The best way to plan a visit to the Stratford Festival in Ontario (209 miles from Lansing) is to think of it as an arts and culture resort.
It is so fully packed with plays, musicals, lectures, tours, music, fine restaurants, gardens, talks — all packaged into a quaint and charming Victorian-style town — that many people make more than one visit per year to make sure they don’t miss anything.
Stratford began solely as a Shakespeare theater festival. To keep the brand consistent, the town even changed the name of the picturesque river that winds its way around the town from The Little Thames to the Avon. Back in 1953, the first production was “Richard III”, starring Alec Guinness. It took place in a tent, and it is said that Guinness was given a bicycle to fulfill the contractual obligation to provide transportation for the actor during the summer.
Now the festival mounts 12 plays per season, only three of which are by Shakespeare. Other actors who have performed at Stratford include Maggie Smith, Christopher Plummer, Brian Dennehy, Colm Feore and many more.
Although the festival has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 70 years, publicity director Ann Swerdfager says, it hasn't swayed too far from its roots.
“I don’t know that Stratford has changed enormously," Swerdfager said. "I mean, I think one of the great things about Stratford is that it is reliably what people want from a theater holiday, a cultural getaway. And that is exceptional theater.”
Stratford is still known for its superb Shakespeare and classical theater productions, but it now features two splashy musicals (this year, “Something Rotten!” and “La Cage Aux Folles”) which get huge audiences, plus newly commissioned works, children’s theater, comedies and popular plays.
Stratford is a repertory theater, meaning that most of the plays are being shown at the same time throughout the entire season and the same actors appear in several shows. It’s always fun to pick out the person who was the star in one play and now is in the chorus of another. Also, many actors return to Stratford for many decades, so audiences become very familiar with them.
Pretty much everything at Stratford is within walking distance: four theaters, housing and restaurants. The newest theater is the stunningly rebuilt Tom Patterson Theater overlooking the Avon River.
The big change over the past 20 years or so has been the food. Apparently, restaurant people discovered that patrons who like to see plays also like to eat well.
“Stratford has become a real culinary center," Swerdfager said. "It has one of the top chef schools in North America and it attracts incredible talent to teach at the school. The graduates then work at great restaurants worldwide and many return to open up new eateries here in Stratford.”
The town abounds with fine dining, but also offers pub food, casual meals and great breakfasts.
Said Swerdfager: “A visit to Stratford is all about eating and seeing the greatest theater in the world!”
The festival runs from April until late October. One restaurant owner told me, “Stratford never closes. When the last play closes in the fall, the designers and directors come to town in November to begin working and planning for the next season. And in January and February, the actors and musicians come in. Most of the better restaurants are open all year long.”
All of the costumes, wigs, shoes, sets and props for the productions are designed and built on site, requiring a huge amount of manpower.
In 2013, Antonio Cimolino took the role of the Festival's artistic director and created the Meighen Forum — a robust program of lectures, discussion groups, concerts, and interviews, all designed to enhance the theater experience. World class writers, artists, critics and scholars lead the presentations.Each season there are 150-200 events to choose from. During Halloween time, they even offer special ghost tours.
Michigan continues to be a strong market for the festival. The average Stratford visitor sees 2.5 plays per visit, but attendees from Michigan usually see 3-4 per visit. Swerdfager says their records show that many Michigan residents come back throughout the season and see all 12 plays.
Some Michiganders have bought condos in Stratford and others come the same week every year. Twenty five percent of Stratford’s attendees come from the U.S. and 50% of those from Michigan.
Bed and Breakfasts are still the favorite lodging for many patrons. There are some hotels, but very few U.S.-based chains as Stratford maintains a small-town feel despite its massive growth.
In 2023, the festival sold 443,000 tickets and the total revenue was in the neighborhood of $80 million (Canadian).
2024 Stratford Festival playlist
Twelfth Night
Something Rotten!
Romeo and Juliet
London Assurance
La Cage Aux Folles
Wendy and Peter Pan
Salesman in China (in Mandarin and English – with subtitles for each language)
Cymbeline
Hedda Gabler
The Diviners
The Goat or, Who is Sylvia
Get That Hope.
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