Shaw Magazine, Spring 2019

MAGAZINE FOR FRIENDS AND PARTNERS SPRING 2019

2019 | shawfest.com

3

Contents 2

Director's Dialogue

4

A Journey to Narnia

8

A Feast for All of Your Senses

12

Allow Me to Introduce You ...

15

Reading Series

16

News

17

Mystery Encounters

18 Calendar of Events 20 A Series of Inspired Follies

ONLINE To read this issue online, go to shawfest.com/shawmag/spring2019 Shaw Magazine is a publication for the Friends and Partners of the Shaw Festival.

Editorial Committee: Tim Carroll, Kate Hennig, Tim Jennings, Marion Rawson Artistic Director: Tim Carroll Executive Director: Tim Jennings Editor: Marion Rawson Design: Key Gordon Communications Production and Ensemble photography: David Cooper Photography Backstage and Niagara photography: Cosmo Condina Photography Special Thanks: Jim Bratton, Mark Callan, Scott McKowen Your comments are welcome. Please call the Membership Office at 1-800-657-1106 ext 2556

Shaw Festival 10 Queen’s Parade Box 774 Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0

For our American Friends Shaw Festival Foundation P.O. Box 628 Lewiston, NY 14092-0628

1-800-511-SHAW SHAWFEST.COM Cover: Matt Nethersole in The Horse and His Boy

Right: Cast, crew and creative team members of The Ladykillers.

Photos by Mark Callan

The Horse and His Boy Production Sponsor:

The Ladykillers Production Sponsors:

William & Nona Macdonald Heaslip Foundation

Playing all the angles.

The set for The Ladykillers is a tricky one.

Normally, the outlines of a set are taped on the rehearsal hall floor in order to give the cast the sense of the different playing areas.

But The Ladykillers is so tricky that the cast, stage management team and some running crew, along with director Tim Carroll and designer Judith Bowden, paid a visit to the Scenic Construction shop early in rehearsals in order to explore the as-yet-unfinished set.

Director’s Dialogue Brendan McMurtry-Howlett sat down with László Bérczes in the first week of rehearsals for The Glass Menagerie. It was a chance for the two directors, both new to The Shaw, to get to know one another and to talk theatre, choices, happiness and, of course, The Glass Menagerie.

B: How did you become a director? And how did a director from Hungary end up at the Shaw Festival?!

L: It’s a long journey! I like to say, as a human being I am elderly, but as a theatre maker I am middle-aged. After finishing university, I was a high school teacher, teaching German language. Nothing to do with theatre. After many years, I then moved to Budapest, the capital of Hungary, and that was the time I got interested in theatre and became a theatre critic. In the 90’s I switched from working for the “enemy” as a critic and began making theatre myself. We started the Bárka Theatre in Budapest. It existed for nearly 20 years with a beautiful building, four performance spaces, and a permanent acting company. It was there that I met Tim Carroll; we invited him four times to come direct at our theatre. That was the beginning of my career, AND my friendship with TC. I have been directing ever since and that is why I say I am a middle-aged director, even though I am a pensioner. With everyone it takes time to find yourself, just like Tom, the main character in The Glass Menagerie.

B: Why did you want to direct The Glass Menagerie?

L: I think I understand Tom—he is an artist; a poet who is looking for himself. When you say “I would like to make art” you still need to make a long, difficult journey to find yourself as an artist, and sometimes that means being faced with many difficult, even impossible decisions. And decisions mean gains and losses.

There is no gain without loss. For example, my grandson is asleep in Hungary right now. Tomorrow when I wake up here, I am here in Canada because I decided to accept this honourable and frightening invitation, but that means I am not playing with him, that means I’m not a good grandfather—at the moment. This is a gain and a loss. This is Tom’s story: he must choose between his family or finding himself. What is the right decision?

B: Do you think Tom makes the right decisions in the play?

L: There is no “right” decision, that is the paradox of life. Everyone in this play is full of good intentions but there are still tragedies coming from those good intentions. Even when we try to be good to each other we still end up hurting someone. It is the same with me, with anyone, so how can I give them advice? Life is wonderful, but it is very difficult and nobody knows the prescription for life. I don’t do this kind of “teaching” in theatre. Maybe it’s because I used to teach German grammar… you can’t have an opinion about grammar—those are the rules. But the rules of life? I don’t know how this family in The Glass Menagerie should behave, how anyone should behave.

But maybe that is enough—to say “I don’t know”. I think that is the heart of this production—not knowing, but also love. You don’t know anything, but you can love.

B: Is this your first time directing in another language?

By Brendan McMurtry-Howlett

2

L: Yes. Maybe it’s an obstacle? We shall see. But in life, I like misunderstandings because it gives so much salt into our lives.

For everyone, our days are a series of understandings and misunderstandings: assumptions, suggestions, and feelings that you never understand. Even if I say “table”, it doesn’t mean the same for you as for me. This is a simple example. But when I say “love” it is a bit more complicated. Even if we speak the same language there are so many misunderstandings. Maybe it helps or maybe it doesn’t …

2019 | 1.800.511.7429

B: Do you think there is a difference in making theatre in Hungary vs. in Canada?

L: Just before we began rehearsals, I got a message from a friend who knew how excited and nervous I was to start, and she said, “Theatre is theatre, everywhere in the world.” I walked into the rehearsal room on the first day and I saw smiling faces and hugs and I thought yes, I am at home here in the theatre.

There are almost only similarities.

B: What is your approach to directing?

L: My strength is empathy, that is what I do.

Directing means dialogue for me. In an open dialogue, when you want to connect with someone, you yourself have to be absolutely open. I have to put my heart here if I expect the other person to put their heart here too.

In rehearsals I want to see all the hearts and souls on the table, the souls of the team—the actors. It doesn’t mean they have to tell me all of their secrets, but they will tell them through acting, by BEING there on stage as their character. For example, Julia Course, who is playing Laura, doesn’t have to say a word about herself in rehearsals, but if she’s there as Laura, Julia and Laura will be the same. Who is crying when an actor is crying on the stage—the character or the actor?

Of course what happens in the rehearsal room is our secret and what we give to the audience is what comes from our secrets.

B: How do you say “break a leg” in Hungarian?

L: Ha! In Hungarian it is different. It is something like—find your fun, or your happiness in the show. Because if you find that, I don’t mind the mistakes. Of course I will still take notes and ask you why you didn’t do something! But the mistakes are not important—life is important. If life is not on the stage, you can be as accurate as you want but it means nothing. So we say, “Find your happiness: Talád meg az örömödet a mai esetében!”

Production Sponsor

James F. Brown Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre Sponsor

2019 | shawfest.com

László Bérczes is a Hungarian artist of many talents.

His career has spanned the role of director, artistic director, festival organizer, dramaturge, author, and theatre critic.

In 1996 he was a founding member of the Bárka Színház (Ark Theatre) in Budapest, where he put his many talents to use until the theatre closed in 2011. This is László’s first season at the Shaw Festival and he’ll be directing The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.

3

A Journey to Narnia: Setting a magical scene for The Horse and His Boy

By Julianna Cole

Designer Jennifer Goodman and Head of Scenic Art Gwyneth Stark explain how design and process came together to inspire the scenery for our return to Narnia in The Horse and His Boy.

4

2019 | 1.800.511.7429

Jennifer: There are quite a lot of dilemmas in translating this particular book to the stage, because there are so many locations: you are never in the same place twice! The play is a journey. The director, Christine Brubaker, and I needed to figure out how we could do this within the fixed frame of the Festival stage. Christine and I had worked together on Wilde Tales (2017) and we are both drawn to the use of abstract gestures rather than literalism. It’s more interesting when the audience has to do some of the work.

One of my original thoughts was to use a backdrop with moving irregular vertical strips of colour that would layer in different ways to create different landscapes. But we realized that the vertical motion was not really what we needed for the sense of a journey.

Then Christine showed me a video game that her children play and it had those elements of abstract shapes layered on top of each other. More importantly, it had this lateral motion, where the foreground images are moving faster than the background images and it really just helped capture the sense of motion that we were looking for. At that point, we decided to bring in projection designer Cameron Davis to help complement the scenery. Cameron and I are working at filling out the world where the physical scenery will stop and the projections will carry on. The effect we are going for is for the foreground images to be more saturated and the background images paler, to create a sense of distance in the landscape, a broader sense of horizon. We’re also looking at light boxes and dioramas where things are carefully layered in a specific way to create a scene. That silhouette look was a very big inspiration.

Christine and I now knew the effects we wanted to achieve, but how we went about it happened in consultation with Gwyneth Stark, Head of Scenic Art. I was interested in exploring the more traditional type of scenery because I had worked with Gwyneth on Wilde Tales and got a sense of what the Scenic Art Department here could do. It was fun coming up with the treatment for this set. I relied on her expertise and sense of colour.

A piece of scenery might look like one colour but it’s actually up to 10 colours put together on a greyed out base to create a pointillist technique so that, depending on what the lighting designer does, we can really pick up on certain shades. We needed the scenery to be transformative within each scene: colour and the way the lights play off of the scenery is a big part of that transformation.

In fact, each scene has its own colour including blue, teal, gold, orange and red in Act 1. Then in Act 2 there’s green, purple, a different green and we finish with what Gwyneth describes as a “fierce pink”. That’s nine different locations and each scene has a different set of scenic components to it: it’s always changing.

A few of the shapes are actually lifted directly from the original illustrations for the book. Also, for the city, there is a line in the novel, and also the play, where Shasta looks off into the distance at all the rooftops and says: “They look like they are covered in gold.” It’s just the sunlight glinting but that seemed like a good place to put the really luscious, over-the-top, decadent gold-coloured scenery for our play.

Previous page: Setting the scene with Julie Lumsden and Jenny L. Wright.

This page from top: A scene from The Horse and His Boy; a set model; Jennifer Goodman.

2019 | shawfest.com

I think that the play The Horse and His Boy has a real sense of adventure to it! We’ve been able to take that sense of play with all of the scenery and set pieces because we are in a purely fictionalized world. It’s different from all the other Narnia stories because we don’t start in England and there’s absolutely no reference to our world whatsoever. Trees and buildings don’t have to look like what they look like here on Earth. We wanted to create a very light and playful setting for the journey of Aravis and Shasta.

5

Gwyneth: This production really gave me a chance to experiment and to play with different colours and ideas. I took the information and resources Jennifer gave me and created a bunch of different samples and we went back and forth on different techniques, including playing around with UV light underneath all of the colours to try and create that sense of a magical world. From there, it just kept developing. Each scene has its own colour and is made up of different layers: the projection screen would be the lightest, the canvas drops next, and then the two dimensional scenery is going to be quite dark. It really was a chance to experiment with a lot of colour!

I think that the actual painting side of things, and how we got the colour for each world, was the best part of doing Horse for all of us in the Scenic Art shop. For instance, when Jennifer talks about the grey colour—we didn’t paint anything grey, we created a muted or greyed out version of each of the main colours using other colours. Also for a backdrop with trees in it we used fluorescent paint at the top so that when you put a black light on it, it becomes another colour. It has been a lot of fun and a big adventure.

This page from top: Gwyneth Stark in the shop; working on a canvas drop in the large rehearsal hall in our Production Centre, with Scenic Artists Rebecca Lee and Kim Brown. See cover image for final result.

Opposite page: Paint samples and scale drawings.

6

One of the things I had to consider was how to keep the overall look consistent: it needed to look as if one person had done all the painting—backdrops and set pieces—not seven scenic artists. I created textured rollers that were cut with circles so that the effect of each layer of scenery looked the same. By having consistency with that, everyone was able to work on all of the scenery and it will look as if one hand has done it. No two artists see the same thing so we all have to work together to create one effect.

Then lighting comes into it, because if you shine lights on the colour you could also change the effect from highly coloured to more muted.

2019 | 1.800.511.7429

Most of the backdrops are netted in order to create the silhouettes that Jennifer mentioned. This is a really old way of creating shapes that appear to float in space.

“Opera netting” is a theatre technique that uses a 1-inch square net stretched and attached onto the back of the canvas drop. The canvas is cut away to create the effect or shape the designer wants, but the netting remains to hold the canvas silhouettes. It’s quite labour intensive. Drops or soft goods are a traditional way of doing scenery; they're very lightweight and there is no automation required to move them, just one fly-person to fly them in or out and I think there's a kind of magic in that.

“The Shaw Festival is actually one of the few places left that still does traditional scenic painting.”

Production Sponsor:

Children and Family Programming Supporter:

2019 | shawfest.com

Christopher & Jeanne Jennings

The Shaw Festival is actually one of the few places left that still does traditional scenic painting. By traditional I mean the European technique of tacking out the fresh canvas drops on the floor: we make sure that the canvas is straight and square, then paint in our base coat with big broom brushes. Then we actually draw a grid onto the drop and use that grid to help us translate the designer's half-inch scale renderings or drawings by hand-drawing them at the full scale of 30 feet high by 60 feet wide. Only then can we start painting the scene. This is a very old way of doing things.

Nowadays it’s very unusual to do this in Canada, many theatres have gone to projections, but nothing beats beautifully painted scenery, if I do say so myself! Also, a lot of drops are printed now, but these don’t have the same magic in them.

My crew are a pretty amazing group who take enormous pride in their work, and always pull together to make our scenery beautiful. When I started as a Scenic Artist more than 35 years ago, I was told that this was a dying art form.

But, here we are today, painting gorgeous scenery.

7

Man and Superman A feast for all of your senses If you are going to present the play Man and Superman, the first question you have to answer is what to do about Don Juan in Hell?

With a running time of approximately five hours, Shaw’s masterpiece is rarely done in its entirety.

Most often the third act, Don Juan in Hell, is simply dropped, or sometimes cut down in length.

“

There is no love sincerer than the love of food.“ — Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman

The last three times The Shaw has done it (2004, 1989, 1977), select performances included the Don Juan in Hell act. This time Artistic Director Tim Carroll has taken a different approach: for almost the first time ever in North America, Man and Superman is being performed for the entire run uncut.

This approach allows you to have your cake and eat it too, literally.

It’s a tour-de-force that will allow audiences to savour the best of this region - with an outstanding team of artists (see pages 10, 11) combined with the food and wine of Niagara.

To make this work, all shows will start at 11am and will have an approximate total running time of six hours, including a 75-minute lunch interlude and two intermissions.

We’ve teamed up with some local chefs, featured on these pages, who have put together tantalizing lunch menus to accentuate your experience of this epic theatrical event: Collin Goodine of Gooddine Catering; Stephen Treadwell and Jason Williams of Treadwell; and Erik Peacock of Wellington Court.

It is a pure coincidence that the run of Man and Superman – only 17 performances from August 17 through October 5 – happens when the bounty of Niagara is at its peak. It is a not-to-be-missed, only-atThe-Shaw experience!

8

2019 | 1.800.511.7429

“

Here’s a chance to see one of the greatest plays in history exactly as Shaw intended it. No one who sees the full-length version of Man and Superman, including the dazzling Don Juan in Hell, ever forgets the experience. We’ve made it a full-day event because it’s worth a day of anyone’s life. Join us!”

— Tim Carroll, Artistic Director

“ “

“

I’ve enjoyed the camaraderie of working with the other Chefs.

I’m always up for the challenge of feeding large groups and looking forward to doing it in such a unique setting.”

This is a great way to showcase the flavours of Niagara to a discerning audience.”

I am honoured to be working alongside some of Niagara’s best Chefs, offering this unique culinary experience. It’s another clever way of bringing Niagara’s amazing theatre and food culture together.”

— Erik Peacock, Wellington Court

— Jason Williams, Treadwell

— Collin Goodine, Gooddine Catering

Stephen Treadwell & Jason Williams

Erik Peacock

Erik is always reaching for perfection in and out of the kitchen. Wellington Court Restaurant in St. Catharines is focused on fresh locally-inspired cuisine, infused with international flavours, in a fun and elegant atmosphere.

Chef and owner Stephen Treadwell trained in some of the finest kitchens in Europe.

Chef de Cuisine at Auberge du Pommier in Toronto before settling here, Stephen is a pioneer of “Niagara Cuisine.” Stephen is pictured with Executive Chef Jason Williams, right.

Collin Goodine

Goodine’s philosophy: Providing exceptional food and innovative menus customized to meet the taste and expectations of every customer. Collin is a Niagara-born Chef who has studied the culinary arts in the heart of wine country.

You can also pre-order a picnic lunch, catered by Cuisine With An Attitude, or pick up something grab-and-go from our Festival Lobby Café. Plus, three nearby restaurants are ready to welcome you. For the sumptuous details on all of the various food options, please visit the Man and Superman page at shawfest.com.

2019 | shawfest.com

9

Staging Man and Superman from Shaw to Shaw Man and Superman

By Bernard Shaw Directed by Kimberley Rampersad Designed by Camellia Koo Lighting designed by Kevin Lamotte Original music and sound designed

by John Gzowski Featuring:

Gray Powell as Tanner

“

It is reported that in a tense moment during rehearsals for the first production in 1905, Granville Barker, who played Tanner, shouted at the director, Shaw: “It’s an opera you’ve written, not a play.” “You’re beginning to understand,” Shaw replied from the darkened auditorium.”

— Keith Garebian, George Bernard Shaw & Christopher Newton: Explorations of Shavian Theatre

Sara Topham as Ann

Kyle Blair as Octavius

Martha Burns as Mendoza/ The Devil

Tom McCamus as Malone

With: David Adams Jason Cadieux Sharry Flett Jeff Irving Tanja Jacobs Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster Sanjay Talwar Shauna Thompson Production Sponsors:

Tim & Frances Price Corinne & Victor Rice Supported by

Andy Pringle Creative Reserve

10

Gray Powell, photo by Peter Andrew Lusztyk

2019 | 1.800.511.7429

“

There’s an anecdote about a famous painter, I think it was Modigliani, who was showing his most recent portrait to a friend who remarked that the subject’s arm seemed unnaturally long. The painter is supposed to have replied, “such a beautiful arm can’t be long enough.”

I’m tempted to say the same thing for Shaw’s Man and Superman. With the Don Juan in Hell sequence, this intellectual comedy is about five hours long, and yet it is a seamless piece of work with very little pruning necessary to enliven it. It has to be one of the most audacious stage plays that exists in the canon of the mandate, and it’s as vibrant today as it was when it was first performed.”

— Neil Munro, from the Director’s Notes for the 2004 production of Man and Superman Ben Carlson as Tanner in Man and Superman (2004)

“

Accordingly, in 1901, I took the legend of Don Juan in its Mozartian form and made it a dramatic parable of Creative Evolution. But being then at the height of my invention and comedic talent, I decorated it too brilliantly and lavishly.

I surrounded it with a comedy of which it formed only one act, and that act was so completely episodical (it was a dream which did not affect the action of the piece) that the comedy could be detached and played by itself: indeed it could hardly be played at full length owing to the enormous length of the entire work, though that feat has been performed a few times ... Now I protest I did not cut these cerebral capers in mere inconsiderate exuberance. I did it because the worst convention of the criticism of the theatre current at that time was that intellectual seriousness is out of place on the stage; that the theatre is a place of shallow amusement; that people go there to be soothed after the enormous intellectual strain of a day in the city: in short, that a playwright is a person whose business it is to make unwholesome confectionery out of cheap emotions. My answer to this was to put all my intellectual goods in the shop window under the sign of Man and Superman.”

— Bernard Shaw, from the preface to Back to Methuselah

2019 | shawfest.com

11

ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE YOU TO ...

THE 2019 SHAW FESTIVAL INTERNS BY: SARAH PHILLIPS

The Shaw Festival is committed to investing each year in young arts professionals, in order to share knowledge, guide inquiry, and provide opportunities for growth to artists from within the Ensemble and the theatre community at large. We are able to do this, thanks to a variety of supporters. Last year we wrote about the actors; this year we focus on some other areas of professional development.

12

NEIL MUNRO INTERN DIRECTORS This program was named for, and shaped by, former Associate Artistic Director and legendary actor/director, the late Neil Munro. Each year, two directors are chosen to spend the season with the company, given access to pre-production training, and ongoing training with resident designers, and visiting master directors. They also direct performances of Secret Theatre during the season, participate in education and outreach activities at The Shaw, and showcase their learning by directing a short play chosen in conversation with the Artistic and Associate Artistic Directors.

Brendan McMurtry-Howlett Brendan is an actor, director, playwright, designer, and educator, originally from Toronto. He was the founding Artistic Director of Shakespeare in the Ruff, a member of the Artistic Board at Actor’s Repertory Theatre, and has worked in various capacities with companies in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia.

Brendan is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada.

Brendan will be assisting directors Tim Carroll (Victory) and László Bérczes (The Glass Menagerie). To hear more from Brendan and László, see page 2.

2019 | 1.800.511.7429

METCALF PERFORMING ARTS INTERNSHIPS The Metcalf Foundation works to strengthen the performing arts by supporting training and professional development for artists, administrators, and production staff. Their Performing Arts Internship program helps organizations create productive entry points into the sector and realize opportunities to foster leadership, while providing individuals with more knowledge, better skills, broader work experience, and useful contacts.

Cherissa Richards Cherissa is an actor, director, and playwright, originally from Manitoba, who has been a part of the Shaw Ensemble since 2010. She has performed and directed with a variety of companies in Ontario and Manitoba and British Columbia. Cherissa has a BA from the University of Winnipeg, graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada, received her MFA from York University, and attended Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris.

Cherissa will be assisting directors Tim Carroll (The Ladykillers) and Tanja Jacobs (Getting Married).

“

There is an entire company of inspiring artists and theatre makers to learn from around every corner. I leave every rehearsal, every meeting and every new experience feeling full from the rich meal of artistic excellence and inspiration I’ve just dined on! Whatever you are hungry to learn about, they’re willing to teach you. We’re able to pull back the curtain and learn about the inner workings of this theatre festival and experience theatre making on every level, in every department and learn from the best directors, designers, actors, and production staff.”

– CHERISSA RICHARDS

Ryan Cowl - Intern Music Director Ryan is an emerging Music Director and composer working out of Kingston and Eastern Ontario. Ryan graduated from Queen’s University’s Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education programs and teaches St. Lawrence College’s Musical Theatre Performance Program. Ryan has worked as a composer and music director for Stirling Festival Theatre, the Juvenis Festival and the Storefront Fringe Festival, as well as at Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque.

Ryan Cowl will be working with Shaw’s Music Director Paul Sportelli, for the 2019 season (Brigadoon and Holiday Inn).

“

I’m always looking to mentor Music Directors who can think beyond the black and white of music direction (notes, rhythms, harmonies, etc.) and get deep into a musical score, figure out what the composer and lyricist were doing, and share that information in a way that inspires and informs actors, musicians, and the creative teams. I am pleased and honoured to mentor Ryan to see how much farther he can grow in the area that is already his strong suit, namely his formidable intelligence and ability to communicate clearly and inspirationally.”

– PAUL SPORTELLI

2019 | shawfest.com

Kimberley Rampersad - Intern Artistic Director Kimberley is an actor, director, choreographer, and educator, born and raised in Winnipeg. She joined the Shaw Festival as an Ensemble member in 2015, and has since performed, directed, and been a Neil Munro Intern Director (2017).

She has worked in a variety of capacities with a wide range of companies in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia. Kimberley received her BA from University of Manitoba, her teacher training certificate from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and apprenticed with Obsidian, RMTC, and Rainbow Stage.

Kimberley will be directing Man and Superman and working with Tim Carroll, Artistic Director and Kate Hennig, Associate Artistic Director for a full year.

“

There are so few theatre companies of the size and complexity of The Shaw that it makes succession planning very difficult. Who has experience running a company of this size? Who can the Board trust to walk in and be ready to take on everything that the job entails? In taking on Kimberley as Intern Artistic Director, we will be enabling her to walk in to a job interview here and say ‘I can do this.’”

– TIM CARROLL

13

MASTER’S IN ARTS LEADERSHIP INTERN Queen’s University offers a Master’s Degree in Arts Leadership. The program centres on developing 21st century leadership and management capabilities including strategic planning, revenue development in arts marketing and philanthropy, cultural policy, contract negotiations and labour relations, financial and management accounting, and creative entrepreneurship, culminating in an internship at a cultural institution.

Sarah Phillips - Creative Management Associate Sarah is a director, dramaturg, educator, and playwright born and raised in and around southern Ontario. She has worked with a number of companies across Canada and was the Artistic Director of Festival Players of Prince Edward County from 2008–2016. Sarah has a BA from University of Guelph, graduated from the directing program at the National Theatre School, and is completing her Master’s in Arts Leadership at Queen’s University.

Sarah will be assisting director Jani Lauzon (Rope).

INTERNSHIPS ARE MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE GENEROUS PHILANTHROPY OF FOUNDATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS:

CHRISTOPHER NEWTON INTERNS Long-time supporters of The Shaw, and passionate supporters of the arts, Marilyn and Charlie Baillie recently gifted $1 million to the Shaw Festival Foundation to establish the Christopher Newton Intern Program. The purpose of the gift is to provide financial support in perpetuity for the annual operating costs associated with internships for young actors and/or creative artists at The Shaw as a tribute to former Shaw Artistic Director Christopher Newton.

Christopher Newton retired from his position as the Shaw Festival’s Artistic Director in 2002 after 23 years of service, and continues to be a major contributor to Canadian theatre. He is well known for his dedication to the development of artists and young theatre practitioners.

Actor/director Kimberley Rampersad and actor Julie Lumsden are the inaugural Christopher Newton Interns.

Both Kimberly (see page 13) and Julie will engage in a multitude of enriched learning opportunities, aimed at providing them with everything necessary to advance in their chosen careers.

Thank you Marilyn and Charlie and congratulations to Kimberley and Julie!

Slaight Family Academy

Marilyn & Charles Baillie, Christopher Newton Interns George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation, Metcalf Foundation Interns An anonymous donor, Neil Munro Intern Directors Project AND THROUGH THE FOLLOWING DONORS AND ENDOWMENT FUNDS:

James F. Brown, Debra J. Graham and James F. Brown Fund John Cronyn, John Cronyn Fund Margaret & Jim Fleck, Paul D. Fleck Fund Ivey Foundation and Richard & Beryl Ivey, Academy Professional Endowment Fund Don & Gundy Jackson, Gundy Jackson Fund Cynthia & Malcolm Macdonald, Eleanor Macdonald Fund Calvin G. Rand, Calvin Rand Fund William & Meredith Saunderson, William & Meredith Saunderson Acting Apprentice Program Fund The Slaight Family Foundation, Slaight Family Academy Endowed Fund Michael & Anne Tyler, Michael & Anne Tyler Fund for the Academy George Weston Ltd, George Weston Ltd. Director’s Project Fund

14

“

We believed that establishing an endowment to develop actors was an ideal way of honouring long-time artistic director, Christopher Newton to whom excellence in acting means so much.”

– MARILYN & CHARLIE BAILLIE

2019 | 1.800.511.7429

Reading Series 2019 “The Reading Series will showcase two pieces that might end up in a future season, or they might just be companion pieces to shows we are already doing. Either way, they help us to provide a wider range of meals for our hungry audience.”

Tim Carroll, Artistic Director

KIPPS The new Half a Sixpence musical Based on the H.G. Wells novel KIPPS: The Story of a Simple Soul and the original musical by Beverley Cross and David Heneker Original Songs by David Heneker Book by Julian Fellowes New Songs and Additional Music and Lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe Orchestrations by William David Brohn Co-Created by Cameron Mackintosh Directed by Jay Turvey August 29 | 9pm Royal George Theatre

Just to Get Married

by Cicely Hamilton Directed by Graeme Somerville September 29 | 11am Niagara-on-the Lake Library, 10 Anderson Lane Approaching her 30th birthday in early 20th Century England, the clever and poor Georgiana Vicary is waiting for the handsome but shy Adam Lankester to propose to her. Her friends expect her to get married, her adoptive parents expect it and more importantly, she expects it of herself—but will her conscience allow it? From a time when marriage was a socio-economic­—rather than just a romantic— decision, Just to Get Married asks how we can have a marriage of equals when the genders are unequal.

“Despite her admirable early feminist agenda, Hamilton is too astute and even-handed a writer to make the men “A great big hug of a show that’s and authority figures into as thrilling to watch as it is two dimensional villains, and comforting. Pure tonic for the the result is an immensely soul and the senses that has you leaving the theatre walking on air.” engaging piece of drama.”

Our first reading is a musical comedy based on a 1905 novel by H. G. Wells. Half a Sixpence debuted in 1963 and was recently revived on the West End (2016) with help from Julian Fellowes (of Downton Abbey fame). It is a rags-to-riches story of a humble draper’s assistant who inherits a surprise fortune but must choose, as he jumps social echelons, between the childhood sweetheart he left behind (with half a sixpence as their shared keepsake) and a genteel evening-class teacher.

londontheatre.co.uk

2019 | shawfest.com

whatsonstage.com

15

NEWS

Congratulations to Christopher Newton!

At the end of 2018, Governor General of Canada Julie Payette named Shaw’s Artistic Director Emeritus Christopher Newton an Officer of the Order of Canada, for his contributions to theatre. Christopher was previously named a Member of the Order in 1995. To be named to the Order of Canada is one of this country’s highest honours.

Congratulations for this well-deserved award!

“We are thrilled to offer a warm welcome to our newest Governors Council members and Corporate supporters.

Thank you!”

Tim Carroll, Artistic Director and Tim Jennings, Executive Director

As of April 1, 2019

Virginia Lovelace and Jonathan Taylor

Urve & Lewis Abbott

Terry+ & Terry Mactaggart

Jerome Andersen & June Hajjar

Sue & Biff Matthews

Dr Brian & Jenifer Bassil*

Peggy & David McLeish

Barbara Gage Bolton

J.A. Newey

Burgundy Asset Management Ltd

Suzanne O’Connell

CAA Insurance

Old Town Goodies

Robert & Karen Christmann

Janet & John Panabaker

J. Orange & F. Clayton

Peter Partridge & Poppy Gilliam

Mr Patrick Devine

Victor & Esther Peters

Britt & Nancy Doherty

Martin & Denise Pick

Robert Dunigan & Robert McDonald

David & Dinah Sanderson

Tina Filoromo

Doug & Cheryl Seaver

Mr David Flora

Dr A.P.J. Sheppard

Mark & Frannie Gallien

Dr Joyce E. Sirianni

Hope & Libby Gibson

Mr Matthew Skinner

Vaughn & Lauren Goettler

Craig E. Smith & Kelly A. Lee

Guelph Infiniti

Mrs Doreen Smith

Holiday Inn Express Niagara-on-the-Lake

Staybridge Suites Niagara-on-the-Lake

Roberta Heath

Elizabeth Stirling & Tom Millward

Lauri & Jean Hiivala

Jack Watkins & Erin English

John J. & Maureen O. Hurley

Lyman & Deana Welch

Irish Design

Barry Whiteland

Tony & Val Keenleyside

In memory of Donald E. Will

Prof Joseph Kelly, ESQ

Brenda Wivell

Rajendra K. Kothari

Morden S. Yolles

Mr & Mrs Charles F. Kreiner Jr.

1 anonymous gift

Shelley* & Scott Kuzma

††

Lorraine Luba

16

Board Member Board Alumni *Shaw Company Member †

2019 | 1.800.511.7429

MYSTERY ENCOUNTERS Festival Theatre Thursdays at 11am May, June, July and September

Are you curious about what goes on backstage? Who works behind the stage curtain?

Here’s your chance to meet the creative professionals who help to create theatre magic.

You never know who you might encounter, but we promise you will be awed and amazed. Here are the dates, and the clues to the “Mystery Encounters”.

May 2 Rehearsals. Tech-runs. Understudy rehearsals.

Show times. Ever wonder just how the schedule for a Shaw season is created? Meet the brilliant brain behind the scheduling madness.

May 9 How do Shaw actors manage to maintain different accents in different productions? Meet the pro who ensures “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain”.

May 16 How do three sets fit on one stage? Magic?

Perhaps. Or ... perhaps the skills of our mystery guest.

May 23 Lights! No Camera (because this is theatre)!

Action! One member of the backstage team we never meet … until now.

June 27 Often, the backstage world is just as entertaining as what is occurring on stage.

A conversation with a dedicated, dynamic, and dexterous backstage pro!

July 4 Selling Sex is harder than you think …

Want to learn more? Here’s your chance.

July 11 Did you know some Shaw artists enjoy ‘wigging out’?! Secrets of the trade with our very own hair-brained pro!

July 18 Theatre is a fine balance of art and business.

Meet the Shaw leader responsible for the ‘biz of show biz’.

July 25 When the curtain rises and the audience gasps, it is mainly due to the magic of this Shaw artist and her talented team.

Sept. 5 Over 40 artists build more than 600 pieces in one season. Curious? Thought so. Meet the head of this department and learn about this amazing team of artists.

Sept. 12 Want some sound advice about this element of theatre? Lend your ear and listen in on a backstage pro whose talent helps to tell the stories on our stages.

Sept. 19 How does the Shaw Festival navigate to remain a live, human experience in a world in which we all use social media? An insightful conversation.

Sept 26 “You want the chair to spin, go up and down, and disappear? No problem” says the Shaw artist who makes this happen!

$20 | $15 for Shaw Friends.

To book, call Box Office at 1-800-511-7429.

Governors Council and Premier Friends call 1-800-657-1106 ext 2208.

May 30 One essential person is there at the very beginning, through the middle, and remains until the end of a production. Who is it?

June 6 Our Shaw artists and technicians are multitalented and often take on many roles in our season.

Meet one such ‘jack of all trades’!

June 13 The Shaw is dedicated to serving our communities on the local, national, and bi-national levels.

Meet the person who manages to get Shaw on the road.

June 20 Building and storing 11 unique sets for three different stages … is it talent or tetris?

2019 | shawfest.com

17

“You don’t stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing.” ― Bernard Shaw

MAY Sip & Sizzle EVERY WEEKEND IN MAY Twenty-six regional wineries feature a unique wine and food pairing. Cheers! wineriesofniagaraonthelake.com New!

Mystery Encounters

THURSDAYS IN MAY, JUNE, JULY & SEPTEMBER Are you curious about what goes on backstage and who works there? Here’s your chance to find out. See page 17 for more details. $20 | $15 for Shaw Friends and under 30

Meet Shaw Directors and Designers MAY 22, JUNE 11 & 21, JULY 30, AUGUST 15, NOVEMBER 15 | 11AM

Teen Workshops

Deeper Dialogues

SATURDAYS | MAY 11, JUNE 1 | 10AM-5PM

SATURDAYS | JUNE 15, JUNE 22, JULY 20, AUGUST 24, SEPTEMBER 21, OCTOBER 5 | 11AM-12PM

Tap into your own powerful voice as you explore stories through spoken word text.

Add movement and voice techniques to lift the words off the page towards performance.

Free local transportation by Niagara Airbus.

For all experience levels. Workshop + theatre ticket: $60

Here’s your chance to join us for deeper conversations about theatre, art and culture. $20 | $15 for Shaw Friends For Friends

Friends Post-Show Chats

Governors Council

WEDNESDAYS AND THURSDAYS STARTING IN JUNE

Governors Council Rehearsal

Engage in exclusive conversations with the cast or creative teams after the Festival Theatre matinee performances. Free

MAY 16, JULY 21 & AUGUST 6 Take in part of an onstage rehearsal early in the staging process. Choose one from the following: The Glass Menagerie – Thursday May 16 Cyrano de Bergerac – Sunday July 21 Man and Superman – Tuesday August 6

Shaw Garden Tour SATURDAY JUNE 8 | 10AM-4PM Our spectacular annual garden tour in Niagaraon-the-Lake organized by the Shaw Guild.

Don’t miss out on the beauty of Niagara-onthe-Lake’s blooms. $25

Up close and personal … our 2019 Shaw directors and designers share their insights and visions.

Founders and above ($10,000+) can experience all three rehearsals.

The Glass Menagerie (May 22), The Ladykillers (June 11), Sex (June 21), Cyrano de Bergerac (July 30), Man and Superman (Aug 15), Holiday Inn (Nov 15). $20 | $15 for Shaw Friends and under 30

JUNE

Coffee Concerts

For Friends

A Sunday morning concert performed by members of the Shaw Festival’s Orchestra at the Festival Theatre. Donations appreciated

Spring Play by Play MAY 29-31 | SEPTEMBER 25-27 Calling all theatre lovers! Focusing on four plays, gain access to the creative minds who bring our plays to life. Includes lunches, presentations and parking. Cost does not include theatre ticket. $220 | $185 for Shaw Friends

18

Friends Rehearsal: The Ladykillers SATURDAY JUNE 1 Experience the play coming together by watching part of an onstage rehearsal.

For Sustaining level and above ($600+) and Corporate Partners. Free

shawfest.com/gardentour or 1-800-511-7429

JUNE 23, JULY 21, SEPTEMBER 8 | 10:30AM

New! The Golden Age of Musical Theatre

JUNE 14, JULY 5, JULY 26, SEPTEMBER 14 | 11AM Join Shaw Music Director Paul Sportelli to learn about and sing-along to music theatre classics including Brigadoon. $20 | $15 for Shaw Friends

2019 | 1.800.511.7429

Artistry by the Lake

For Friends

JUNE 29-JULY 1 | 10AM-5PM

Friends Day #2

Come see a variety of artists showcasing paintings, fiber arts, jewelry, sculptures, photography, pottery, glass, wood and more.

A juried show presented by the Niagara-on-theLake Chamber of Commerce set in picturesque Queen’s Royal Park, overlooking the mouth of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. Free

SATURDAY JULY 13

See more at: niagaraonthelake.com

JULY Canada Day Celebrations MONDAY JULY 1 | 8AM Fort George is free on Canada Day! Join us for music, muskets and artillery demonstrations throughout the afternoon. Enjoy a BBQ dinner, music and fireworks in the evening! admin@friendsoffortgeorge.ca or 905-468-6621 New!

Cocktails with the Company

SATURDAY EVENINGS IN JULY AND AUGUST For Friends

Friends Day #1

An open invitation to join Shaw Company members for cocktails ($) and casual conversation! Free

Explore women’s voices in theatre with a lively panel discussion followed by a performance of The Glass Menagerie. Lunch included. $170 | $80 for Season’s Pass holders

Battle of Fort George, War of 1812 Re-enactment SATURDAY JULY 13 | 10AM Join us as we commemorate the 206th Anniversary of the Battle of Fort George.

Re-enactors from all over North America will descend upon Fort George as they re-enact one of the pivotal events in Niagara during the War of 1812 including musket firings, cannon firings, music presentations and more! niagaraonthelake.com New!

Adult Acting Intensive

MONDAY JULY 22-26 | 9AM-4PM Unpack the tools actors use to make text and characters come alive. In a supportive community of your peers, delve into classical text culminating in a final presentation.

Exclusive access to Shaw professional coaches/ teachers. For all experience levels. $495

FRIDAY JUNE 14 |11AM

Pop-up Patio

For Friends

Sing along with Music Director Paul Sportelli to the tunes of the golden age of music. Includes lunch and a performance of Brigadoon. $170 | $80 for Season’s Pass holders

THURSDAYS IN JULY & AUGUST | 4:15PM

The Changeover

Food! Refreshments! Live Music!

Thursdays in July & August following matinee performances at the Festival & Studio Theatres.

Open to all, no theatre ticket required. Food & beverages available ($)

SATURDAY JULY 27

Deeper Dialogues: Theatre Criticism in the Age of Social Media

St. Marks Cherry Festival

JUNE 15 |11AM

SATURDAY JULY 6 | 9AM–3PM

Conversations about theatre, art and culture with Laura Hughes, Shaw Communication Manager and Karen Fricker, Toronto Star Theatre Critic. $20 | $15 for Shaw Friends

New this year is a destinations and events silent auction including concerts, dinners and vacation homes. BBQ breakfast and lunch served, designer and nearly new clothing, treasures, jewelry, music, bake table, children activities and bouncy castle.

Governors Council

Spring Governors Council Weekend JUNE 15 & 16 Come join us for a technical run-through of Sex by Mae West, a peek behind the scenes for Cyrano de Bergerac and dinner with members of the Ensemble. $250 To book, call 1-800-657-1106 ext 2208

905-468-3123

Shaw Seminar 9AM-8PM | VARIOUS LOCATIONS AUGUST 8-11 An exploration of six plays—our premier adult education experience. Lunches, reception, guest lectures and parking. $325 | $300 for Shaw Friends

Shaw Symposium

SATURDAY JULY 6 | 10AM–4PM

Shaw at The Shaw: a focus on Getting Married and Man and Superman. A program of the Shaw Festival and the International Shaw Society. Reception, picnic lunch, and parking. $150 | $95 for students

A self-guided tour of 12 unique local gardens.

Rain or shine. $12 per person notlhortsociety.com or 905-468-1950 New!

SATURDAY JUNE 22 |9:30AM-3PM

JULY 12-14

Celebrate the annual Strawberry Festival on the grounds of St. Andrew’s Church. Enjoy strawberry shortcakes, pies and family activities.

Join Associate Artistic Director Kate Hennig and explore women theatre artists from Mae West to today. Panels and guest speakers on Sex, Victory and Getting Married. Reception, lunch and parking. $200

2019 | shawfest.com

Watch as our Production team transforms the Festival stage from The Ladykillers to Brigadoon! Free

28th Annual Niagara-on-theLake Garden Tour

Strawberry Festival

niagaraonthelake.com or 905-468-3363

For Contributing Level and above ($400+) and Corporate Partners

AUGUST 15-17

Women’s Voices – Then & Now Plan your visit to The Shaw and Niagara: Shawfest.com/planyourvisit or niagaraonthelake.com.

To book Shaw events 1-800-511-7429

19

A Series of Inspired Follies

By Kim White

U

nlikely connections between an aspiring actor in Budapest, a famous Hungarian director/ producer and Bernard Shaw provide the Shaw Festival with a rare and enduring gift.

As a young girl, Valerie Pascal Delacorte loved to write stories and act in school plays whenever possible. Against her parents’ wishes she enrolled in the Budapest Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She immediately found success as an actor on stage as well as in the movies.

In 1944, in the midst of war and the threat of a communist government, Valerie was able to escape the iron curtain by way of a screen test for Gabriel Pascal, who was already a famous producer for Bernard Shaw works. Their story began when Valerie received a cable from Gabriel in Paris: “bring with a reel cut together of best scenes from your films stop Please meet me the first time without makeup or lipstick and don’t waste your energy on sophisticated dresses come in black skirt and white shirt-blouse stop You are welcome God bless you stop Have faith and courage bon voyage et à bientôt — Pascal”. It was both a new adventure and an opportunity to leave the troubles of Hungary behind her. And so their love story began. Their whirlwind courtship and marriage were documented in Valerie’s book, The Disciple and His Devil.

Before Valerie entered the scene, Gabriel Pascal had travelled to England and convinced Shaw to allow the production of film and musical adaptations of his work. Shaw was impressed with the young man’s passion for art and cinema and praised him saying: “Until he descended on me out of the clouds, I found nobody who wanted to do anything with my plays but mutilate them … The man is a genius: that is all I have to say about him.” These two men shared many years of collaboration and struggles to fund projects. However, Pascal’s success with a musical adaptation of Pygmalion into My Fair Lady truly launched Shaw to the film houses of the world.

Gabriel and Valerie were together for many years. After Pascal’s death, Valerie continued her dedicated work in the arts and became a celebrated philanthropist. As part of the Pascal Estate she was given the rights to all royalties from Shaw productions launched throughout the world. Later in life she pondered what to do with this bequest, when Cathleen McFarlane Ross, longtime patron of the Shaw Festival, suggested that Valerie should visit The Shaw to see if this Festival would be worthy of such an impactful gift. After visits

20

and many discussions, Valerie was convinced that this was a perfect match. As she was finalizing this planned gift to The Shaw, she wrote: “I want to express my great satisfaction that Gabriel Pascal once more will be remembered together with the man he admired and to whose genius he dedicated his life work.”

In the summer of 2010, the Shaw Festival was officially given this transformational gift and the Gabriel Pascal Memorial Fund was launched. This unique and generous bequest provides all net profits of royalties from any motion picture, the stage play and the sound track of My Fair Lady as well as Pascal’s films of Shaw’s plays The Devil’s Disciple, Major Barbara and Pygmalion.

As these works continue to be produced across the globe, The Shaw benefits financially from this generous bequest in perpetuity. Each year, we remember this generosity by choosing one production to be sponsored by the Gabriel Pascal Memorial Fund. In 2019, it will be Shaw’s play, Getting Married.

As you attend performances this season, look for the portrait of Gabriel Pascal and Shaw in the Festival Lobby just behind the Membership desk. Valerie specifically selected this photo to honour her husband and Shaw’s collaborative creations and friendship.

Our story takes us from Budapest to Niagara-on-the-Lake, an unlikely journey of Shaw’s legacy. In Pygmalion, Bernard Shaw writes, “What is life but a series of inspired follies?” Valerie, Gabriel and Shaw may have come together through a series of inspired follies, but these fortunate events have provided The Shaw with many years of sustaining support and a wonderful story to tell.

THE SHAW IS GRATEFUL TO THE 145 INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE JOINED THE BRIAN DOHERTY LEGACY CIRCLE. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ESTABLISHING A LEGACY GIFT, CONTACT KIM WHITE, SENIOR DEVELOPMENT OFFICER INDIVIDUAL GIFTS & LEGACY GIVING, AT KWHITE@SHAWFEST.COM OR 1-800-657-1106 EXT 2397.

2019 | 1.800.511.7429

2019 Ensemble

David Adams

Damien Atkins

David Ball

Kyle Blair

Kristopher Bowman

Martha Burns

Fiona Byrne

Jason Cadieux

Julia Course

Diana Donnelly

Peter Fernandes

Sharry Flett

Kristi Frank

Allegra Fulton

Patrick Galligan

Katherine Gauthier

Élodie Gillett

Kyle Golemba

Alexis Gordon

Cameron Grant

Martin Happer

Deborah Hay

Jeff Irving

Tanja Jacobs

Patty Jamieson

Jane Johanson

Claire Jullien

Krystal Kiran*

Madelyn Kriese*

George Krissa

Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster

Andrew Lawrie

Emily Lukasik

Julie Lumsden*

Marie Mahabal*

Michael Man*

Tom McCamus

Stewart Adam McKensy

Marla McLean

Peter Millard

Mike Nadajewski

Matt Nethersole

Monice Peter

Drew Plummer*

Gray Powell

Chick Reid

Ric Reid

Tom Rooney

Ben Sanders

Kiera Sangster

Travis Seetoo

Genny Sermonia

AndrĂŠ Sills

Graeme Somerville

Gabriella Sundar Singh*

Steven Sutcliffe

Sanjay Talwar

Jonathan Tan

Jacqueline Thair

Michael Therriault *Supported by

Shauna Thompson*

Sara Topham

2019 | shawfest.com

Jay Turvey

Kelly Wong

Jenny L. Wright

21

10 QUEEN’S PARADE, BOX 774 NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ONTARIO L0S 1J0 CANADA SHAWFEST.COM

MAGAZINE FOR FRIENDS AND PARTNERS SPRING 2019

APRIL 6 - DECEMBER 22

A scene from Rope.

22

1-800-511-SHAW SHAWFEST.COM

Production Sponsor:

Royal George Theatre Sponsor:

2019 | 1.800.511.7429