Good Morning: Annual Stratford trip showcases Shakespeare's best
"Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer by this son of York."
Fifty-five years ago, those words opened the very first Stratford Shakespeare Festival. They were spoken by actor Alec Guinness a.k.a. Obi Wan Kenobi of “Star Wars fame.” It was a humble year for the festival, with only two Shakespeare plays, “Richard III,” and “All’s Well That Ends Well.”
Since then, the festival has become one of the most famous gatherings of actors, directors and theater lovers in the western hemisphere. It puts on more than a dozen plays from April to November, ranging from Shakespeare to Shaw to Sondheim. The festival now draws between 500,000 and 600,000 people each year behind, perhaps, only Broadway in its popularity. Famous actors are in no shortage either, this year Christopher Plummer (think “A Beautiful Mind”) played Caesar in Bernard Shaw’s “Caesar and Cleopatra.”
Among those thousands, Ellis Hall, the dean of students, diligently takes a group of students on an eight-hour trek to the Shakespeare hotspot.
Stratford itself is remarkable. Though constantly flooded with tourists, it retains its small-town feeling. Quaint shops and lively bars fill the main street and surround the four theater houses.
“Hamlet” was the first show on the roster, the tragedy of the Danish Prince who discovers his uncle killed his father to become ruler… “Lion King anyone?” Then came “Cabaret,” set in a steamy Berlin strip club. After that was everyone’s favorite, “Romeo & Juliet” featuring Timothy Stickney, a.k.a. R.J. Gannon from ABC’s “One Life to Live.” Finally we saw Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew (basis for the 1999 movie “10 Things I Hate About You” with Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger).
Other shows produced this year included Meredith Wilson’s “The Music Man,” Shakespeare’s "Loves Labor Lost,” and Euripides’ “The Trojan Women.”
Between shows, many students chose to shop at the aptly named The Green Room boutique, sip espresso at the whole in the wall Sputnik Espresso Bar, and dine at the Shakespearian inspired Othello. The special of the night: Prime rib with garlic mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
