; Ai ttt atataememetens te coer ani 7: OH, THE PLACES WE'LL GO: Ignoring the best theatre in the world July 12, 2024 Stratford Times PAUL KNOWLES Times Contributor Full disclosure: there have been years when I did not see one play at the Stratford Festival I know. I should be ashamed of myself — and I am. This places me squarely in the category of people who live on the Niagara Peninsula but nev- er visit the falls or the wineries — which are even better destina- tions that the falls — or the Toron- to denizens who haven’t been to the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, or the Hockey Hall of Fame. It’s an odd quirk of human be- ings that we will travel around the world to see sights and won- ders, but we ignore some really great stuff right around the cor- ner from our front doors. And for a lot of folks reading this feature, the Stratford Festival falls right into that category of great stuff that is local and there- fore ignored. I was determined to rectify my recent lapses in good day-trip judgment, so I moved early to get tickets to the first two plays we wanted to see. And I decided to see them both on one day. I have to tell you, tak- ing in a matinee, then enjoying From left: Michael Spencer-Davis as Fabian, Jessica B. Hill as Viola, Rylan Wilkie as Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Scott Wentworth as Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night. Stratford Festival 2024. ID HOl Sean Arbuckle as Georges (left) and Steve Ross as Albin in La Cage aux Folles. Stratford Festival 2024. dinner, then seeing an evening production makes for a terrific day in Stratford. It turns a “drive to Stratford, see a play, drive home” experience into a relaxed day trip with the opportunity to browse in the city’s excellent downtown, the time to enjoy a nice meal (be sure to book in ad- vance, of course) and the chance wt ms any of Stratford’s prone ten a garden lover’s paradise. Our top priority was to see La Cage Aux Folles. I wanted to see this musical for three reasons. One, because Stratford’s reputa- tion for staging amazing musical productions is second to none — they are a guaranteed win. Two, because the movie based on La Cage — Birdcage, starring Nathan Lane and Robin Williams — is my go-to movie whenever I want to kick back and smile. And three — although certain- ly not last — because Steve Ross, who plays a starring role as the drag queen Albin in the play, is a friend and I couldn’t wait to see his excellent on-stage work. We were not disappointed. I have noticed in recent weeks that whenever I talk about going to Stratford, a common question is, “Did you see La Cage?” Peo- ple are loving the production and with very good reason. The cast is superb — Steve is brilliant, as are Stratford veteran Sean Arbuck- le as Albin’s partner, Georges, Chris Vergara as the over-the-top butler, Jacob, and Juan Chioran as the desperately stern, right- wing politician, Edouard Dindon. I don’t intend to review the play —I will leave that to more erudite theatre experts — but I can say there was not a note out of place in La Cage. I laughed, cried and cheered, and in this, I was not alone. Our between-plays break gave us time to browse through some of the eclectic downtown shops, U PHOTOS) enjoy a beverage on Bentley’s pa- tio (Stratford has captured a bit of the lovely European flavour of street-front patios), dine (pizza, of course) at Pazzo’s and stroll down beautiful Coburg Street as we walked to the Festival The- atre. One option which we will defi- nitely do next time will be to bring a picnic supper to be enjoyed on Tom Patterson Island or at anoth- er of the hundreds of picnic tables that line the Avon River. The evening performance we took in was Twelfth Night. This play has been praised by re- viewers as a perfect rendering of Shakespeare’s most popular comedy. It has all the elements you may remember from the playwright’s broad-sweeping co- medic sense: mistaken identities, cross-dressing (centuries before La Cage, by the way), bawdy hu- mor (much grasping of breasts), music, love at first sight, pomp- ous fools and (of course) a happy ending. This production is directed by Stratford great Seana McKenna, who has been at Stratford for 31 seasons. All of her other work here has been as an actor; this is her first Stratford venture as director and she is being much lauded for her work. McKenna took the brave deci- sion to swap the genders of some roles, including the singing fool, Feste, here played with bravado by Deborah Hay, and Malvolio, played well by Laura Condlln. This gender-bending is certain- ly in keeping with the play in its original form since the leading role — in this case, Viola, played by Jessica B. Hill — features a woman pretending to be a man. ere is one other star of Twelfth Night I enjoyed — the famous stage of the Festival Theatre. McKenna has kept the production very spare in décor. The focus is on the actors with minimal props on stage, and that leaves us free to not only enjoy this production but to recall all the times in previous years — per- haps as long ago as high school trips — when we first saw theatre on this unique, thrust stage where weare all part of the proceedings: So, to all my friends who have forgotten about the wonders of the Stratford Festival, I offer this re- minder. This is our very own won- der of the world only minutes away from our front doors, and it offers a unique rip to the magic of truly ma; ent theatre. Paul Knowles is an author and travel writer, and President of the Travel Media Association of Canada. To contact Paul about travel, his books, or speaking engagements, email pknowles@ golden.net. Members of the company in Twelfth Night. Stratford Festival 2024