Theatre in Moscow when our production of King Lear, directed by David William and starring William Hutt, toured in 1972.
This poster hung in the lobby of the Mhat Theatre in Moscow when our production of King Lear, directed by David William and starring William Hutt, toured in 1972.
October 16, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Taking the world by storm! 🌏 We #AskAnArchivist to show us something from your collection in a foreign language.
This poster hung in the lobby of the Mhat Theatre in Moscow when our production of King Lear, directed by David William and starring William Hutt, toured in 1972.
This poster hung in the lobby of the Mhat Theatre in Moscow when our production of King Lear, directed by David William and starring William Hutt, toured in 1972.
Lettuce entertain you! 🥬 We #AskAnArchivist: what is your best food-themed item?
Feast your eyes on this costume made from plastic vegetables. Designed by Dany Lyne for the 2005 production of Into the Woods, Susan Gilmour wore it as The Witch.
#StratfordFestivalArchives
Feast your eyes on this costume made from plastic vegetables. Designed by Dany Lyne for the 2005 production of Into the Woods, Susan Gilmour wore it as The Witch.
#StratfordFestivalArchives
October 16, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Lettuce entertain you! 🥬 We #AskAnArchivist: what is your best food-themed item?
Feast your eyes on this costume made from plastic vegetables. Designed by Dany Lyne for the 2005 production of Into the Woods, Susan Gilmour wore it as The Witch.
#StratfordFestivalArchives
Feast your eyes on this costume made from plastic vegetables. Designed by Dany Lyne for the 2005 production of Into the Woods, Susan Gilmour wore it as The Witch.
#StratfordFestivalArchives
Today is #AskAnArchivist day!
Our team of archivists are ready to answer questions on their day-to-day job, what experience and education prepared them for their roles and about the archives collection itself.
🔍 Send us your questions!
Our team of archivists are ready to answer questions on their day-to-day job, what experience and education prepared them for their roles and about the archives collection itself.
🔍 Send us your questions!
October 16, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Today is #AskAnArchivist day!
Our team of archivists are ready to answer questions on their day-to-day job, what experience and education prepared them for their roles and about the archives collection itself.
🔍 Send us your questions!
Our team of archivists are ready to answer questions on their day-to-day job, what experience and education prepared them for their roles and about the archives collection itself.
🔍 Send us your questions!
There are also pieces of Martha’s costume from her first role at the Festival, as Miranda in 1962, and pieces of the original tent that housed our first four seasons, from 1953 to 1956. Her magic staff also includes pieces of the original stage floor.
October 14, 2025 at 5:16 PM
There are also pieces of Martha’s costume from her first role at the Festival, as Miranda in 1962, and pieces of the original tent that housed our first four seasons, from 1953 to 1956. Her magic staff also includes pieces of the original stage floor.
Designer Bretta Gerecke, with a team of in-house artisans, spent months building this very special creation, incorporating scraps of historic costume pieces from all of the previous Prosperos who have ever played on our Festival stage.
October 14, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Designer Bretta Gerecke, with a team of in-house artisans, spent months building this very special creation, incorporating scraps of historic costume pieces from all of the previous Prosperos who have ever played on our Festival stage.
Full of rough magic. ✨
Ahead of #AskAnArchivist Day on Thursday October 16, we've searched our archive collection for a unique object deserving of the spotlight. Behold, the cloak that Martha Henry wore as Prospero in our 2018 production of The Tempest.
Ahead of #AskAnArchivist Day on Thursday October 16, we've searched our archive collection for a unique object deserving of the spotlight. Behold, the cloak that Martha Henry wore as Prospero in our 2018 production of The Tempest.
October 14, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Full of rough magic. ✨
Ahead of #AskAnArchivist Day on Thursday October 16, we've searched our archive collection for a unique object deserving of the spotlight. Behold, the cloak that Martha Henry wore as Prospero in our 2018 production of The Tempest.
Ahead of #AskAnArchivist Day on Thursday October 16, we've searched our archive collection for a unique object deserving of the spotlight. Behold, the cloak that Martha Henry wore as Prospero in our 2018 production of The Tempest.
Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃🍁
May we all be as thankful as Little Orphan Annie, a truly perfect role model for this holiday.
📷 Harper Rae Asch with members of the company in Annie. Photography by David Hou.
May we all be as thankful as Little Orphan Annie, a truly perfect role model for this holiday.
📷 Harper Rae Asch with members of the company in Annie. Photography by David Hou.
October 13, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃🍁
May we all be as thankful as Little Orphan Annie, a truly perfect role model for this holiday.
📷 Harper Rae Asch with members of the company in Annie. Photography by David Hou.
May we all be as thankful as Little Orphan Annie, a truly perfect role model for this holiday.
📷 Harper Rae Asch with members of the company in Annie. Photography by David Hou.
We have exciting news! Jonathan Church will be the next Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival.
October 1, 2025 at 9:08 AM
We have exciting news! Jonathan Church will be the next Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival.
“We have lost a brilliant actor, a wonderful neighbour and a good friend.”
September 2, 2025 at 5:49 PM
“We have lost a brilliant actor, a wonderful neighbour and a good friend.”
“Despite his fame and many accomplishments Graham as a colleague was genuinely humble and friendly – and he loved to share a laugh with his fellow players,” Antoni says.
September 2, 2025 at 5:49 PM
“Despite his fame and many accomplishments Graham as a colleague was genuinely humble and friendly – and he loved to share a laugh with his fellow players,” Antoni says.
In 2021, when Graham was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame, the ceremony was held at the Tom Patterson Theatre and he chose to have his star displayed there, a beautiful remembrance for all of us of Graham’s enormous contributions to the arts.
September 2, 2025 at 5:49 PM
In 2021, when Graham was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame, the ceremony was held at the Tom Patterson Theatre and he chose to have his star displayed there, a beautiful remembrance for all of us of Graham’s enormous contributions to the arts.
“From the moment he entered, we knew we were in the presence of a star. His Lennie was heartbreaking in his childlike innocence. We were completely won over by his simple warmth and consequently devastated as the play progressed.”
September 2, 2025 at 5:49 PM
“From the moment he entered, we knew we were in the presence of a star. His Lennie was heartbreaking in his childlike innocence. We were completely won over by his simple warmth and consequently devastated as the play progressed.”
Here in Stratford, Graham played Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Lennie in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.
“As Shylock he brought a painful dignity and sharp intellect to the part,” Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino recalls.
“As Shylock he brought a painful dignity and sharp intellect to the part,” Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino recalls.
September 2, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Here in Stratford, Graham played Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Lennie in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.
“As Shylock he brought a painful dignity and sharp intellect to the part,” Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino recalls.
“As Shylock he brought a painful dignity and sharp intellect to the part,” Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino recalls.
It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of Graham Greene. Graham was a globally recognized film actor and an award-winning stage and television performer, who joined us here at the Stratford Festival for one unforgettable season, in 2007.
September 2, 2025 at 5:49 PM
It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of Graham Greene. Graham was a globally recognized film actor and an award-winning stage and television performer, who joined us here at the Stratford Festival for one unforgettable season, in 2007.
We're thrilled to be nominated for Attractions Ontario's 10th Annual Ontario’s Choice Awards!
Vote for us to win the Top Performing Arts spot. You can vote once a day until September 7, 2025: attractionsontario.ca/poll/top-per...
📷 Photo by Ann Baggley.
Vote for us to win the Top Performing Arts spot. You can vote once a day until September 7, 2025: attractionsontario.ca/poll/top-per...
📷 Photo by Ann Baggley.
August 21, 2025 at 8:12 PM
We're thrilled to be nominated for Attractions Ontario's 10th Annual Ontario’s Choice Awards!
Vote for us to win the Top Performing Arts spot. You can vote once a day until September 7, 2025: attractionsontario.ca/poll/top-per...
📷 Photo by Ann Baggley.
Vote for us to win the Top Performing Arts spot. You can vote once a day until September 7, 2025: attractionsontario.ca/poll/top-per...
📷 Photo by Ann Baggley.
✨ Announcing our 2026 season! ✨
The culmination of a 40-year career with the Festival, including 14 seasons as Artistic Director, this will be Antoni Cimolino's farewell season, with plays united under the theme of "This Rough Magic".
The 2026 playbill across our four venues...
The culmination of a 40-year career with the Festival, including 14 seasons as Artistic Director, this will be Antoni Cimolino's farewell season, with plays united under the theme of "This Rough Magic".
The 2026 playbill across our four venues...
August 12, 2025 at 12:43 PM
✨ Announcing our 2026 season! ✨
The culmination of a 40-year career with the Festival, including 14 seasons as Artistic Director, this will be Antoni Cimolino's farewell season, with plays united under the theme of "This Rough Magic".
The 2026 playbill across our four venues...
The culmination of a 40-year career with the Festival, including 14 seasons as Artistic Director, this will be Antoni Cimolino's farewell season, with plays united under the theme of "This Rough Magic".
The 2026 playbill across our four venues...
What could be more fun than Jane Austen?
Toronto Star critic Joshua Chong was "impressed by Kate Hamill's ability to balance both humour and heart in her adaptation" of Sense and Sensibility. Read full article here: www.thestar.com/entertainmen...
#SFSensibility
Toronto Star critic Joshua Chong was "impressed by Kate Hamill's ability to balance both humour and heart in her adaptation" of Sense and Sensibility. Read full article here: www.thestar.com/entertainmen...
#SFSensibility
August 6, 2025 at 9:12 PM
What could be more fun than Jane Austen?
Toronto Star critic Joshua Chong was "impressed by Kate Hamill's ability to balance both humour and heart in her adaptation" of Sense and Sensibility. Read full article here: www.thestar.com/entertainmen...
#SFSensibility
Toronto Star critic Joshua Chong was "impressed by Kate Hamill's ability to balance both humour and heart in her adaptation" of Sense and Sensibility. Read full article here: www.thestar.com/entertainmen...
#SFSensibility
Joe then returned for a longer time from 2015 through 2018, again giving us wonderful gifts, including Mr. Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank, Henry in The Last Wife, Joe Keller in All My Sons, Duncan in Macbeth, and of course his absolutely unforgettable Timon.
July 29, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Joe then returned for a longer time from 2015 through 2018, again giving us wonderful gifts, including Mr. Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank, Henry in The Last Wife, Joe Keller in All My Sons, Duncan in Macbeth, and of course his absolutely unforgettable Timon.
In Joe’s second act at Stratford, he was in mid-career, working as both actor and director. In 2000 he directed Hamlet with Paul Gross in the title role, a beautiful and memorable production. In 2009 he played Hardy in the Morris Panych play The Trespassers.
July 29, 2025 at 4:48 PM
In Joe’s second act at Stratford, he was in mid-career, working as both actor and director. In 2000 he directed Hamlet with Paul Gross in the title role, a beautiful and memorable production. In 2009 he played Hardy in the Morris Panych play The Trespassers.