Stratford Ontario

Photos: August 18-20, 2015

My daughter and I went to Stratford, a charming city in Southern Ontario, where the Stratford Festival has been offering amazing theatre since 1953. While the theatre was the main reason for our visit (we saw 6 plays in 3 days), a visit to Stratford is no complete without a stroll along the water. Water fowl abound. Swans, many of which are quite tame and will actually eat from your hand are the iconic bird.



They are still somewhat territorial among each other, but more so when they are nesting.



There are also a number of public pianos - this one sported a swan motif.



Ducks are everywhere along the banks - eating, sleeping, preening, bathing and quacking.



It is always fun to see them shaking off the water as they dunk and preen.



On the approach to the Festival Theatre there is a beautiful garden, complete with some water flowers. I can never resist photographing them.

I highly recommend the theatre at Stratford. This season there are 13 productions - actors take on roles in more than one. There are 4 theatres and in addition, there are lectures, concerts, tours of the costume warehouse, backstage tours... and, of course, walking along the water.

Aug 26/10: Sunny

Sunny, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Nothing is quite as happy as a sunflower. The gardens around the Festival Theatre in Stratford are spectacular, with a variety of perennials, annuals and sculpture to create a feast for the eyes. Gardeners are in evidence, carefully tending to the flowers to keep the gardens at their best.

These men are part of the sculpture commemorating the first raising of the tent at Stratford for the first season of the Shakespeare Festival.

Aug 25/10: Shakespeare

Aug 25/10: Shakespeare, originally uploaded by susanvg.

My parents first came to the Stratford Festival about the second year of the festival when it was still held in a tent. They brought me here for the first time in 1962 and I have been here a number of times since. I love the town; I love the theatre here. I first brought my children here in 1993 to see A Midsummer Night's Dream. My daughter was hooked and she and I have come several times together. This year we are here again and the magic of the place casts its spell over us.

We revel in the morning talks where actors share their stories or members of the festival wrestle with some of the themes of the plays of the season. We stroll along the river enjoying the tranquility. But mostly we are entranced by the quality of the shows.

The Stratford Festival is a repertory festival - twelve plays in four theatres share the schedule. Actors play in more than one play, sometimes playing in two productions in a day. Sitting through two is a mental challenge. Playing in two is both a physical and mental marathon. Today we only scheduled one play - As You Like It in the Festival Theatre. The brass will sound the fanfare calling the patrons into the theatre and I know I will have goosebumps. And then the show...

Just Resting

Just Resting, originally uploaded by susanvg.

My daughter and I adore Stratford. We soak in theatre, an intense spurt in a few days. Today was Two Gentlemen of Verona and Peter Pan. Both were excellent. The quality of acting here is outstanding. And Stratford has the money to invest in sets and costumes. In three of the four theatres, the stage is a thrust stage so the audience feels less separated from the actors. Sets are often less complex, but the staging is always creative.

Another thing we love about Stratford is the town itself - many Victorian houses and a river which widens into a lake with considerable park land. We strolled along the lake on our way to supper. Many swans were by the water's edge, either feeding in the water or preening on land. This one had obviously finished with its boudoir and was taking a rest. There are many ducks, more than I had remembered. By 6:00 in the evening, a number had installed themselves on the grass, head tucked in, ready for a good rest.

Aug 23/10: Shadows

Aug 23/10: Shadows, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Where does the bench end and the shadow begin? Which is real? Sometimes the shadow is more visible than the original.

I'm in Stratford, Ontario and will be seeing Peter Pan (along with four other plays). It occurred to me as I started to write this that the play is about shadows too. Though Peter lost his shadow, it is also about the loss of childhood and the unwillingness to give up that life. Do we become shadows of that essential time in our lives?

While it would be nice to go back to the innocence of childhood, it is nice to live life larger - to travel through the greater world and have the independence and life experiences to see and learn and keep growing.