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Festivals in
Niagara, Ontario
  


CONCERTS FESTIVALS THEATRE ARTS/MUSEUM OTHER EVENTS
Shaw09-Logo.gif (6616 bytes)The Shaw Festival was started in 1962 by Niagara-area lawyer and playwright Brian Doherty. During the summer, Mr. Doherty organized eight weekend performances of Don Juan in Hell and Candida by Bernard Shaw under the title "Salute to Shaw". For this event, the Assembly Room in the historic Court House on Queen Street was converted into a small theatre.

The following year, the Shaw Festival Theatre Foundation was established as a non-profit organization, with an elected volunteer Board of Governors whose mandate was to produce the dramatic works of Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries.

This year productions includes:

Studio Theatre Festival Theatre Royal George Theatre Court House Theatre
Serious Money
by Caryl Churchill
July 31 to Sept 12
An Ideal Husband
by Oscar Wilde
April 9 to October 31

The Women
by Clare Boothe Luce
May 12 to October 9

The Doctor’s Dilemma
by Bernard Shaw
June 10 to October 30
Harvey
by Mary Chase
April 1 to October 31

One Touch of Venus
Music by Kurt Weill
Lyrics by Ogden Nash
Book by Ogden Nash and S.J. Perelman
May 16 to October 10

Half an Hour
by J.M. Barrie lunchtime
June 26 to October 9
The Cherry Orchard
by Anton Chekhov
Adapted by Tom Murphy
April 20 to October 2

John Bull’s Other Island
by Bernard Shaw
June 18 to October 9

Age of Arousal
by Linda Griffiths
July 23 to October 10
Other theatre productions, click here.

Studio Theatre
serious-money.jpg (61186 bytes)July 31 to September 12
Serious Money

by Caryl Churchill, directed by Eda Holmes

Serious Money takes a look at the London Stock Market in the 1980s, a place that was like the new Wild West – a land of corporate raiders and stock traders created by a financial boom that seemed to have no end. The Shaw Festival is proud to present this no-holds barred look at corporate greed and financial excess – Caryl Churchill at her most provocative and penetrating. And all in rhyming verse!
(Strong language)
Festival Theatre
an-ideal-husband.jpg (53111 bytes)April 9 to October 31
An Ideal Husband

by Oscar Wilde, directed by Jackie Maxwell

In An Ideal Husband, by Oscar Wilde, fate catches up to Government Minister Sir Robert Chiltern when a mysterious woman produces a letter which reveals a past misdeed and a choice must be made between public scandal and the private shame of his wife. This Oscar Wilde work is a perfect mix of Wilde wit and intrigue. The Shaw Festival Theatre presents the social satire written by Oscar Wilde during his time at Goring on Thames. With An Ideal Husband, Oscar Wilde wanted to ensure he would enjoy public fame, and he was an advocate of making plays accessible to the public. Patrons of the Shaw Festival theatre in Niagara will love this adaptation of a comedic classic by Oscar Wilde.

the-women.jpg (59980 bytes)May 12 to October 9
The Women

by Clare Boothe Luce, directed by Alisa Palmer

Welcome to a secret society – the world of women. In The Women, a 1930s Broadway hit by Clare Boothe Luce, a Manhattan socialite finds out her husband is cheating on her, and her girlfriends are no help at all. With manicured claws, these women are fighting to maintain their status while scheming to leave, steal or win back their own husbands. This classic play captures a world that only half the population ever really gets to see. A revealing look into the lives of the ladies-who-lunch that is clever, cut-throat and full of outrageous humour.

the-doctors-dilemma.jpg (43795 bytes)June 10 to October 30
The Doctor’s Dilemma

by Bernard Shaw, directed by Morris Panych

A doctor who has discovered a lifesaving cure must make an impossible decision. Who should he treat: a kindly colleague who serves the poor, or an extremely talented but unscrupulous young artist, who also happens to have a beautiful young wife? When there’s only room for one more, who can he afford to save? The Doctor’s Dilemma is Bernard Shaw’s comic exploration of the medical establishment and the value of art.
Royal George Theatre
harvey.jpg (49508 bytes)April 1 to October 31
Harvey

by Mary Chase, directed by Joseph Ziegler

Everyone wants to meet Elwood Dowd and his friend Harvey. When they enter a room, strangers soon become friends and people want to share a drink with them. But Harvey is a six-foot invisible rabbit and Elwood’s sister wants him gone. The question is – does the world need another "normal" chap, or more Harveys? A new look at this Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Mary Chase, made famous by Jimmy Stewart’s portrayal of the loveable Elwood Dowd in the 1950 film .

john-bulls-other-island.jpg (43828 bytes)June 18 to October 9
John Bull’s Other Island

by Bernard Shaw, directed by Christopher Newton

The Shaw Festival in Niagara presents John Bull’s Other Island – a comedy by Bernard Shaw in which friends and business partners Broadbent and Doyle travel to a small town in Ireland with a business deal in mind. The Englishman, Broadbent, falls in love with everything about the place, including Nora Reilly, Doyle’s old flame. Doyle, the hometown boy, only sees a country trapped in its past. Shaw’s unromantic look at the romance of Ireland, and a play so funny that at a royal command performance, King Edward VII laughed so hard he broke his chair.

age-of-arousal.jpg (31728 bytes)July 23 to October 10
Age of Arousal

by Linda Griffiths
Wildly inspired by The Odd Women by George Gissing
directed by Jackie Maxwell

It’s 1885 in Age of Arousal, and in London there are half a million more women than men. Mary, an ex-suffragette, has opened a secretarial school for women to teach liberation through typing. When three sisters sign up, unexpected passions and secret desires are unleashed as they each learn what being a New Woman can truly mean. A contemporary look at the Shaw Festival mandate by an award-winning writer.
(Strong sexual content)
Court House Theatre
the-cherry-orchard.jpg (50979 bytes)April 20 to October 2
The Cherry Orchard

by Anton Chekhov, adapted by Tom Murphy,
directed by Jason Byrne

In The Cherry Orchard, Anton Chekhov tells the tale of an aristocratic family whose way of life seems to be disappearing, and with it, their beloved cherry orchard. On the verge of financial collapse, will they finally make the decision to sell their land to make way for holiday cottages? Or will they remain in blissful denial of the unstoppable nature of progress? This adaptation of The Cherry Orchard by one of Ireland’s leading contemporary playwrights, maintains all the power of this Russian classic, with an Irish twist.

one-touch-of-venus.jpg (59410 bytes)May 16 to October 10
One Touch of Venus

Music by Kurt Weill, Lyrics by Ogden Nash
Book by Ogden Nash and S.J. Perelman,
directed by Eda Holmes

The ancient goddess of love visits Manhattan in this musical fantasy. A modern art collector brings a statue of Venus to town. Through the magic of a ring, Venus comes to life, falls for a barber named Hatch and chases him all over New York. But will this wild woman allow herself to be tamed? A comic caper from the pen of the Marx Brothers’ writer S.J. Perelman and New Yorker poet Ogden Nash, with classic Weill songs like “Speak Low” and “I’m A Stranger Here Myself.”

Half-an-Hour.jpg (52217 bytes)June 26 to October 9
Half an Hour

(Lunchtime)
by J.M. Barrie, directed by Gina Wilkinson

How much can a life change in half an hour? One night, just before a dinner party, Lilian Garson makes an escape from her confining husband. But when these best-laid plans go horribly awry – can she quickly slip back into her old life in time for dinner at eight? A compelling story of a woman who’s only got half an hour to change her life.
(Shaw Map)

 

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