The merry wives of windsor - Stratford Festival

Festival
Theatre
May 10 TO
OcTOber 14, 2011
Opens may 30
From left: Lucy Peacock,
Geraint Wyn Davies,
Tom Rooney, Laura Condlln
THE
OF
WINDSOR
The merry wives of windsor
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Frank Galati
Production Sponsor
Production support generously provided by
Mrs. Jarka Hradecky
Antoni Cimolino
General Director
Des McAnuff
Artistic Director

let us take you on
an adventure!
Great stories transcend time and place. Whatever country or century gave
them their birth, they speak to us here and now, their power to move or
delight us recharged with each telling, their insights as pertinent to the world
we live in as the latest work of a dramatist today.
our 2011 playbill opens doors to vistas both familiar and exotic, from
shakespeare’s illyria to the American dust Bowl, from contemporary
canada to the legendary realm of camelot. each of the dramatic
worlds created on our stages embodies universal aspects of
the human heart and the human soul; each invites you into an
extraordinary adventure we hope you will never forget.
Artistic director
GeNerAL director
The 2011 season is dedicated to the memory of
Michael Langham, Artistic Director from 1956 to 1967.
scan with your smartphone for a
free ring tone from our new 2011
season song: Show Time!
1

Shakespeare’s
World Unfiltered
by Robert Blacker
Below | Director Frank Galati in Rehearsal. Facing page, left to right from
top| Tom Rooney (Master Francis FORD) and Lucy Peacock (Mistress Alice
Ford); Geraint Wyn Davies (Falstaff); Trent Pardy (Fenton) and Andrea Runge
(Anne PAGE). Following page | Geraint Wyn Davies and Lucy Peacock;
Tom McCamus (Master George Page); Laura Condlln (Mistress Margaret
PAGE); Members of the company. Photography By Erin Samuell.
One of the delights of seeing John Bull’s
Other Island at the Shaw Festival last season
was in watching George Bernard Shaw turn
his acerbic wit on his own people, the Irish.
That play is on my mind as I write about The
Merry Wives of Windsor, for here we have
the rare opportunity to see Shakespeare set
his scrutiny on his roots, the middle class of a
small English town that was not very different
from the Stratford in which he grew up.
Of course Shakespeare is writing about his
contemporary English society even when he sets
his plays, as he usually does, in other lands and
times. In Merry Wives, he removes those filters.
Perhaps that is why this remarkable play, so often
underrated by scholars but not by audiences, has
an immediacy that still captures us today. The
characters are so familiar to us because they were
familiar to Shakespeare.
At the time Shakespeare was writing,
Renaissance England was in the midst of great
change, moving from a medieval society where
wealth was based on land to a modern mercantile
society based on the sale of goods. Capulet in
Romeo and Juliet may be an early sketch of such
upwardly mobile new money. When he speaks,
he does not share the classical imagery of the
Montagues and their son. Capulet has the smarts of
a self-made man, and parties are a necessary part
of his social agenda, as is marrying his daughter
to a kinsman to the Prince. In Merry Wives,
Shakespeare presents us with another wealthy
man, Master Page, who throws dinner parties, and
Page too has plans to have his daughter marry up
in society.
Shakespeare understood the ambitions of
this class. His father, the son of a tenant farmer,
transformed himself into a successful merchant
2

who rose to become a Stratford alderman and
bailiff. John Shakespeare eventually applied for a
coat of arms to advance his status and the status
of his descendants. In the opening of Merry Wives,
Shallow also highlights his status by describing his
coat of arms.
In his book Will in the World, Stephen Greenblatt
describes Elizabethan society as “intensely,
pervasively, visibly hierarchical. . . . Woe betide
anyone who violated the rules, forgetting to cede
place to someone above him or attempting to pass
through a door before his betters or thoughtlessly
sitting somewhere at church or at a dinner table
where he did not belong.” Greenblatt goes on to
describe a man who was sent to jail without bail by
a squire who felt he was not given due deference.
The hierarchy of Windsor society is carefully
observed by the characters in Shakespeare’s play.
Justice Shallow asserts himself as “Esquire,” putting
himself at the top of the food chain of the local
characters. His nephew Slender emphasizes that
status by pointing out that he is Chief Justice of the
Peace and “a gentleman born.” Page talks about
his wealth when he dismisses one of his daughter’s
suitors as too poor, and he and Shallow greet
each other with the elaborate deference due their
wealthy stations when they first meet. Ford is the
other wealthy burgher we meet in the play. Beneath
these four grandees are two members of the
emerging professional classes: the French doctor
Caius and the Welsh parson Evans, who teaches
their children. Learning Latin was a bragging point
for parents in an England that was becoming more
cosmopolitan, as shown by the presence of a
French doctor.
As members of the working class, the Host of the
Garter Inn and Mistress Quickly must flatter and
defer to all of these, but the Host is not beyond
playing a practical joke on the least powerful of
them, Caius and Evans, sending them to different
places for their duel, and Quickly is quick to mock
anyone as soon as they are out of earshot. She
may be the confidante of the wealthy Page’s
daughter, Anne, but she is willing to take money
from all three of Anne’s competing suitors, helping
each advance his case.
Into this society, Shakespeare brings two
outsiders to challenge the citizens of Windsor.
Shakespeare plucked Falstaff from his two-part
play Henry IV, one of the summits of his writing,
and tradition has it that Queen Elizabeth ordered
3

Shakespeare to write another play that showed
that popular character in love. What he shows is
Falstaff in debt. Shakespeare transports Falstaff
to a Windsor that seems more like England in the
1590s than the period of his history plays. As a
knight, Sir John Falstaff is the social superior of
the townspeople, but that function was becoming
outmoded by the time Shakespeare was writing
Merry Wives. Falstaff is out of work, broke, and
finds an excuse to dismiss his retinue. He is kin
to another impoverished knight you can see this
season – Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night – and
like Sir Toby, he lives off others. His attempted
simultaneous conquest of both Ford and Page’s
wives is only the most outrageous example of the
pursuit of money in the play, and it reveals cracks in
the society of Windsor.
The most obvious is the strain between Ford and
his wife, but Mistress Page also differs with her
husband on matters minor – the value of learning
Latin – and major: who should marry their daughter.
Anne is the chief commodity in the play and the
characters who are not her suitors are promoting
one of them. “She has good gifts,” Shallow tells his
nephew. “Seven hundred pounds, and possibilities,
is good gifts,” the parson replies.
The other outsider is one of Anne’s suitors –
Fenton. He is a gentleman without an income,
perhaps the younger son of a wealthy family, and
for this reason he is not deemed a good match
by her father. Fenton confesses to Anne that her
father’s wealth was his motive in first wooing her
before he came to know and love her, and his
honesty wins her over. If the wives take the lead in
bringing the play to its conclusion, it is the lovers
who trump everyone else at the end.
Shaw does not spare the Irish in John Bull’s Other
Island. Shakespeare too exposes the vanities of
his characters in The Merry Wives of Windsor, but
unlike Shaw he ends his comedy with a typical
Shakespearean embrace. The citizens of Windsor
take out their anger against Falstaff with perhaps
too much zest, but we leave the theatre with the
feeling of equilibrium restored – and an invitation
from Page to dinner.
Robert Blacker is Dramaturge for the Stratford
Shakespeare Festival and dramaturge for this
production. Will in the World: How Shakespeare
Became Shakespeare, by Stephen Greenblatt, is
one of the many books available in the Festival’s
Theatre Store.
4

Written by Royal Request?
by David Prosser
In 1702, a century after The Merry Wives of Windsor
was first published, the playwright and critic John
Dennis made what has become a famous claim
about the play’s origins: that it was commissioned at
short notice by Queen Elizabeth herself.
“This comedy was written at her command, and
by her direction,” Dennis wrote, “and she was so
eager to see it acted that she commanded it to
be finished in fourteen days; and was afterwards,
as the tradition tells us, very well pleased at the
representation.”
As far as we know, this “tradition” began with
Dennis himself; contemporary evidence, if any, for
Shakespeare’s royal commission has been lost to
history. But lack of hard fact is no obstacle to the
evolution of a good story, and seven years later,
Shakespeare’s first biographer, Nicholas Rowe,
added some detail to Dennis’s account.
In Rowe’s version, the Queen “was so well
pleased with that admirable character of Falstaff
in the two parts of Henry IV, that she commanded
[Shakespeare] to continue it for one play more, and
to show him in love. This is said to be the occasion
of his writing The Merry Wives of Windsor. How
well she was obeyed the play itself is an admirable
proof.”
Whether or not we detect any trace of irony in
that last sentence, it’s obvious to modern eyes
that if there was a royal behest, Shakespeare
hardly obeyed it to the letter. In Merry Wives, we
see Falstaff not so much in love as engaged in the
mercenary pursuit of two wealthy married women –
which presumably was not quite what Good Queen
Bess had in mind.
The tradition received its final seal of authenticity
– at least in the popular imagination – from a third
writer, Charles Gildon: “The Fairies in the fifth act
makes [sic] a handsome compliment to the Queen,
in her palace at Windsor, who had obliged him to
write a play of Sir John Falstaff in love, and which I
am very well assured he performed in a fortnight.”
The “Herne’s Oak” scene in the play’s last act, in
which the townspeople assume the guise of fairies,
does indeed contain an evocative description
of Windsor Castle, a reference to the Order of
the Garter and a mention of “our radiant Queen”
– which certainly suggests Gloriana but could
equally well be taken as a reference to the Queen
of the Fairies; nothing in Shakespeare is ever
straightforward.
In any case, whether or not Elizabeth had a
hand in it, The Merry Wives of Windsor is a striking
Shakespearean example of what nowadays we
would call a spinoff. The Falstaff of the two Henry
IV plays turned out to be one of the greatest of
all Shakespeare’s comic creations, so it’s hardly
surprising that the playwright decided to give him a
show of his own.
It would be futile, though, to try to figure
out how Falstaff’s sojourn in Windsor fits
chronologically with his erstwhile life in the
Eastcheap of the history plays. The two worlds
simply don’t fit together, any more than the
canon of Batman movies can be reconciled into
a single coherent narrative. In writing The Merry
Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare did not fill in the
chronology between Falstaff’s repudiation by
Prince Hal at the end of Henry IV, Part Two, and
his reported death in Henry V; in the language
of today, he simply rebooted the franchise.
The Story
Angered by the insults of Sir John Falstaff, Robert Shallow, a justice of the peace, vows to take his
complaint to the highest court in England. Parson Hugh Evans urges Shallow to concentrate instead on
securing a match between his nephew, Abraham Slender, and Anne Page (daughter of one of Windsor’s
wealthiest citizens), who is being courted by two other suitors. Meanwhile, Falstaff, living high but broke,
sets his designs on two wealthy married women: Alice Ford and her friend Margaret Page, Anne’s
mother. But when the two wives compare notes (literally), they decide to outwit Falstaff with some
mischief of their own.
5

Ideas and Insights
ArcelorMittal Dofasco applauds the artists, artisans
and staff behind every outstanding experience at the
Stratford Shakespeare Festival.
The Sacred Ground of Stratford
I’ve been coming to Stratford as a pilgrim for
many years. Stratford audiences know, I think,
that this theatre, this “wooden O” upon a hill, is
sacred ground: a site of disclosure, of surrender,
of benediction and renewal. There are only a few
spots like this in the world; Epidaurus, I guess, is
one and “yea, the great Globe itself.” Circus tents,
magic circles and church basements have also
been made sacramental by performance, but
here in Stratford Tanya Moiseiwitsch and Tyrone
Guthrie created a perfect space, an instrument
for actors to play that has the bright notes and
golden tones of a Stradivarius. And this space,
with its uncanny harmonious proportions, has
attracted the greatest actors in our language and,
I suppose now, millions of pilgrims from all over
the world.
The Merry Wives of Windsor has been produced
here at Stratford six times. It remains a popular play,
though critics and scholars argue about its merits:
its supposed hasty composition, its inconsistencies
and loose ends. Audiences are not much bothered
by the critical debate. They know the play is a
lot of fun; they love Falstaff (as apparently the
Elizabethans did). They are delighted by Windsor’s
desperate housewives and they gladly suffer the
exquisite agony of Master Ford, whose emotional
current drives the play, to its darkly magical climax.
The gallery of characters, small-town big shots,
suitors, lovers, agents and school kids is as funny
and diverting as any situation comedy, and it’s a
play almost entirely in prose, the only comedy by
Shakespeare actually set in England.
Northrop Frye, the great Canadian critic who
taught for fifty years at the University of Toronto,
came to this theatre often. Some of his most
profound observations and insights into art and
literature draw from his deep-lived experience
of Shakespeare’s plays. He spent his entire life
reading Shakespeare and he advised colleagues
and students to do the same. In his 1976 book
Spiritus Mundi: Essays on Literature, Myth, and
Society, he suggests choosing “a major writer of
literature as a kind of spiritual preceptor” for the
self. “I am not speaking, of course, of any sort of
moral model,” he continues, “but it seems to me
that growing up inside a mind so large that one
has no sense of claustrophobia within it is an
irreplaceable experience in human studies.”
Artistic Director Des McAnuff first came to
Stratford as a schoolboy on a yellow bus. The very
first play he saw here was The Merry Wives of
Windsor, directed by David William. This production
of Merry Wives is dedicated to the memory of David
William and all the young school children who come
on yellow buses to this sacred ground.
Frank Galati
Director
costume Design For Falstaff by Robert Perdziola
6

The Merry Wives of Windsor
by William Shakespeare
This production is dedicated to the memory of
David William, Artistic Director of the Stratford
Shakespeare Festival from 1990 to 1993.
Artistic Credits
Director
Designer
Lighting Designer
Composer, Sound Designer
Dramaturge
Movement
Assistant Director
Assistant Set Designer
Assistant Costume Designer
Assistant Lighting Designers
Assistant Dramaturge
Stunt Captain
Stunt Coordinator
Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Managers
Apprentice Stage Manager
Production Assistant
Production Stage Manager
Technical Director
Cast
The Persons of the Play
Master Robert Shallow,
a justice of the peace
Master Abraham Slender,
Shallow’s nephew,
suitor to Anne Page
Hugh Evans, a Welsh parson
Peter Simple,
Slender’s servant
Master George Page,
a wealthy Windsor citizen
Mistress Margaret (Meg) Page,
his wife
Anne (Nan) Page,
their daughter
William Page,
their son, a schoolboy
Sir John Falstaff
Robin, his page
Frank Galati
Robert Perdziola
Alan Brodie
Josh Schmidt
Robert Blacker
Wendy Allnutt
Heather Davies
Joanna Yu
Alix Dolgoy
Chris McEwen,
Siobhán Sleath
Toby Malone
Dan Chameroy
Todd Campbell
Bona Duncan
Holly Korhonen,
Angela Marshall
Loreen Gibson
Stephanie Meine
Margaret Palmer
Jeff Scollon
James Blendick
Christopher Prentice
Andrew Gillies
Ryan Field
Tom McCamus
Laura Condlln
Andrea Runge
Zachary Misener
Geraint Wyn Davies
Abigail Winter-Culliford
Ensign Pistol, his follower
Corporal Bardolph,
his follower
Corporal Nim, his follower
The Host of the Garter Inn
Dan Chameroy
Michael Blake
Timothy D. Stickney
Randy Hughson
Doctor Caius, a French physician,
suitor to Anne Page Nigel Bennett
Mistress Quickly,
his housekeeper Janet Wright
John Rugby, his servant Steve Ross
Master Francis (Frank) Ford,
a wealthy Windsor citizen
Mistress Alice Ford, his wife
John, his servant
Robert, his servant
Fenton, a young gentleman,
suitor to Anne Page
Tom Rooney
Lucy Peacock
Victor Dolhai
Robert King
Trent Pardy
Townsfolk and Children of Windsor: Caitríona Buckley,
Nicholas Dolan, Barbara Fulton, Monique Lund,
Annie Lockerbie Newton, Stephen Russell, Maddy
Smart, Jake Stern, Sophia Walker
Understudies
Michael Blake (Master George Page, Hugh Evans),
Dan Chameroy (Master Francis Ford), Nicholas Dolan
(William Page), Victor Dolhai (Master Abraham Slender,
Fenton, Peter Simple), Ryan Field (Corporal Nim, John
Rugby), Barbara Fulton (Mistress Margaret Page),
Robert King (Ensign Pistol, Master Robert Shallow,
Corporal Bardolph), Monique Lund (Mistress Quickly,
Mistress Alice Ford), Steve Ross (Sir John Falstaff, Doctor
Caius), Stephen Russell (The Host of the Garter Inn),
Timothy D. Stickney (Robert, John), Sophia Walker (Anne
Page, Robin)
Interval
There will be one interval of 20 minutes.
Audience Alert
This production includes fog, haze and a gunshot.
7

costume Design For Mistress Ford by Robert Perdziola
Lucy Peacock, GEraint Wyn Davies and Laura Condlln
Production Credits
Responsibilities backstage during the performance accomplished by:
Stage Carpenter
Alternate
Master Electrician
Alternate
Property Master
Alternate
Head of Sound
Alternate
Crew
Wardrobe Mistress
Wardrobe Attendants
Swing
Wigs and Makeup Show Head
Wigs and Makeup Crew
Children’s Supervisor
David McDonald
Les MacLean
Alec Cooper
Michael Walsh
Ted Derry
Steve Gregg
Scott Matthews
William Gosling
Rory Feore,
Walter Sugden,
James Turner,
Gerald Van Sickle
Gail Homersham-
Robertson
Margie Bell Bruer,
ina Brogan, Cvetka Fujs,
Michael Karn,
Debra Yundt
Sherri Neeb
Dave Kerr
Lorna Henderson
Jennifer Emery
Orchestra
Josh Schmidt, Conductor/Piano; Alec Catherwood, Violin/
Viola; Ben Bolt-Martin, Cello; Richard Thomson, Flute/
Clarinet; Elizabeth Gowen, Bassoon/Contra-bassoon;
Mary Jay, Trumpet; Holly Shephard, Trumpet, Piccolo
Trumpet; Kate Stone, Horn; Rob Stone, Trombone/Bass
Trombone; Graham Hargrove, Percussion.
Music Preparation
Fanfare Musicians
Don Sweete
Graham Hargrove,
mary Jay, Holly Shephard
(Fanfare Leader),
Kate Stone, Rob Stone
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Norman Cruz, MD, Stratford; Jennifer
Anderson, MD, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto; Brian
Hands, MD, FRCS (C), medical voice consultant, Vox Cura
voice care specialists, Toronto; Simon McBride, MCISc,
MD, London Health Sciences Centre vocal function clinic,
London, Ontario; John Yoo, MD, London Health Sciences
Centre, London, Ontario.
Pianos tuned and maintained by Don Stephenson.
Front cover image provided by STEAMco., creative
advertising agency for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.
Front cover and page 1 photography by Andrew Eccles.
The Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre
From General Director Antoni Cimolino and Artistic Director Des McAnuff
Thirty-two members of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s 2011 company have come out of our
professional training program, now known as the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre.
Founded in 1998, the Conservatory has helped to launch the careers of some of our leading young
actors, many of whom we have had the great pleasure of directing. Providing opportunities for young
Canadian artists is part of our mission at the Festival, and we hope you will find it as satisfying as we
do to watch their growth as they share the stage with some of the finest actors in the world.
Under the leadership of Martha Henry, the Conservatory is made possible by the support of the Birmingham
family, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Endowment Foundation and the Department of Canadian Heritage.
We thank them for helping us to nurture and support these talented artists in our 2011 company:
Skye Brandon 08/09
Evan Buliung 99
Shane Carty 03
Dan Chameroy 03
Laura Condlln 04
Victor Dolhai 10
Miranda Edwards 10
Josh Epstein 10
Martha Farrell 04
Paul Fauteux 02
Bruce Godfree 09/10
Carmen Grant 10
Ashleigh Hendry 10
Dion Johnstone 03
Chilina Kennedy 09
Sarah Kitz 10
Ian Lake 07/08
Amanda Lisman 09
Keira Loughran 05 (new plays)
Kennedy C. MacKinnon 99 (voice coach)
Brendan Murray 00
Paul Nolan 09
Trent Pardy 07/08
Gareth Potter 03
Christopher Prentice 08/09
Andrea Runge 09
Tyrone Savage 10
E.B. Smith 10
Evan Stillwater 04 (tailor)
Sara Topham 00
Dylan Trowbridge 10
Sophia Walker 05
8

Director of Production
Production
John Tiggeloven
Technical Director – Scenic Construction Andrew Mestern
Wardrobe Manager
Anne Moore
Production Administrator
Cheryl Bender
Design Coordinator
Alix Dolgoy
Assistant Technical Director
David Campbell
Technical Management Assistant Michael Besworth
Administrative Assistant
Cindy Jordan
Resident Sound Designer
Peter McBoyle
Director of Music
Rick Fox
Music Administrator
Marilyn Dallman
Electronics Technologist
Chris Wheeler
Transportation
Charlie Fox, Ian A. Fraser,
Michael Taylor, James Thistle
Properties
Head of Properties
Lead Builder
Assisted by
Properties Buyer
Assistant Properties Buyer
Scenic Art
Head Scenic Artist
Assistant Head Scenic Artist
Assisted by
Scenic Carpentry
Head Carpenter
Head of Automation
Lead Hand
Assisted by
Dona Hrabluk
Heather Ruthig
Eric Ball, Lucas Commerford,
Ken Dubblestyne,
Jennifer Graham,
Carolyn Horley,
Michelle Jamieson,
Shirley Lee,
Jennifer Macdonald,
Brian McLeod, Dylan Mundy,
Jennifer Stevens,
Elizabeth Thomas
Tracy Fulton
Penelope Schledewitz
Christopher Klein
Daniel McManus
Kevin Kemp, Amparo Patterson,
Lisa Summers, Laurie Tomé,
Jo-Anne Vezina, Blair Yeomans
Neil R. Cheney
Ian Phillips
John Currie
Simon Aldridge, Jeff Baici,
David Bedford, Mark Card,
Ryan Flanagan, Craig Geiger,
Gary Geiger, Paul Gorman,
hal Harley, William Malmo,
alan Moffat, John Roth,
Joe Saunders, Mark Smith,
Geoff Taylor, Cliff Tipping,
Joe Tracey, Michael Woods
Wardrobe
Head of Wardrobe
Assistant Head of Wardrobe
Seasonal Wardrobe Supervisor
Cutters
Cutter’s Apprentice
First Hands
Sewers
Bijoux/Decoration
Assisted by
Boots and Shoes
Assisted by
Costume Painting
Dyeing
Assisted by
Millinery
Assisted by
Millinery Apprentice
Wardrobe Buyer
Assistant Buyer
Wardrobe Apprentice
Warehouse Supervisor
Warehouse Assistant
Additional Costumes by
Wigs and Makeup
Head of Wigs and Makeup
Construction Crew
Bradley Dalcourt
Elizabeth Copeman
Linda Sparks
Terri Dans, Margaret Lamb,
Mary Logan, Carol A. Miller,
Evan Stillwater
Lela Stairs Murphy
Laurie Krempien-Hall,
mary-Lou Mason,
laura Snowden
Susy Arnold, Denise Bott,
Lisa Di Quinzio, Allison Erb,
Ilana Harendorf,
Patricia Hawkins-Russell,
Monique Hodder,
Marian Hughes,
Shona Humphrey,
Norma Lachance,
Patricia McNally,
Karen Merriam, Emma Pawluk,
Magdalene Raycraft,
Cynthia E. Rusak,
Joan Scheerer,
Georgina Schinkel,
Rachel Seburn,
Victoria Shillington,
Silvia Widmer, Lindsey Winter,
Christine Yundt, Joanne Zegers
Liane Guttadauria
Susan Allerston-Richards,
Rebecca Dillow,
Tami MacDonald, Kathi Posliff
Mark Fetter
Karen Beames, Sarah Cook,
Michael Karn, Connie Puetz
Lisa Hughes
Linda Pinhay
Sylvia Minarcin
Helen Flower
Isabel Bloor, Thea C. Crawford,
Kaz Maxine
Melissa Nurmi
Michelle Ashbourne
Caitlin Luxford
Samantha Aylsworth
Madonna Decker
Valerie Lariviere
christine Audet
Gerald Altenburg
Teddi Barrett, Erica Croft-Fraser,
Jessica Elsbrie,
lena Festoso Richard,
tracy Frayne, Lorna Henderson,
Dave Kerr, Angela Moncur,
Julie Scott, Stanley Wickens
The Michael Langham Workshop for
Classical Direction
“The Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Direction will continue
Michael Langham’s tradition of mentorship in a risk-free environment,
allowing directors to develop their craft with the rich history and evolving
artistry of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.”
– Des McAnuff
We extend our thanks to the Department of Canadian Heritage,
the Philip and Berthe Morton Foundation and Johanna Metcalf.
Participants in the
2011 workshop:
Sharon Bajer
Eric Benson
Dian Marie Bridge
Heather Davies
Alan Dilworth
Varrick Grimes
Thomas Morgan Jones
Rachel Peake
Andrew Shaver
Rachel Slaven
Lezlie Wade
Funding for artisan apprenticeships is provided by the William H.
Somerville Theatre Artisan Apprenticeship Fund, funded by the J. P.
Bickell Foundation, and by Robert and Jacqueline Sperandio.
A member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, the
Stratford Shakespeare Festival engages, under the terms of the Canadian
Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of Canadian
Actors’ Equity Association. Stage crew, scenic carpenters, drivers, wigs
and makeup attendants and facilities staff are members of Local 357
of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).
Wardrobe attendants are members of IATSE Local 924. Scenic artists are
members of IATSE Local 828. The Festival acknowledges with thanks the
co-operation of the Stratford Musicians’ Association, Local 418 of the
American Federation of Musicians.
9

DAVID MIRVISH PRESENTS
TORONTO’S PRACTICALLY
2011/2012 MIRVISH SUBSCRIPTION THEATRE SEASON
7 GREAT SHOWS • 1 LOW PRICE
‘MARVELLOUS’
Mail On Sunday
‘SPECTACULAR’
Times
‘MAGNIFICENT’
Evening Standard
‘GLORIOUS’
Daily Telegraph
‘REMARKABLE’
Daily Express
‘EXCELLENT’
Daily Mail
PHOTO OF KIM CATTRALL BY NOBBY CLARK
PHOTOS OF ORIGINAL UK PRODUCTION BY KEITH PATTINSON
BEGINS MAY 2011
THE ROUNDHOUSE THEATRE
SEPT/OCT 2011
ROYAL ALEXANDRA THEATRE
SEPT/OCT 2011
PRINCESS OF WALES THEATRE
“A PERFECT
PIECE OF
MUSICAL
THEATER.”
“One has no choice
but to simply
be mesmerized.”
THE AUSTRALIAN STAGE
photo © Yannick Macdonald
DIRECT FROM BROADWAY
—NY Post
PHOTO OF DAVID MIRVISH BY ROB DODA
NOV/DEC 2011
PRINCESS OF WALES THEATRE
b y M a riE MichauD anD robEr T lEpagE
English TranslaT i o n b y
MichaEl MackEnziE
DirE c TED b y
robEr T lEpagE
pErforMED b y
MariE MichauD,
hEnri ch assé
anD Tai WEi foo
Ex Machina
JAN/FEB 2012
ROYAL ALEXANDRA THEATRE
“HHHHH Stunning.”
The Sunday Times
BEGINS FEB 2012
PRINCESS OF WALES THEATRE
ART BY AMY GUIP
“ THRILLING, INTENSE,
UNADULTERATED
JOY ”
— THE NEW YORK TIMES
WINNER! BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
2009 TONY AWARD ®
MAR/APR 2012
ROYAL ALEXANDRA THEATRE
10
SUBSCRIBE NOW! 1-800-771-3933 MIRVISH.COM

William Shakespeare
Playwright
Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, William
Shakespeare was the eldest son of John
Shakespeare, a glover and tanner who rose to
become an alderman and bailiff of the town, and
Mary Arden, the daughter of a wealthy farmer. The
exact date of his birth is unknown, but there is a
record of his baptism on April 26. Since an interval
of two or three days between birth and baptism
would have been quite common, tradition has it
that he was born on April 23 – the same date as his
death 52 years later.
The young Shakespeare is assumed to have
attended what is now the Edward VI Grammar
School in Stratford, where he would have studied
ancient Roman literature in its original Latin. In 1582,
when he was 18, he married Anne Hathaway, a
farmer’s daughter who was eight years his senior.
Anne was pregnant at the time, and the couple’s
first daughter, Susanna, was born a few months
afterwards in 1583. Twins followed two years later:
a son, Hamnet, who died at the age of 11, and a
second daughter, Judith.
Nothing further is known of Shakespeare’s
life until 1592, by which time he was sufficiently
established as an actor and writer in London to be
the target of a literary attack by a jealous fellow
playwright, Robert Greene. Soon afterwards, an
outbreak of plague forced the temporary closure of
the theatres, and Shakespeare turned his attention
instead to his long narrative poems Venus and
Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. He also began
writing the Sonnets, a series of 154 love poems that
many believe to be at least partly autobiographical.
By 1594, Shakespeare was back in the theatre,
writing and acting for the Lord Chamberlain’s
Men. His income as one of the country’s most
successful dramatists enabled him, in 1597, to buy a
mansion back in Stratford, and in 1599 he became a
shareholder in London’s newly built Globe Theatre.
In 1603, Shakespeare’s company was awarded a
royal patent, becoming known as the King’s Men.
Possibly as early as 1610, the playwright retired
to his home in Stratford-upon-Avon, living there
until his death on April 23, 1616. He is buried in the
town’s Holy Trinity Church.
William Shakespeare
11

The Company
Wendy Allnutt
Second season: Movement for The Merry Wives of Windsor and Richard
III. Elsewhere: Master of Movement, Shakespeare’s Globe. Revival
choreographer, The Magic Flute (Welsh National Opera). Choreographer/
movement director, Royal National Theatre, Manchester Royal Exchange,
Mercury, Clwyd, Sphinx, BBC-TV. Actress: West End, RSC, tours of U.S.A,
U.K., Sweden. TV: Jennifer (Sorry), Wendy (Dear John), Charlotte Gaunt (The
Regiment), Cordelia (King Lear), Rough Justice. Film: Oh! What a Lovely War, When Eight
Bells Toll, Tales From Beyond the Grave, All Coppers Are, Priest of Love. Teaching: Head of
Movement, Guildhall School of Music and Drama; Stratford Conservatory; Colorado College;
Penn State/Colby (London); San Miniato; Rome. Directing: Watermans: Leave My Hair Alone.
Medieval mystery plays, restoration comedy, musical theatre. Training: Central School of
Speech and Drama. Et cetera: Son, Andrew McCormack, is a jazz musician and daughter,
Katherine McCormack, is a film unit publicist.
Alan Brodie
Fourth season: Lighting Designer of The Merry Wives of Windsor and
Camelot. Stratford: Mr. Brodie made his Stratford debut in 2007 with
Oklahoma! and has since created the lighting for Cyrano de Bergerac,
Moby Dick and Palmer Park. Elsewhere: His lighting for the acclaimed
Canadian Stage production of The Overcoat has been seen worldwide,
as well as in numerous cities across Canada. Recent credits include La
Bohème (Pacific Opera Victoria), A Christmas Carol (Soulpepper), Brief Encounter (Vancouver
Playhouse/MTC), Tear the Curtain (Arts Club/Electric Company) and The Doctor’s Dilemma
and Age of Arousal (Shaw Festival). Training: BFA – University of British Columbia. Awards:
Six Jessie Richardson Awards, Betty Mitchell Award, Bay Area Critics Circle Award, Dora
Award nominations. Website: www.alanbrodie.ca. Et cetera: Mr. Brodie resides in Vancouver
with his wife, Michele. He is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada.
Nigel Bennett
Second season: Doctor Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Lord
Hastings in Richard III. Stratford: Peter Pan, King of Thieves. Elsewhere:
Nightwood: That Face. MTC/Mirvish: Medea. Neptune: Scrooge, Art, Closer,
Hamlet, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Retreat from Moscow, A Few Good
Men, The Price, The Goat, The Sound of Music, Blue/Orange, Betrayal.
Grand, London: Kingfisher Days. ATF: Blithe Spirit, Three Sisters. Ship’s
Company: The Parrsboro Boxing Club. Citadel, Edmonton: Kafka’s Dick. Wyndham’s (London,
England): The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. Film/TV (among others): The Border, Lexx,
Forever Knight, At the Hotel, Psi Factor, Strike, Murder at 1600, The Skulls, Narrow Margin,
Murdoch Mysteries, The Kennedys, Counterstrike, The Sea Wolf. Radio: Backbenchers.
Awards: Gemini, best supporting actor, 1996; ACTRA Maritimes Award, best actor, 2008 and
2009. Other: Co-author, Keeper of the King, His Father’s Son, Siege Perilous. Website: www.
blackhatstation.com.
Caitríona Buckley
Stratford debut: Appears in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Elsewhere:
Caitríona lives in Stratford and has performed in many school productions
and dance competitions. Training: Caitríona has followed the Royal
Academy of Dance syllabus and the Society of Russian Ballet, Vaganovabased
syllabus. She studies piano and voice and practises karate. Et
cetera: Caitríona is excited to make her debut at Stratford as part of the
cast of The Merry Wives of Windsor. She thanks all her teachers and wishes to acknowledge
Marc McNamara, her first music teacher, who always encouraged her to play, sing, and
dance. Caitríona extends her love to her friends and family, including her brothers, Ciaran
and Aidan.
Robert Blacker
Fourth season: Dramaturge for Stratford Shakespeare Festival.
Dramaturge for The Merry Wives of Windsor and The Little Years. Stratford:
Dramaturged six productions of Shakespeare, Rice Boy and Caesar and
Cleopatra. Elsewhere: Over 50 projects from Robert’s eight years as
artistic director of Sundance Theatre Labs went on to production, including
I Am My Own Wife (Tony, Pulitzer), The Laramie Project, The Light in the
Piazza and Spring Awakening (Tonys for latter two). He was interim chair of playwriting at
Yale School of Drama; taught playwriting and Shakespeare studies in graduate programs
at Columbia, Iowa, UCSD and Yale; and has dramaturged 16 productions of Shakespeare
for Des McAnuff and others. Robert was McAnuff’s associate artistic director at La Jolla
Playhouse, where he worked on The Who’s Tommy and Steppenwolf’s The Grapes of Wrath
(Tonys for both) and participated in season planning. He was the first dramaturge at Joseph
Papp’s Public Theater (New York). Training: Cornell.
Todd Campbell
Third season: Fight director of Camelot and Twelfth Night and stunt
coordinator of The Merry Wives of Windsor and The Homecoming.
Stratford: Dangerous Liaisons, King of Thieves, Zastrozzi, Bartholomew
Fair. Elsewhere: Todd has arranged fights for the Tempest Theatre Group,
Neptune, Theatre in Port, Sudbury Theatre Centre, Repercussion, Birdland
Theatre, Absit Omen, Driftwood, Tribal Productions and Resurgence
Theatre, to name a few. He also recently produced/directed a remount of his hit fight show
Duel of Ages in the 2011 Next Stage Festival. Training: Certified fight director and instructor
with Fight Directors Canada. Website: www.riotact.ca. Et cetera: Todd teaches stage combat
at the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts and Rapier Wit Studios and is a founding
member of the award-winning Riot ACT stunt team. Todd resides in Toronto, where he works
as an actor, director, fight director and teacher.
Michael Blake
Stratford debut: Corporal Bardolph in The Merry Wives of Windsor and
Antonio in Twelfth Night. Elsewhere: Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet), Eilif
(Mother Courage), Joseph (Nativity), A Christmas Carol (National Arts
Centre); title role (Othello), Angelo (The Comedy of Errors) (Bard on the
Beach); Gratiano/Morocco (The Merchant of Venice) (SITR); Simba (The
Lion King) (Mirvish/Disney); Mitch (Putnam County Spelling Bee) (Belfry/Arts
Club); Orlando (As You Like It), A Raisin in the Sun, Blink, Three Sisters, The Time of Your
Life, The Threepenny Opera (Soulpepper); Rock and Roll (Canadian Stage); Wilbur County
Blues (Blyth); Jacob Two-Two (LKTYP); Big River (Drayton). Film/TV: Senior Trip, YTV Rocks,
The Planet of Junior Brown, Earth: Final Conflict, Due South, Degrassi Junior High. Radio:
Numerous CBC radio dramas. Training: Inaugural member of the Soulpepper Academy,
graduate of the National Theatre School, St. Michael’s Choir School. Et cetera: Resident
member of National Arts Centre English Theatre acting company.
Dan Chameroy
10th season: Ensign Pistol in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Sir Dinadan
in Camelot. Stratford: Polixenes, The Winter’s Tale; William/Charles, As
You Like It; Miles Gloriosus, Forum; Martin, Palmer Park; Curly, Oklahoma!;
Father Karolyi, Pentecost; Gaston, Gigi; Posthumus, Cymbeline; Lancelot,
Camelot. Mr. Chameroy spent the winter recreating Miles Gloriosus for
the Mirvish/Stratford production of Forum at Toronto’s Canon Theatre.
Elsewhere: Plumbum (Robin Hood/Cinderella) (Elgin Theatre); The Magic Fire, High Society
(Shaw Festival); The Drowsy Chaperone (Winter Garden); Into the Woods (Canadian Stage);
Les Misérables; Side by Side by Sondheim; Forever Plaid; Anything That Moves. Film/TV:
Politics is Cruel, Rapid Pulse News, Babar’s New Adventures, Dex Hamilton, Little Men,
Queer as Folk. Recordings: Solo CD, me; Tristan (cast recording). Training: Birmingham
Conservatory. Awards: Dora Award, Beauty and the Beast (Princess of Wales). Et cetera: “I
dedicate this season to David, Domini, Gina and Peter. I love you, Christine and Olivia.”
James Blendick
28th season: Master Robert Shallow in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Stratford: Doctor Chebutykin (Three Sisters), Falstaff (Henry IV, Part 1),
Big Daddy (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Honoré (Gigi), Boyet (Love’s Labour’s
Lost), Doolittle (My Fair Lady), Claudius (Hamlet), Sir Toby Belch (Twelfth
Night), Matthew Brady (Inherit the Wind), Titus (Titus Andronicus), Orgon
(Tartuffe), Epicure Mammon (The Alchemist), Sir Oliver Surface (The School
for Scandal), Lopachin (The Cherry Orchard), Pozzo (Waiting for Godot), “Captain” Jack
Boyle (Juno and the Paycock), Menenius (Coriolanus), Buckingham (Richard III), Harry
(Home), Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). Elsewhere: Henry (The Lion in Winter, Citadel
Theatre), Cyrano (Cyrano de Bergerac), John Proctor (The Crucible, Guthrie Theater), Le Bret
(Cyrano, Broadway musical), Falstaff (The Merry Wives of Windsor, San Diego’s Old Globe).
New York’s Lincoln Center: Gloucester in Christopher Plummer’s King Lear. Film/TV: Credits
in Canada and the U.S. Training: NTS graduate, 1966.
Laura Condlln
10th season: Mistress Margaret (Meg) Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor
and appears in Richard III. Stratford: Favourite credits include Peter Pan
(Mrs. Darling), King of Thieves (Polly), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Helena),
Shakespeare’s Universe (Her Infinite Variety) – conceived and directed
by Peter Hinton – (the Moll), Pentecost (Amira), The Liar (Clarice/Lucrece/
Sabine), The Duchess of Malfi (Cariola), As You Like It (Audrey), Henry IV,
Part 1 (Lady Mortimer), Timon of Athens (Phrynia) and Cymbeline. Elsewhere: Having Hope
at Home, Marion Bridge (Globe Theatre, Regina), A Christmas Carol (The Grand Theatre) and
Over the River and Through the Woods (Theatre Aquarius). Training: Laura holds a BFA from
the University of Windsor and is a graduate of the Birmingham Conservatory (2005). Awards:
Recipient of the Mary Savidge Award, Stratford Shakespeare Festival.
12

Heather Davies
Stratford debut: Assistant director of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Training:
Ryerson University (BFA, Theatre), York University (MFA, Theatre), Webber
Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, U.K. As Director: At The Grand Theatre:
Anything Goes, Macbeth (High School Projects); Playwrights’ Cabaret, The
Little Prince. In the U.K.: Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew (Creation
Theatre); Plunder (Watermill/Greenwich Theatre); Copenhagen, Neville’s
Island (Watermill); Lope de Vega’s Montagues and Capulets (RSC/Capital Centre). For the
Royal Shakespeare Company: Stratford Talking, The Witch, Desire Under the Elms. Other
directing: Toronto Noir (SummerWorks); Educating Rita, Laughing Wild, Blithe Spirit (English
Theatre, Frankfurt); Medea (Richmond, Virginia). As Associate and Resident Director:
For Propeller, The Winter’s Tale (U.K. and international tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream
(West End); two seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company including the Olivier
Award-winning Jacobethan Season (Outstanding Company Achievement). Website: www.
heatherdavies.com.
Nicholas Dolan
Stratford debut: Appears in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Stratford:
Stratford Miscast (PAL benefit). Elsewhere: Noah in Still Human (Stratford
Central Secondary School for the Sears Drama Festival); Le Fou in Beauty
and the Beast, Vince in Sister Act, Prince Caspian in Prince Caspian (Acting
Out); Oliver in Oliver!, Daddy Warbucks in Annie, Benny Southstreet in
Guys and Dolls, Winthrop in The Music Man (Stratford Montessori School);
Stratford Youth Chorus in Starbright Christmas 2009 and 2010. Awards: Sears Drama
Festival Distinctive Merit Award for Still Human. Et cetera: Nicholas is a student at Stratford
Central Secondary School where he enjoys being a part of Theatre Central and the Central
Youth Choir. Outside of school he is a competitive swimmer and likes playing guitar. Nicholas
is very happy to be part of the Stratford season, working with such a great company.
Barbara Fulton
17th season: Appears in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Twelfth Night.
Stratford: Peter Pan, Dangerous Liaisons, Lise (Cyrano de Bergerac),
Elizabeth I/Widow (The Taming of the Shrew), Fatima (Pentecost), Mrs.
Sowerberry (Oliver!), Jack’s Mother (Into the Woods), Mrs. Keller (The
Miracle Worker), Sister Helena (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), Queen
Anne (The Three Musketeers), Fruma-Sarah (Fiddler on the Roof), Peep-Bo
(The Mikado) and Nicole (Bonjour, là, bonjour). Elsewhere: Mrs. Webb (Our Town, Mercury
Theatre), Grizabella (Cats, original Toronto production and across Canada). Recordings:
CBC/Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s The Tempest, Dark Lady of the Sonnets, Fanfare:
Stratford Music of Louis Applebaum; debut album, Somebody New; all available at the
Theatre Store. Training: Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S.; Bird College, London England.
Awards: Recipient of four Tyrone Guthrie Awards. Website: barbarafulton.com.
Frank Galati
Stratford debut: Director of The Merry Wives of Windsor and adaptor of The
Grapes of Wrath. Elsewhere: Member of Steppenwolf Theatre Company,
Chicago, associate director at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago. Opera
directing at Chicago Lyric, San Francisco, Dallas and the Metropolitan
Opera in New York. Awards: Recipient of 11 Joseph Jefferson Awards
for directing, acting and writing at various Chicago theatres. Two Tony
Awards for best play and best direction of Steppenwolf’s The Grapes of Wrath. Tony Award
nomination for directing Ragtime. Academy Award nomination for screenplay, with Lawrence
Kasdan, of The Accidental Tourist. Et cetera: Inducted into American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, Emeritus Professor of Performance Studies at Northwestern University.
Victor Dolhai
Second season: John in The Merry Wives of Windsor and appears in
Twelfth Night and The Misanthrope. Stratford: As You Like It, The Winter’s
Tale. Elsewhere: Pygmalion, King Lear (Birmingham Conservatory); Pride
and Prejudice (Citadel); Brilliant! The Blinding Enlightenment of Nikola Tesla
(Belfry/Electric Company Theatre); Little Women (Persephone); As You Like
It, Death of a Salesman, The Fantasticks (Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre);
The Full Monty (Patrick Street Productions); The Pirates of Penzance (Chemainus Theatre
Festival); Narnia (Kaleidoscope Theatre); Grimm Tales (Itsazoo Productions); Woyzeck
Songspiel (Ecce Homo); Guys and Dolls, Tartuffe, Metamorphoses, Tyrants, The Street
of Crocodiles (Phoenix Theatre); 11th and 12th Wreck Beach Butoh (Kokoro Dance); 14
cabarets with Atomic Vaudeville. Training: Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre,
Citadel/Banff Centre Professional Theatre Program, University of Victoria. Et cetera: Victor is
a founding member of the award-winning SNAFU Dance Theatre. He dedicates this season
to the memory of Denis Simpson and Jeremy Tow.
Bona Duncan
11th season: Stage manager of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Stratford:
PSM, Avon Theatre; stage manager of Dangerous Liaisons, Cyrano de
Bergerac, Zastrozzi, All’s Well That Ends Well, Fanny Kemble, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, Electra, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Merchant of Venice
and Hamlet; assistant stage manager of The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo
and Juliet, Twelfth Night and As You Like It. Elsewhere: Before coming to
Stratford, Bona was resident stage manager at Canadian Stage for four seasons. She has
also stage-managed at Soulpepper, The Grand, the National Arts Centre, the Manitoba
Theatre Centre, the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Citadel, the Tarragon and the Centaur.
Training: She is a graduate of the technical production section of the National Theatre
School of Canada and holds a BA from Bishop’s University. Et cetera: Bona lives in Stratford
with her husband, Dan, and their daughter, Georgia.
Loreen Gibson
Second season: Apprentice stage manager of The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Stratford: Production assistant for As You Like It, Kiss Me, Kate, The
Tempest and Dangerous Liaisons. Elsewhere: Apprentice stage manager
for Civil Elegies (Soulpepper), Dog Sees God (M. Rubinoff Productions), The
December Man (L’homme de décembre) (Canadian Stage), Rose (Harold
Green Jewish Theatre Company), Jewtopia and Evil Dead: The Musical
(both at the Diesel Playhouse). Stage manager for the Canadian première of The Grapes
of Wrath (Theatre@York) and assistant stage manager for He Sang, She Sang (Markham
Theatre) and Vacancy (York University, Creative Ensemble). Training: BFA in Design and
Production from York University. Awards: 2010 Guthrie Award recipient. Part of the 2008
Dora-winning team for Outstanding Production of a Play and the 2007 Dora-winning team
for Audience Choice Award. Et cetera: “Big thanks to family and friends for the love, support
and encouragement!”
Andrew Gillies
Fourth season: Hugh Evans in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Lord
Stanley in Richard III. Stratford: Islander in The Tempest, Panthino/Outlaw
in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Orlando in As You Like It, Macduff in
Macbeth, Valère in Tartuffe, Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice, Benvolio
in Romeo and Juliet. Elsewhere: Hamlet in Hamlet (Vancouver Playhouse),
Cyrano in Cyrano (Royal Alex), Tony Blair in Stuff Happens (Royal Alex),
General Burgoyne in The Devil’s Disciple (Neptune). Fourteen seasons at the Shaw Festival.
Theatre Calgary, ATP, National Arts Centre, Tarragon Theatre, Necessary Angel, Canadian
Stage. Manitoba Theatre Centre, including Frank in Educating Rita, 2010. Film/TV: The
Virgin Suicides, Wild Girl, That Touch of Pink, The Associates, Paradise Falls, Flash of Genius.
Training: Simon Fraser University. Awards: Best-actor nominations: Andrew Allen Award for
radio, Dora for theatre. 2009 Merritt Award (best supporting actor) for The Devil’s Disciple
(Neptune).
Ryan Field
Stratford debut: Peter Simple in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Valentine
in Twelfth Night. Elsewhere: Oil and Water (Artistic Fraud); Romeo and
Juliet (Shakespeare in Action); Oh What a Lovely War, Window on Toronto,
A Chorus of Disapproval, The Winter’s Tale, The Beggar’s Opera, She
Stoops to Conquer (Soulpepper); Hair (Canadian Stage); Romeo and Juliet,
The Taming of the Shrew (ShakespeareWorks); Jacob Two-Two Meets
the Hooded Fang, Blue Planet (LKTYP); Dream Girls (Stage West); Angels in America, The
Threepenny Opera (George Brown). Film/TV: Wingin’ It (Family Channel), This and That,
Transform It, host/producer of The Space (TVOKids), The Ladies Man (Paramount), The
Best Years (Global), This Is Wonderland (CBC), 1-800-MISSING (CTV), System Crash (YTV).
Training: Claude Watson School for the Arts, the Royal Conservatory of Music, George Brown
Theatre School graduate. Website: www.ryanfieldmusic.com. Et cetera: Ryan released his
album, The New Beginning, on iTunes on November 11th, 2010.
Randy Hughson
Fourth season: Host of the Garter Inn in The Merry Wives of Windsor
and Uncle John in The Grapes of Wrath. Stratford: Corin (As You Like It),
Antigonus (The Winter’s Tale), Senex (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way
to the Forum), Jordan Knockem (Bartholomew Fair), Hortensio (The Taming
of the Shrew), Second Gravedigger (Hamlet), Interpreter (All’s Well That
Ends Well). Elsewhere: Major roles at the Belfry Theatre, Citadel Theatre,
Manitoba Theatre Centre, Canadian Stage, Neptune Theatre, Factory Theatre, Theatre
Passe Muraille, Alberta Theatre Projects, Centaur Theatre, Blyth Festival, National Arts
Centre, Soulpepper, Tarragon Theatre and many others. Film/TV: Leading roles in films The
Shoemaker, The Feeler, Stolen Heart and Luck and extensive television credits. Awards:
Nominated for eight Dora Mavor Moore Awards, three Edmonton Sterlings, one Calgary
Betty Mitchell, three Vancouver Jessies and one Gemini. Randy has won one of each award.
Et cetera: “Love to my wife, Melissa.”
13

Robert King
18th season: Robert in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Man Coming Back
in The Grapes of Wrath and Guard of the Marshalsea in The Misanthrope.
Stratford: Selected credits: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Two
Gentleman of Verona, Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, Richard
II, Richard III, Henry V, Henry VI, King Lear, Macbeth, Coriolanus, Julius
Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, Pericles, Sticks & Stones, Cat
on a Hot Tin Roof, Home, The Swanne, Quiet in the Land, The Diary of Anne Frank,
Treasure Island, The Three Musketeers, The Trespassers, Bartholomew Fair, Three Sisters.
Elsewhere: Blyth Festival, The Grand, the Centaur, MTC, TNB, Persephone Theatre. Recent
credits include the one-man show Bolsheviki for Infinitheatre in Montreal and Falling: A
Wake with Alternative Theatre Works, of which he is a founding member. Film/TV: Murdoch
Mysteries. Awards: Guthrie Award recipient. Et cetera: Robert lives in Stratford with his wife,
Peggy, and their children, Mary and Lawrence.
Chris McEwen
Stratford debut: Assistant lighting designer of The Merry Wives of Windsor,
Camelot and Twelfth Night. Elsewhere: Touring head electrician, Scrap Arts
Music (Canada, U.S.A., Guatemala, Spain, Scotland, Wales, Hong Kong,
South Korea, Taiwan and Belgium), head electrician/technical director,
Victoria Playhouse Petrolia. Installation and systems technician at Horizon
Solutions. Training: Fanshawe College, ETC Certified Technician. Et cetera:
Chris also works with various theatres including The Grand and the Stratford Shakespeare
Festival doing electrical special effects and special projects. In his spare time Chris likes
sailing the waters around Bayfield with his wife on their boat, Tardis.
Holly Korhonen
10th season: Assistant stage manager of The Merry Wives of Windsor and
The Misanthrope. Stratford: Assistant stage manager of Kiss Me, Kate,
Dangerous Liaisons, The Importance of Being Earnest, Ever Yours, Oscar,
Cabaret, My One and Only, The Comedy of Errors, South Pacific, Oliver!,
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Edward II, The Count of Monte Cristo, Anything
Goes and Henry VI, parts 1 and 2. Stage manager for the 2006 and 2007
Birmingham Conservatory. Elsewhere: Assistant stage manager of The Love List, My
Fair Lady, Noises Off (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Strawberries in January, A Guide to
Mourning, Mary’s Wedding (Globe Theatre); Miracle on 34th Street (Grand Theatre); Zadie’s
Shoes, Belle (Factory Theatre). Awards: Recipient of the Tanya Award and two Tyrone
Guthrie Awards. Et cetera: Holly would like to thank Jason and her family for their constant
love and support. “Enjoy the show, Madeline and Julianna!”
Zachary Misener
Stratford debut: William Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Training:
Zachary has been involved with Stratford’s local theatre programs
Playmakers and Acting Out for the past five years, and has loved every
minute of it! Et cetera: “I’m very excited to have the amazing opportunity
to be part of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival – one of North America’s
leading classical theatres! Living in Stratford has given me the chance to
see many wonderful plays and incredible performances. Never in my wildest dreams did I
imagine that I would have the honour to be on this stage. Thank you to my family and friends
for their ongoing support in realizing one of my life’s dreams!”
Monique Lund
Sixth season: Nimue in Camelot and appears in The Merry Wives of
Windsor. Stratford: Lilli Vanessi/Kate (Kiss Me, Kate), Max (Cabaret), Louise/
Gypsy (Gypsy), Angelique (The Imaginary Invalid), Evita, The Bacchae, Our
Town, Carousel, HMS Pinafore, World of Wonders. Elsewhere: Original
Toronto companies of Mamma Mia!, The Lord of the Rings, The Who’s
Tommy, Crazy for You, Cats, The Rat Pack and Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat (also U.S. tour). Favourite credits include two years as Donna
Sheridan (Mamma Mia!) (Broadway touring production); Ulla (The Producers), Victoria Grant
(Victor/Victoria) (Stage West); Susie (Lady Be Good) (MTC); Babette (Beauty and the Beast)
(Neptune/Arts Club); Judy Haynes (White Christmas) (Arts Club); and The Mikado (NAC).
Originally from Charlottetown, she spent four seasons with the Charlottetown Festival.
Recordings: Sweet Airs That Give Delight (Stratford Festival 40th Anniversary). Et cetera:
“Love to Mark and Char, now and for always.”
Annie Lockerbie Newton
Stratford debut: Appears in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Elsewhere: Third
Witch and Child in Macbeth (Playmakers Theatre School); various roles
in school plays (Stratford Middle Years and Stratford Montessori School);
Grandpa Joe in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Acting Out). Training:
Playmakers Theatre School. Awards: First place in her age group in Kiwanis
Music Festival for “Sick,” by Shel Silverstein, and for Three Witches in
Macbeth. Et cetera: Annie dedicates this season to all of her many brothers and sisters and
her mom and dad.
Angela Marshall
11th season: Assistant stage manager of The Merry Wives of Windsor
and Camelot. Stratford: Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in
Paris, As You Like It, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,
Bartholomew Fair, The Trojan Women, Palmer Park, To Kill a Mockingbird,
The Odyssey, Henry IV, Part 1, The Liar, Orpheus Descending, Measure
for Measure, Macbeth, King Henry VIII, The King and I, Private Lives,
Henry V and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Elsewhere: Favourites: Einstein’s Gift (The
Grand Theatre); Trying (Manitoba Theatre Centre); Sylvia (Globe Theatre); Dear Santa
(Theatre New Brunswick); The All Night Strut! (Stirling Festival Theatre); Flying on Her Own
(Neptune Theatre); Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun (Theatre Orangeville); Mamma Mia! (Mirvish
Productions); Godspell (Waterloo Stage Theatre). Et cetera: Angela thanks her family and
friends for all of their love and support.
Margaret Palmer
28th season: Production stage manager of the Festival Theatre. Stratford:
Maggie has been production stage manager at the Avon and Festival
theatres for 19 seasons. Stage-management credits include Will Power;
Henry IV (parts 1 and 2); Iolanthe; The Imaginary Invalid; My Fair Lady;
A Man for All Seasons; Kiss Me, Kate; Guys and Dolls; The Government
Inspector; Coriolanus; The Mikado (national tour, London’s Old Vic); and
Twelfth Night (U.S. tour). Elsewhere: Maggie apprenticed at Neptune Theatre (1966/67)
and worked at the St. Lawrence Centre (Toronto Arts Productions), MTC and the Grand
Theatre. She stage-managed Eugene Onegin (Manitoba Opera), the first Dream in High
Park and the first Dora Awards. She was publicity director for the NDWT Company, worked
for Fountainhead Theatre in London and toured Canada with the Charlottetown Festival.
Training: Graduate of the National Theatre School, where she returned to coach last winter.
Tom McCamus
11th season: Master George Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Jim
Casy in The Grapes of Wrath. Stratford: Selected: Peter Pan, Dangerous
Liaisons, Three Sisters, Phèdre, Bartholomew Fair, An Ideal Husband,
Timon of Athens, Richard III, The Threepenny Opera, Waiting for Godot,
Coriolanus, Camelot, Julius Caesar, Long Day’s Journey Into Night.
Elsewhere: Hamlet, Divisadero (Necessary Angel); Misery (Canadian Stage);
The Unanswered Question (NAC); Thom Pain (Tarragon); Mathilde (Nightwood). Film/TV:
Cairo Time (director Ruba Nada), The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan), Long Day’s Journey
Into Night (David Wellington), Possible Worlds (Robert Lepage). Awards: Dora Mavor Moore
Award, best actor: Abundance (Theatre Plus); Genie Award, best actor: I Love a Man in
Uniform (David Wellington); Gemini and ACTRA Award, best actor: Waking Up Wally: The
Walter Gretzky Story (Dean Bennett). Et cetera: Tom lives on a farm in Warkworth with his
wife, actress Chick Reid, and their two dogs.
Trent Pardy
Fourth season: Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Sebastian in Twelfth
Night and Acaste in The Misanthrope. Stratford: Twin in Peter Pan, Christie
in King of Thieves, Bartholomew Cokes in Bartholomew Fair, King of
Navarre in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Samson in Romeo and Juliet, appeared
in Three Sisters and Caesar and Cleopatra. Trent is a graduate of the
2007/2008 Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Elsewhere:
Pastor Ray in Haunted Hillbilly and Teach in American Buffalo with SideMart Theatrical
Grocery, Billy the Kid in Everyday Above Ground – SaBooge Theatre, Cupid/Penthus/
Adonis in Tales from Ovid – Centaur Theatre, Ariel in The Tempest – Segal Centre. Film/
TV: The Dead Zone (U.S.A.), Black Eye Dog (independent), The Secret (Max Films). Training:
Graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada (2004) and Mount Royal College (2001).
Et cetera: Trent is a founding member of the critically acclaimed SideMart Theatrical Grocery
in Montreal. “Love to family, friends and Stefanie.”
14

Lucy Peacock
24th season: Mistress Alice Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor and
Morgan le Fey in Camelot. Stratford: Last season: Nana/For the Pleasure of
Seeing Her Again, Audrey (with the wedding boots)/As You Like It. Lucy has
performed in close to 60 productions at Stratford since 1984. These include
30 plays by William Shakespeare, among them Kate and Grumio/The
Taming of the Shrew, Portia/The Merchant of Venice, Beatrice/Much Ado
About Nothing, Lady Macbeth/Macbeth, Rosalind/As You Like It, Helena/All’s Well That Ends
Well, Viola/Twelfth Night, Desdemona and Emilia/Othello, Regan/King Lear (Tony-nominated
production). Other credits include Dolly/Hello, Dolly!, Anna/The King and I, Masha/Three
Sisters, Duchess/The Duchess of Malfi and all characters/The Blonde, the Brunette and
the Vengeful Redhead. Et cetera: Wonderful husband, two glorious boys, farm, horses,
chickens, ducks, peacocks, dogs, guitar. Slogan for 2011: Be.Here.Now.
Christopher Prentice
Third season: Master Abraham Slender in The Merry Wives of Windsor,
Basque in The Misanthrope and appears in The Grapes of Wrath. Stratford:
Dion in The Winter’s Tale, Second Lord in As You Like It, Winwife in
Bartholomew Fair, Pindarus in Julius Caesar, Fairy in A Midsummer Night’s
Dream. Elsewhere: Macbeth, King of France/Lavatch in All’s Well That Ends
Well (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks); Mercutio in Short Shakespeare!
R&J, The Three Musketeers (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Robin Hood (Oak Park Festival);
Sebastian in The Tempest (First Folio); Hamlet, Jerry in The Zoo Story, Young Marlow in She
Stoops to Conquer, Estragon, Benedick (Signal Ensemble Theatre, co-founder); Booth in
Assassins (Boxer Rebellion); work with American Players Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Dallas
Theater Center, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, New Leaf, Next, Northlight and Sansculottes.
As director: Old Wicked Songs, The Weir (Signal Ensemble Theatre). Film: Butterfly. Training:
Birmingham Conservatory; Southern Methodist University (BFA cum laude).
Robert Perdziola
Stratford debut: Designer of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Elsewhere: Sets
and costumes for Capriccio at the Metropolitan Opera, sets and costumes
for Ariadne auf Naxos at Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric
Opera of Chicago, costumes for Giulio Cesare at Fort Worth Opera. Sets
and costumes for Cosí fan Tutte at Garsington Opera Festival and Opera
Monte Carlo. Sets and costumes for Faust at Niedersachsische Staatsoper
Hannover and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Shakespeare Theatre Company (D.C.): costumes for
An Ideal Husband, All’s Well That Ends Well, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Design for Living, The
Imaginary Invalid, Major Barbara, Cyrano, The Rivals, The Duchess of Malfi, King John, A
Woman of No Importance. Awards: Helen Hayes Awards for Lady Windermere’s Fan, Don
Carlos and The Country Wife.
Tom Rooney
Fourth season: Master Francis (Frank) Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor
and Malvolio in Twelfth Night. Stratford: Duke Frederick/Senior (As You
Like It), Autolycus (The Winter’s Tale), Narrator (For the Pleasure…), Porter
(Macbeth), Cassius (Julius Caesar), Puck (A Midsummer Night’s Dream),
Horatio (Hamlet), Lavache (All’s Well That Ends Well). Elsewhere: Michael
Healey’s Courageous (Tarragon); My Mother’s Feet (Munich, Germany);
Hairspray (New York, Toronto); Benevolence, The Oxford Roof Climber’s Rebellion (Tarragon);
I Am My Own Wife (Vancouver Playhouse); Homechild, Rice Boy (Canadian Stage); title role in
Hamlet, The Winter’s Tale (NAC); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Citadel); The Tempest (Globe);
Othello (Persephone); Romeo et Juliette, Richard III, Twelfth Night, Macbeth (Shakespeare
on the Saskatchewan); Angels in America (ATP). Film/TV: Three seasons as Crown Attorney
David Kaye on CBC’s This Is Wonderland (two Gemini nominations), The Gilda Radner Story,
The Day After Tomorrow, Everest ’82 (CBC miniseries), Flash of Genius. Et cetera: For Gina.
Complete your
experience with
a trip to the
Take home a piece of the drama
with original clothing and giftware,
books and music; this is the place
for every theatre lover! Make every
visit unforgettable with a memento
to take home.
TWO LOCATIONS
Discovery Centre, across from the
Festival Theatre.
Downtown in the Avon Theatre lobby.
Or shop online at:
stratfordshakespearefestival.com/store
15

Steve Ross
Eighth season: John Rugby in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Noah in The
Grapes of Wrath and Clitandre in The Misanthrope. Stratford: Kiss Me,
Kate, Evita, West Side Story, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Comedy of Errors,
To Kill a Mockingbird, The Odyssey, Fiddler on the Roof, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, Richard II, Julius Caesar, Camelot and Coriolanus.
Elsewhere: Assassins (TIFT/Birdland); Orson’s Shadow (Pilot Group); A
New Brain (Acting Up Stage); A Year with Frog and Toad (MTYP); One for the Pot, Forum
(Drayton); The Producers (Neptune); Seussical, Sylvia (Aquarius); The Three Musketeers
(Chicago Shakespeare); Guys and Dolls (MTC/Citadel/TC); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Citadel);
The Foursome, For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again (New Stages); Three Sisters (ATF);
Sideshow of the Damned (TDC); Indian Ink, A Little Night Music, Into the Woods (Canadian
Stage); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theatre by the Bay). Training: National Theatre School.
Andrea Runge
Third season: Anne (Nan) Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Viola in
Twelfth Night. Stratford: Rosalind in As You Like It, Mopsa in The Winter’s
Tale, Cecily Cardew in The Importance of Being Earnest, Sister Marthe
in Cyrano de Bergerac. Elsewhere: The Misanthrope (Tarragon Theatre);
Frost/Nixon (Canadian Stage/Playhouse Theatre); Between Friends
(Lighthouse Festival Theatre); Bluebeard (GromKat/Toronto Fringe); Cloud 9,
Loves and Hours, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress (Pennsylvania Centre Stage); Much
Ado About Nothing, Macbeth (Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan); A Man for All Seasons,
The Coronation Voyage (Globe Theatre). Film/TV: Corner Gas, Incredible Story Studio,
Sliced, The Risen and Try to Remember. Radio: The Beginning of the End of the World; Killjoy
Was Here; Youth Poetry (CBC). Training: Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre, MFA
in acting from Pennsylvania State University, BFA in acting from the University of Regina.
Maddy Smart
Stratford debut: Appears in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Elsewhere:
Emmeline in Anne of Avonlea (Sullivan Entertainment); dancer/ensemble in
Anything Goes and Molly in Annie (Grand Theatre); children’s chorus in Evita
(Drayton Entertainment); Stacey in A Matter of Time (Victoria Playhouse
Petrolia); appeared in One Song Glory (Acting Up Stage). Recordings: Anne
of Avonlea original soundtrack (Sullivan Entertainment). Training: Big Voice
Studio: Elaine Overholt (vocal, songwriting); Spence School of Music: Katie Spence (vocal);
Byron Institute of Contemporary Music: Wayne Holden (guitar); performing open mics at the
London Music Club; The Dance Movement: Competitive Miss Company. Awards: London
Kiwanis Music Festival: Intermediate Vocal Trophy (2010), Junior/Intermediate Broadway
Trophy (2008), Junior Vocal Trophy (2007); traditional Irish dance: Preliminary Champion,
North American National Qualifier (2009). Website: www.youtube.com/Maddysmart1. Et
cetera: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” – Moulin
Rouge.
Jake Stern
Stratford debut: Appears in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Elsewhere: PEP
Squad Captain (High School Musical) (Drayton Entertainment); King Arthur
(King Arthur), Robin Hood (Robin Hood), Seymour (Little Shop of Horrors),
Troy (High School Musical 1 and 2) (Perth Academy of Musical Theatre).
Film/TV: Sam in the educational shorts Incredible World Investigators (Our
Incredible World). Recordings: Debut single, “I Need You,” available on
iTunes. Awards: Stratford Star 2010. Website: www.youtube.com/thejakestern. Et cetera:
Jake is a singer/songwriter who loves to play guitar, bass, drums and tuba in Stratford
Central Secondary School’s symphonic band. Jake’s passion is musical theatre and he
thanks Heidi and his friends at PAMT for introducing him to this exciting world. He is grateful
for this opportunity and thanks his mom and dad for moving to Stratford! “Lots of love to my
family and friends.”
Stephen Russell
29th season: Second Officer in Twelfth Night and appears in The Merry
Wives of Windsor. Stratford: Credits include Doc (West Side Story), Slim
(Of Mice and Men), Mr. Brownlow (Oliver!), Chorus Leader (Oedipus Rex),
Cornwall (King Lear) at the Lincoln Center in New York and the title roles
in Julius Caesar, Richard II and Henry VI. Elsewhere: He has appeared in
theatres across Canada. Film/TV: His most recent film project is the part of
Pontius Pilate in The Gospel of John. Et cetera: He lives in Stratford with his
wife, Astrid.
Josh Schmidt
Stratford debut: Composer and sound designer of The Merry Wives of
Windsor. Broadway: Brighton Beach Memoirs (with Fitz Patton). Off-
Broadway: Composer/co-author – ADD1NG MACH1N3 (Minetta Lane),
Whida Peru (59E59); incidental scores – When the Rain Stops Falling
(Lincoln Center), Fifty Words (MCC Theater); sound designer – Crime
and Punishment (59E59), many others. Chicago: Composer/co-author
– A Minister’s Wife (Writers’ Theatre); composer/sound designer – Steppenwolf Theatre
Company, Writers’ Theatre (Associate Artist), many others. Regional: Over 100 productions
across the country including the Kennedy Center, Ford’s Theatre (Washington, D.C.); Seattle
Repertory Theatre; Alley Theatre (Houston, TX); Arizona Theatre Company; Cleveland Play
House; Kansas City Rep; nine seasons at American Players Theatre including the recent
world première of the musical Gift of the Magi (Spring Green, WI); many others. Member:
USA Local 829, ASCAP. Awards: Lortel, Outer Critics, Jeff, ASCAP, NEA/TCG. Upcoming: A
Minister’s Wife (Lincoln Center Theater).
Siobhán Sleath
Fifth season: Assistant lighting designer of The Merry Wives of Windsor,
Camelot, Twelfth Night and The Misanthrope. Stratford: Lighting design
execution of Kiss Me, Kate. Assistant lighting designer for As You Like It,
The Tempest, Dangerous Liaisons, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Trespassers,
Rice Boy, Zastrozzi, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, The Taming of the
Shrew, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Comedy of Errors, My One and Only.
Elsewhere: Lighting design for Back to X (Larchaud Dance Project); Twelfth Night (Direct
Flight Theatre/GromKat Productions); Richard III (Hart House Theatre); Confluence, Frida
and Herself (Anandam Performance Group); Les Belles-Soeurs, The Killing Game (Randolph
Academy); Bluebeard (GromKat Productions); Fat Pig (Geek Girl Productions); Disciples (DMT
Productions). Associate lighting design on Anne and Gilbert: The Musical (Campbell Webster
Entertainment). Siobhán also worked on Nuit Blanche 2008 designing the lighting score for
Brendan Fernandes’s installation Future (…---…) Perfect. Training: BFA in Theatre Production
from York University.
Timothy D. Stickney
Fourth season: Corporal Nim in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Captain in
Twelfth Night and understudy in The Misanthrope. Stratford: Sebastian
(The Tempest, with Christopher Plummer), Banquo (Macbeth), Theseus
(A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Pothinus (Caesar and Cleopatra, with
Christopher Plummer); years after his debut with the National Shakespeare
Company, reprised Tybalt in Stratford. Elsewhere: 2011: Stickney was
Macbeth (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis). 2007: Hamlet (AUDELCO-nominated, Take Wing and
Soar), Oswald (Public Theater’s King Lear with Kevin Kline) and Escalus (Romeo and Juliet,
Central Park’s Delacorte). Timothy’s led award-nominated productions of Othello (Africa Arts)
and Richard III (TWAS). Previous: The Taming of the Shrew (Public Theater); Achilles, Troilus and
Cressida (Shakespeare Theatre); Orsino, Twelfth Night (Seattle Rep.); Lorenzo, The Merchant of
Venice (Hartford Stage). Directed AUDELCO-winning The Pecong and King Lear, with Trezana
Beverly, for TWAS (associate artistic director). Film/TV: Best known as One Life to Live’s R.J.
Gannon. Training: American Academy of Dramatic Arts/Company.
Sophia Walker
Sixth season: Second and Third Narrator in The Grapes of Wrath, appears
in The Merry Wives of Windsor and understudy in The Misanthrope.
Stratford: Credits include Julia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Juno
in The Tempest, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lady Macduff
in Macbeth, Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Charmian in Caesar and
Cleopatra, Luciana in The Comedy of Errors, Nausicaa in The Odyssey,
Helen Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird, Amah in Harlem Duet. Elsewhere: Salima in Ruined
(Obsidian Theatre); Pope Clement VI in Red Noses, Mrs. Mi Tzu in The Good Woman of
Setzuan and Mary Donovan in St. Nicholas Hotel (Ryerson University); Ursula in Much Ado
About Nothing for Canadian Stage’s Dream in High Park; and touring the musical Orchids
(Marquis Entertainment); as well as projects for the Groundswell Festival (Nightwood
Theatre). Training: Ryerson University, Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre.
Awards: Mary Savidge and Michael Mawson awards. “Love you, Mom and Dad.”
Abigail Winter-Culliford
Fifth season: Robin in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Ruthie in The
Grapes of Wrath. Stratford: Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird), Moth (Love’s
Labour’s Lost), Mooncalf (Bartholomew Fair), Moth (A Midsummer Night’s
Dream), appeared in As You Like It and The Winter’s Tale. Elsewhere:
Gretl (The Sound of Music), Amaryllis (The Music Man) (Royal City Musical
Theatre); Anna (Mister God, This Is Anna) (Whiterock Playhouse); Chip/
Narrator (Beauty and the Beast) (Arts Club). Film/TV: The Collectors, Sanguine, The Fog.
Awards: 2008 Tyrone Guthrie/Mary Savidge Award. Et cetera: Abigail loves to dance and
enjoys choreographing her own pieces; she dances in the UUC Professional Development
Dance Program in Kitchener. She is also a singer and artist, plays violin and remains the
inventor of duct-tape objects! “Love to my parents, mentors and friends, who do so much for
me. I dedicate this season to my great friend and mentor Peter Donaldson.”
16

Janet Wright
Seventh season: Mistress Quickly in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Ma
in The Grapes of Wrath. Stratford: Title role in Shirley Valentine, Rhéauna
Bibeau (Les Belles-Soeurs), Queen Eleanor (King John), Joan (Fair Liberty’s
Call), Gertrude (Hamlet), Agave (The Bacchae), Maria (Uncle Vanya).
Elsewhere: Martha (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) (Vancouver Playhouse),
Mrs. Noyes (Not Wanted on the Voyage) (MTC), Josie Hogan (A Moon for
the Misbegotten) (Theatre Calgary), Gertie (The Sea Horse) (Neptune Theatre) and over 40
productions at Vancouver’s Arts Club Theatre. Film/TV: Ethel Shatford (The Perfect Storm),
Emma (Corner Gas). Directing: Juno and the Paycock, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
(Stratford); Communicating Doors, The Stone Angel (Canadian Stage); August: Osage
County (Arts Club). Awards: Genie Award, best actress, Bordertown Café; Jessie Award,
best director, Glengarry Glen Ross; Gemini Award, best supporting actress, Betrayed; Sam
Payne Lifetime Achievement Award, 2006. Et cetera: Co-founder of Persephone Theatre,
Saskatoon.
Joanna Yu
Third season: Assistant set designer of The Merry Wives of Windsor and
assistant costume designer of The Misanthrope. Stratford: Assistant
costume designer, Peter Pan; assistant designer, Bartholomew Fair;
production design assistant, Visitors’ Guide 2010 and 2011. Elsewhere:
Set and costume design, Kingfisher Days (The Grand); set and costume
design, Tom’s A-Cold (Starving Artists/Next Stage Festival); set and costume
design, Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare in Action); set and costume design, Driving Miss
Daisy (Starbright); assistant designer, Yellowman (Nightwood/Obsidian), The Penelopiad
(Nightwood); assistant lighting designer, Le Nozze di Figaro (Canadian Opera Company);
set design, Oedipus Rex (Classical Theatre Project); set and costume design, The Sicilian
(Toronto Fringe) and Tyrolia (Highball Productions). Training: York University, BFA Theatre
Production and Design. Awards: Wally Russell Lighting Internship, 2007 (Canadian Opera
Company); Jason Sincarsin Memorial Scholarship; Brian Jackson Award; and the Tanya
Award for 2010.
Geraint Wyn Davies
Eighth season: Sir John Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor and King
Arthur in Camelot. Stratford (selected): Stephano (The Tempest), Dylan
Thomas (Do Not Go Gentle), Julius Caesar, Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s
Dream), Polonius (Hamlet), Henry Higgins (My Fair Lady), Henry V, Bassanio
(The Merchant of Venice), D’Artagnan (Three Musketeers), Hortensio
(The Taming of the Shrew), Antipholus S (The Boys From Syracuse),
Pericles. Elsewhere: Canadian Stage’s The Elephant Man; Shaw Festival, five seasons;
King Lear (Lincoln Center); Women Beware Women (Red Bull Theatre); Richard III, Cyrano
(Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, D.C.); Love’s Labour’s Lost (RSC); Hamlet,
Henry VIII (Chichester Festival); An Enemy of the People (Lyric Hammersmith, London); two
seasons as Theatr Clwyd’s artistic associate (Welsh National Company). Film/TV (selected):
Republic of Doyle, ReGenesis, Murdoch Mysteries, 24, Slings and Arrows, Black Harbour,
Tracker, Airwolf, Forever Knight, American Psycho II, Ghost Mom, Post Mortem, Nancy Drew,
Hypercube.
For biographies of the entire 2011 Festival company, please visit the “About Us”
section of our website: stratfordshakespearefestival.com.
Scandal. Lust. Betrayal. Irony.
(And that’s just our political coverage)
Proud sponsor of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival
FOR CONVENIENT HOME DELIVERY, CALL: 416-367-4500
Stratford Fest_3 1
11-03-01 3:49 PM
17