Stratford Festival

A long-simmering animosity between two families of Verona, the Montague's and the Capulet's, has recently boiled over, with members of the rival households brawling in the streets. One night, Romeo, a Montague, crashes a party given by the Capulet's in order to meet up with a young woman called Rosaline, with whom he is infatuated. Thoughts of her vanish from his mind, however, when he catches sight of Juliet, daughter of the head of the Capulet household. Juliet is equally smitten with Romeo, but her father already has other plans for her.

A ghostly visitor with a shocking secret, a daughter devastated by loss, a deadly duel – and the most famous question in all of drama. Just some of the reasons why Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy will hold you spellbound.

Renowned for his extreme generosity, the Athenian nobleman Timon has fallen prey to flatterers and false friends, on whom he showers lavish gifts and extravagant hospitality. His loyal steward, Flavius, tries to warn him of the financial consequences of such reckless expenditure, while the cynical philosopher Apemantus mocks his naivety, but Timon ignores them both. When his money runs out and his creditors demand payment, Timon sends confidently to his "friends" for help. When all refuse him, he throws one last party - one that heralds a dramatic change in his attitude to the world.

Filmed version of the 2019 Stratford Festival production.

Staged at the Stratford Festival and named on many 2018 year-end critics “best of” lists, the Stratford Festival’s “riveting” and “exhilarating” (The New York Times) production of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, has been called “the show of the decade… a landmark production for the Stratford Festival. Maybe for William Shakespeare, too” (The Globe and Mail), and “the greatest contemporary staging of this play that I have ever seen” (Chicago Tribune).

Shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria, Viola adopts a male disguise and enters the service of Duke Orsino, only to find herself part of a triangle of unrequited love. Meanwhile, in the household of the Countess Olivia, Sir Toby Belch and his unruly companions trick Olivia's strict and disapproving steward, Malvolio, into believing that she loves him.

Exiled Prospero lives on a desolate island with his daughter, Miranda. When Prospero's usurping brother sails by the island, Prospero conjures a storm that wrecks the ship and changes all of their lives.

In a small Japanese town, Ko-Ko is appointed to the unenviable position of executioner. Knowing he must successfully perform before the appearance of the Mikado in a month's time, Ko-Ko finds a suitable victim in Nanki-Poo, who is distraught over his unrequited love for the maiden Yum-Yum. Nanki-Poo agrees to sacrifice his life if he is allowed to spend his remaining days with Yum-Yum, who is betrothed to Ko-Ko.

When the King of France demands that John relinquish his crown in favor of his nephew, the young Prince Arthur, war is the inevitable result. Excommunication, attempted atrocity, rebellion, and assassination all contribute to political turmoil and personal grief for a mother who has lost her son.

In a revolutionary adaptation by Brad Fraser, this Richard is the story of a king who believes that God gives him the right to live above the rules and who ultimately suffers the consequences. The story is embedded in a time of great freedom that is soon crushed - the late 1970s and early '80s: when lives were lived at great volume against a suffocating strain of conservatism and fear. Fraser's adaptation maintains Shakespeare's text but draws on sources beyond Richard II.

Henry, tracing his descent from Edward III, has claimed the French crown. Assured by the Archbishop of Canterbury that right is on his side, and needled by the Dauphin’s insolence, he prepares for war.

Marco and Giuseppe Palmieri, the most favored of all the gondoliers, choose Gianetta and Tessa to be their brides. While celebrating their marriages, Marco and Giuseppe are informed that one of them is really the King of Barataria - but it is not known which. Gianetta and Tessa are delighted with the idea of one of them being Queen. However, all are cast into despair when it is revealed that the King was married (in babyhood) to somebody else!

Who would have guessed that Antipholus's long-lost identical twin had just arrived in town? Or that his servant, Dromio, also has a newly-landed identical twin? Sheer confusion and delightful nonsense reign in Shakespeare's most madcap comedy, culminating in a series of misunderstandings that brings everyone to the brink of hysteria.

This radically reimagined version of Shakespeare's romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet invites you into an up-to-the-minute world of sound and music, a world in which the entrenched hostilities of an older generation are challenged by the passions of young people who only want to love.

hurch and state collide when England’s king defies papal authority by seeking to divorce his wife, Katherine of Aragon. The consequences will be epochal for the country – and calamitous for the king’s adviser, Cardinal Wolsey, who has been playing a dangerous game of his own. Passion, political intrigue and personal faith drive the action as Shakespeare brings vividly to life the thrilling human drama behind a pivotal moment in history.

An elderly women looks back on her life as she relates to two younger, female visitors a caregiver and a lawyer. An unexpected turn of events casts the three women in a very different light.

The ultimate royal family crisis. Prince Hamlet's father is dead, poisoned by his uncle, who has usurped the throne and married his mother, the Queen. When the dead King's ghost appears, commanding his son to revenge his foul and most unnatural murder, Hamlet is set on a course of action that can only end in the destruction of a dynasty and his own extinction.

Shakespeare's great comedy of dreaming and desire has it all - spellbound lovers, quarrelling fairies, tradesmen who love amateur theatricals. This is both a deep dive into the realms of the subconscious and a hilarious tribute to the power of the imagination. The most fundamental techniques of theatrical art feature in a magically inventive staging of a play that is itself a celebration of joy, both human and supernatural.

This scintillating production of Shakespeare’s boisterous comedy will stir your emotions even as it challenges you with its pointed social commentary. Is the story of Kate and Petruchio one of courtship or of conquest? The breaking down of a defiant spirit or a breakthrough that liberates a heart deprived of love? You decide – but either way, this is an experience not to be missed!

The swaggering Petruchio agrees to marry the spitting hellcat, Katherine.