World-class theatre — in blissful Niagara wine country.
In 1962, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, lawyer and playwright Brian Doherty parlayed his love for the work of Irish playwright Bernard Shaw into a summer theatre festival, producing eight performances of Don Juan in Hell and Candida in the Court House auditorium. In this singular act of passion for theatre and culture, the Shaw Festival was born.
Today, with 10 or more productions each year performed in three theatres for an audience of more than 250,000, the Shaw Festival has grown to become a major Canadian cultural icon, a gem in this country’s rich cultural heritage. Inspired by the wit and passion of Bernard Shaw, the Shaw Festival is a contemporary theatre that features a smart, provocative, potent and diverse mix of plays from the past and present, performed by our celebrated repertory theatre Ensemble. The result is theatre that is challenging, surprising, often funny and always entertaining. These plays are lovingly and artfully brought to the stage each year by a talented team of actors, directors, and designers, showcasing the incredible tapestry of talent that this country contributes to the world.
Helmed by Artistic Director Tim Carroll (TC), The Shaw’s 62nd Season runs from April 6 to December 22, including the most charming of musical’s Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady. The Festival stage will also see the staging of the hilarious farce One Man, Two Guvnors and the return of the most famous consulting detective in Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Human Heart. The Studio Theatre will play host to Marcus Gardley’s steamy The House That Will Not Stand and a modern update on a classical Chinese drama called Snow in Midsummer. Over at the Royal George Theatre, The Secret Garden, The Orphan of Chao and Shaw’s ever-popular Candida will entertain audiences along with Agatha Christie’s thrilling courtroom drama Witness for the Prosecution. The magical Spiegeltent will feature a variety of cabaret’s, improv and original Ensemble performances. Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins continue on into the holiday season joined by the perennial favourite A Christmas Carol. Don’t miss what promises to be a loverly season. Join us!
Recipient of Trip Advisor’s “Certificate of Excellence”, the Shaw Festival is … the perfect intermission from life.