Antoni Cimolino named Festival’s next Artistic Director

Antoni Cimolino

[PRESS RELEASE]
Des McAnuff recognized for enormous contributions to the Festival
March 10, 2012… Dr. Lee Myers and members of the Board of Governors are delighted to announce that Antoni Cimolino will be the next Artistic Director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, following on the tenure of Des McAnuff.

As Chair of the Board, Dr. Myers led a seven-person search committee that included other Board members as well as actor and director Martha Henry. The six-month process included extensive consultations with a large number of internal and external stakeholders that ultimately provided very strong support for Mr. Cimolino’s candidacy. “His visionary presentation to the committee, with its impressive combination of enthusiasm, experience and new ideas, absolutely convinced us that Antoni is the best person to be our next Artistic Director,” said Dr. Myers.

“His artistic vision includes a deep commitment to Shakespeare and classical theatre, great enthusiasm for the development of large-scale new works, terrific ideas about artist training and audience outreach and an inspiring perspective on the Festival’s role within the broader Canadian theatre landscape. We have absolute confidence that he will build on the outstanding accomplishments of Des McAnuff and all of our other great Artistic Directors to further the success of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.”

“This is a day of enormous joy for me,” said Mr. Cimolino. “This great theatre changed my life as it has changed the lives of countless others in its almost 60 seasons. It has given me 25 years of growth as an artist and introduced me to wonderful people, great talents and a world of plays, characters and writing that have brought me as close as any man can be to heaven on earth.

“Today I am being asked to make a new and deeper contribution to the Stratford Festival. I’m thrilled and honoured. I’m indebted to the Artistic Directors who came before me – many of whom I’ve had the pleasure to work with and learn from. I must particularly thank the late Richard Monette for his mentorship and Des McAnuff for his support.“I have seen that each of my predecessors made their own unique contribution to the Festival. I have also seen that for each one it came at a personal cost – sometimes a great one. So I go in with my eyes open to both the joys and the challenges. But while my eyes are open, they also sparkle with excitement at the opportunities for this Festival. For while we face challenges, we also have an enormous abundance of talent, energy and creativity in our artists, as well as loyal audiences and generous donors.

“I want to build on our current momentum to make the Stratford Shakespeare Festival the world’s leading theatre, presenting the world’s greatest plays performed to the highest standards, because I believe that the artist and the spoken word are the heart of our experience. I see Stratford as a place of new creation and innovation – a place about talent and ideas. “I want to see a Festival that reaches out to people, engages their hearts and minds, and makes us a force for good in this world.”

In the past, the announcement of a new Artistic Director has been followed by a season of transition, to give the appointee time to become familiar with the organization. In this case, however, Mr. Cimolino’s thorough inside knowledge of the Festival, both as an artist and as its current General Director, makes that transitional season unnecessary. Accordingly, Mr. McAnuff felt it would be fitting to let the celebratory 2012 season mark the culmination of his tenure, and that Mr. Cimolino should assume the artistic directorship for the 2013 season.

“I want to congratulate Antoni on his appointment, which I know is the completion of a longheld dream,” said Mr. McAnuff. “Last June, when I negotiated a contract through the 2013 season, I believed that I was giving the Board a suitable amount of time to conduct a search for my replacement. With the completion of the search process, it has become possible to announce the next Artistic Director several months earlier than I had anticipated. This means that we no longer need so lengthy a transition period.

“Antoni comes from inside our institution and has been my partner for more than four years. Rather than making him wait until 2014 to take the artistic reins, it is much more sensible for the two of us to pass the baton at the end of this, our 60th season.

“I will direct for Antoni in what will become his first season in 2013 and will be in residence through opening week, and I am committed to give him any support he asks for. He and I know that this will be a graceful and elegant transition.

“Serving as the artistic leader of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival has been a great honour, and I am as determined as ever during this coming period to do everything possible with Antoni and our entire team to see that our institution flourishes.”

Upon its conclusion, Mr. McAnuff’s tenure will have encompassed 69 Festival productions, including 19 plays by Shakespeare. Mr. McAnuff will have directed 10 of those productions himself, including six by Shakespeare and three (including the upcoming A Word or Two) starring Christopher Plummer. “Des’s contributions to the Festival have been tremendous,” said Dr. Myers. “His productions have introduced some of the most exciting stagecraft ever seen in our theatres, and he has brought new lustre to our international reputation. He has attracted many new talented directors to Stratford and has shaped one of the finest ensembles in English theatre.

“He has added a whole new dimension to our training initiatives by introducing the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Direction. He has also reinvigorated our New Play Development program with an abundance of commissions and productions of new Canadian works, along with the introduction of playwright residencies and the Playwrights’ Retreat.

“He has done all of this while maintaining his international profile, directing productions in New York and throughout the U.S., in London, Australia, New Zealand and Korea, at the Metropolitan Opera and at the English National Opera. He has taken three Festival productions to the silver screen, including Twelfth Night, which opened in Cineplex theatres on March 10, and is about to open the 2011 Stratford hit production of Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway, giving the Festival a brand new revenue stream that will be a great additional legacy of his tenure.

“Des has designed a stellar 2012 season – our landmark 60th season – and we look forward to seeing it come to fruition under his skilful hand. In 2012, he will direct Henry V, featuring Aaron Krohn, Ben Carlson, Tom Rooney, Lucy Peacock and Gareth Potter, and A Word or Two, starring Christopher Plummer.

“Just a few days ago, we learned that Des is to receive a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award: the prestigious National Arts Centre Award, which recognizes his extraordinary accomplishments in the past performance year.

“The Board of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival congratulates him on this honour and extends its profound gratitude to him for the enormous contributions he has made over the last five years during a period when his own star was also rising to great heights on the international stage. We look forward to the forthcoming season with great anticipation, and we are very pleased that he will continue his association with the Festival. We know that audiences will eagerly await his next Stratford production.”

Antoni Cimolino first joined the Festival as an actor in 1988 and played Romeo opposite Megan Follows’s Juliet in 1992. Assistant director of Pirandello’s The Rules of the Game in 1991, he codirected The Merry Wives of Windsor in 1995 with then Artistic Director Richard Monette and directed his first solo Festival production, Filumena (in which Mr. Monette played a leading role), in 1997.

Since then, he has directed several classical works at Stratford including Ben Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair in 2009 – the first professional production of that 400-year-old play ever staged in North America – as well as Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, with Colm Feore; As You Like It with Sara Topham; King John, with Stephen Ouimette; Love’s Labour’s Lost with Brian Bedford; and Twelfth Night, with William Hutt.He has also won acclaim for his productions of more contemporary repertoire, including last season’s The Grapes of Wrath, with Tom McCamus and Evan Buliung, and The Night of the Iguana, with Seana McKenna. His most recent directing credit elsewhere was the enthusiastically received Canadian première of Enron, featuring Graham Abbey, which had a sold-out run at Theatre Calgary earlier this year.

In 2012, his 25th season with the Festival, Mr. Cimolino is directing Shakespeare’s rarely produced Cymbeline, with a cast that includes Graham Abbey, Tom McCamus, Cara Ricketts and Geraint Wyn Davies. In all, he has directed, co-directed or assistant directed 20 productions at the Festival, including 11 Shakespeare plays, while also fulfilling a series of leadership roles that culminated in his appointment as General Director in 2006.

In that capacity, he administers an annual budget of $60 million and oversees 1,000 employees. He was instrumental in the formation of the Festival’s Endowment Foundation (which has raised more than $50 million to date), the renovation of the Avon Theatre and the establishment of the Studio Theatre.

Mr. Cimolino has also been a strong advocate for the arts, serving as Chair of the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Board and Chair of the National Steering Committee of Culture Days, a coast-to-coast celebration of culture and the arts in Canada. He spearheaded and remains an active volunteer with the Festival’s EsArtes project, a joint endeavour with CUSO, which has established a performing arts and educational centre in the city of Suchitoto, El Salvador.

“In his new role with the Festival, Antoni will stand on the shoulders of many artistic giants,” said Dr. Myers. “We have great confidence that he will move the Festival to great heights under his enthusiastic artistic leadership.”

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Former Blyth Festival Actor and Creator Awarded 2012 John Hirsch Prize

Christopher Morris

Christopher Morris of Toronto, a former member of the Blyth Festival Theatre company, is one of two winners of the Canada Council for the Arts 2012 John Hirsch Prize.  Gaétan Paré of Montreal was the other recipient.  

Christopher is a director, actor and playwright.  He was a member of the Blyth Festival acting company (and a creator) for Death of the Hired Man by Paul Thompson (2000) and also appeared in Sometime, Never by Nora Harding (2001).  As Artistic Director of Human Cargo, the theatre company he founded in 2007, he challenges the established norms in Canadian Theatre, reinventing process, content and form.   

“What Christopher Morris and Gaétan Paré are bringing to Canadians is on the cutting edge of new creation,” said Robert Sirman, Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts. “These young and dynamic directors are profoundly engaged in theatre in Canada – fitting choices for an award bearing the name of John Hirsch.”

Made possible by a bequest from the estate of the late John Hirsch, the prizes are a tribute to the extraordinary contribution Mr. Hirsch made to theatre in Canada, most notably as founder of the Manitoba Theatre Centre, head of drama for CBC television and artistic director of the Stratford Festival.


For more information please contact:

John Bezaire| Director of Communications

Blyth Festival 

877 862 5984 | development@blythfestival.com

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Christopher Plummer nominated for an Academy Award

Christopher Plummer

Christopher Plummer has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Beginners by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. In the film Mr. Plummer plays Hal Fields, a father and widower who comes out of the closet after his wife passes away. He stars opposite Ewan MacGregor.

If he wins, it will be the first Oscar for the Canadian-born icon of film and stage. He was previously nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Tolstoy in 2009's The Last Station.

Mr. Plummer is slated to return to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival later this year to perform in his one-man show, A Word or Two.

C. David Johnson returns for major roles in Pirates, 42nd Street; Jennifer Rider-Shaw to play Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street

C. David Johnson

[PRESS RELEASE] January 23, 2012… The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is pleased to announce that C. David Johnson, currently starring on Broadway in Priscilla Queen of the Desert, will return to the Festival for the 60^th season.

Mr. Johnson was last seen at Stratford in 2001, when he played Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music opposite Cynthia Dale’s Maria. The two, who also starred as lovers on the popular CBC TV series Street Legal from 1987 to 1994, will be reunited in 42nd Street, as Pat Denning and Dorothy Brock.

Mr. Johnson will also play Major-General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance.

In his 30-year career, which began at Theatre New Brunswick, Mr. Johnson has appeared in numerous television series and on stages throughout Canada, including as Patrick Flanagan in Jitters, and Davison in Mary Stuart at Soulpepper; George Love in Tryst at the Segal Centre; and Helmut Schmidt in Democracy at Tarragon. He first appeared at Stratford in 1984, playing Speed in The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Poins in Henry IV, Part I. He is currently playing Bob in the Broadway production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Jennifer Rider-Shaw

Mr. Johnson will be joined in 42nd Street by Jennifer Rider-Shaw, who will play Peggy Sawyer. Ms Rider-Shaw made her Stratford debut in 2010, appearing in Kiss Me, Kate and Evita, followed by Jesus Christ Superstar and Camelot last season. A graduate of Sheridan’s music theatre performance program, Ms Rider-Shaw was a contestant on CBC’s Triple Sensation, for which Cynthia Dale was a judge. She has also appeared in Ross Petty’s Robin Hood, Drayton Entertainment’s The Wizard of Oz, and Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story at Theatre Aquarius.

As previously announced, 42nd Street – directed by Gary Griffin – will also feature Sean Arbuckle as Julian Marsh and Kyle Blair as Billy Lawlor, with Naomi Costain as Anytime Annie, Kyle Golemba as Andy Lee, Gabrielle Jones as Maggie, and Geoffrey Tyler as Bert Barry.

The Pirates of Penzance – directed by Ethan McSweeny – will also feature Sean Arbuckle as the Pirate King, Kyle Blair as Frederic and Amy Wallis as Mabel Stanley, with Gabrielle Jones as Ruth and Steve Ross as the Sergeant of Police, as previously announced.

Production co-sponsors for 42nd Street are The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company and Union Gas.

Production co-sponsor for The Pirates of Penzance is RBC. Production support is generously provided by Dr. Dennis and Dorothea Hacker.

Support for the 2012 season has been provided by the Canada Council, the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund and the Ontario Arts Council.

Tickets are now on sale for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s 2012 season, which features 14 productions presented from April 12 to October 28: Much Ado About Nothing; 42nd Street; The Matchmaker; Henry V; You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown; The Pirates of Penzance; A Word or Two; Cymbeline; Wanderlust; Elektra; MacHomer; The Best Brothers; Hirsch; and The War of 1812. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit stratfordshakespearefestival.com or call 1.800.567.1600.

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Graham Abbey returns to join cast of Cymbeline; Ensemble named for The War of 1812

[Press Release] November 29, 2011… As key casting for 2012 nears completion, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival is delighted to announce that GrahamAbbey will return to the company to play Posthumus in Cymbeline. Also returning for the 60^th season are Nigel Bennett, DanChameroy, Josh Epstein, Kyle Golemba, Gabrielle Jones, Nora McLellan, Timothy D. Stickney, Brian Tree and Geoffrey Tyler.

The following actors will make up the ensemble of The War of 1812: Paul Braunstein, Greg Campbell, Richard Alan Campbell, Mac Fyfe, Jacob James, Linda Prystawska and Michaela Washburn.

They join the following actors, previously announced for the 2012 season: Sean Arbuckle, John Beale, Richard Binsley, Kyle Blair, James Blendick, Skye Brandon, Andrew Broderick, Ben Carlson, Juan Chioran, Laura Condlln, Naomi Costain, Cynthia Dale, Deborah Hay, Randy Hughson, Peter Hutt, Robin Hutton, Bethany Jillard, Aaron Krohn, Ian Lake, Daniel MacIvor, Tom McCamus, Yanna McIntosh, Seana McKenna, Rick Miller, Alon Nashman, Stephen Patterson, Lucy Peacock, Erica Peck, Christopher Plummer, Gareth Potter, Cara Ricketts, Tom Rooney, Steve Ross, Andrea Runge, Tyrone Savage, Mike Shara, E.B. Smith, Ken James Stewart, John Vickery, Amy Wallis, Geraint Wyn Davies and Kevin Yee.

Graham Abbey

Graham Abbey, who will also play Aigisthos in Elektra, first joined the Festival company as a child actor in 1982 and returned as a leading player in the late 1990s. He played the title roles in Henry V, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and Henry VIII, and was featured in other key Shakespearean roles, including Ferdinand in The Tempest, Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Prince Hal in Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2),  Jaques in As You Like It, and Tullus Aufidius in Coriolanus. His other roles at Stratford include Happy in Death of a Salesman, Algernon Montford in the four-act version of The Importance of Being Earnest, D’Artagnan in The Three Musketeers and Warwick in The Lark. Mr. Abbey has a number of film and television credits and won a Dora Award for his portrayal of Prince-Don-Squeeze-the-Charming in Ross Petty’s Snow White and the Magnificent Seven.

Nigel Bennett returns for a third season to play Caius Lucius in Cymbeline. Seen this past season as Doctor Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Lord Hastings in Richard III, Mr. Bennett made his Stratford debut in 2010 as Bill Jukes in Peter Pan and Brown in King of Thieves. A Gemini Award-winning actor, Mr. Bennett has extensive film and television credits, including The Border, Lexx, Forever Knight, At the Hotel, Psi Factor, Strike, Murder at 1600, The Skulls, Narrow Margin, Murdoch Mysteries, The Kennedys, Counterstrike and The Sea Wolf. His stage credits include, among others, That Face for Nightwood Theatre, Medea for MTC/Mirvish, 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 and Betrayal for the Neptune Theatre and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole for Wyndham’s Theatre in the West End.

Brian Tree will also join the company of Cymbeline, playing Pisanio. His Stratford credits over 22 years include Dubois in The Misanthrope, Adam in As You Like It, Old Shepherd/Archidamus in The Winter’s Tale, Humphrey Wasp in Bartholomew Fair, Erronius in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Costard in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Touchstone in As You Like It, Stephano in The Tempest, Joxer Daly in Juno and the Paycock, Mr. Dussel in The Diary of Anne Frank, Mr. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Dolly Spanker in London Assurance, Oswald in King Lear, which also toured to New York’s Lincoln Center, Caversham in An Ideal Husband, Holofernes in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and many others. In addition to his work on the stage, Mr. Tree has appeared in Billable Hours, La Femme Nikita, Traders, Forever Knight, Street Legal and eight productions of A Taste of Shakespeare.

Cymbeline will also feature Tom McCamus as Iachimo, Cara Ricketts as Imogen and Geraint Wyn Davies as Cymbeline, with Ian Lake as Arviragus, Yanna McIntosh as the Queen, Mike Shara as Cloten, E.B. Smith as Guiderius and John Vickery as Belarius.

Production support for Cymbeline is generously provided by Barbara and John Schubert and Diana Tremain.

Dan Chameroy to play McGrew in Robert Service musical

Dan Chameroy will return for his 11^th season to play McGrew in Wanderlust, the new musical about poet Robert Service. This past season he played Ensign Pistol in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Sir Dinadan in Camelot. His other Stratford credits include Polixenes in The Winter’s Tale, William and Charles in As You Like It, Miles Gloriosus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Martin in Palmer Park, Curly in Oklahoma!, Father Karolyi in Pentacost, Posthumus in Cymbeline and Lancelot in Camelot. Mr. Chameroy’s other credits include Plumbum in Robin Hood at the Elgin Theatre, The Magic Fire and High Society at the Shaw Festival, The Drowsy Chaperone at the Winter Garden and Into the Woods at Canadian Stage. He has a number of film and television credits and is a Dora Award winner for his portrayal of the Beast in Beauty and the Beast at the Princess of Wales Theatre.

Wanderlust will also feature Robin Hutton as Louise and Tom Rooney as Robert Service, with Randy Hughson as Mr. McGee and Lucy Peacock as Mrs. Munsch.

The production sponsor of Wanderlust is CIBC. Production support is generously provided by Martie and Bob Sachs.

Josh Epstein and Nora McLellan join The Matchmaker

Josh Epstein will return for his second season to play Barnaby Tucker in The Matchmaker and Nora McLellan will return to play Flora Van Huysen. Mr. Epstein made his Stratford debut in 2011 in The Grapes of Wrath and Titus Andronicus and as a member of the Birmingham Conservatory. His credits elsewhere include Barfee in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Belfry/Arts Club); Freddy in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Vancouver Playhouse, Jessie and Ovation nominee); Leo in The Producers (Arts Club, Ovation Award); Studies in Motion (Electric Company, Canadian tour); The Drowsy Chaperone (Canadian tour); Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors (Stage West); Death of a Salesman (Theatre Aquarius); The Lord of the Rings (Mirvish Productions); Bard on the Beach (three seasons); and a European tour of his solo show.  Mr. Epstein is a two-time Jessie acting nominee with several TV and film credits and an award-winning playwright and filmmaker.

In three seasons at Stratford, Ms McLellan has taken on such roles as Myrna in King of Thieves, Fräulein Schneider in Cabaret, Athena in The Trojan Women, Aunt Eller in Oklahoma! and Anna Jedlikova in Pentecost. A veteran of 22 seasons at the Shaw Festival, Ms McLellan has also recently appeared in such productions as August: Osage County and The Drowsy Chaperone at the Vancouver Playhouse, For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again at Persephone Theatre and Harvey at Montreal’s Segal Centre. She won a Dora Award for her performance in Music for Contortionist at the Tarragon Theatre and du Maurier World Stage and a Jessie Award for her portrayal of Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

The Matchmaker will also feature Tom McCamus as Horace Vandergelder, Seana McKenna as Dolly Levi, Laura Condlln as Irene Molloy, Mike Shara as Cornelius Hackl and Geraint Wyn Davies as Malachi Stack, with Skye Brandon as Ambrose Kemper, Cara Ricketts as Ermengarde and Andrea Runge as Minnie Fay.

Production support for The Matchmaker is generously provided by Jennifer Surridge in memory of Robertson Davies.

42nd Street to feature Kyle Golemba, Gabrielle Jones, Geoffrey Tyler

Kyle Golemba, retuning for his fifth season, will play Andy Lee in 42nd Street. He will be joined by Gabrielle Jones as Maggie and Geoffrey Tyler as Bert Barry. This season Mr. Golemba was seen as Thomas in Jesus Christ Superstar and the Bookkeeper in The Grapes of Wrath. His other credits at Stratford include Gremio in Kiss Me, Kate, A-rab in West Side Story, Evita, Fuente Ovejuna, The Music Man and Cyrano de Bergerac, as well as several understudy performances as Che in Evita and Bill in Kiss Me, Kate. Mr. Golemba also appeared in the Toronto transfer of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. His other credits include Gilbert in Anne of Green Gables for Stage West, Rolf in The Sound of Music for the Neptune Theatre and his all-Canadian cabaret Making Love in a Canoe.

Ms Jones will also play Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance, the play in which she made her Stratford debut, as Billie, in 1994. That same year she also played Daisy and Beetle in Alice Through the Looking Glass. Her other Stratford credits include Hortense in The Boy Friend, Vittoria in The Gondoliers, Maud Dunlop in The Music Man, Lady Anne in Camelot and Lady Montague in Romeo and Juliet. More recently she has been at the Shaw Festival, where, in 12 seasons, her roles have included Mrs. Eynsord-Hill in My Fair Lady, the Countess in The Admirable Crichton, Charlotta in The Cherry Orchard and Mrs. Kramer in One Touch of Venus. Ms Jones enjoyed a long association with the hit musical Mamma Mia!, originating the role of Rosie in the first North American production and U.S. national tour and taking on the role of Donna on tour and in Las Vegas.

After making his Stratford debut in 1992, Mr. Tyler returns for his third season in 2012. He appeared in the Stratford productions of HMS Pinafore, Uncle Vanya, Measure for Measure, Antony and Cleopatra, Gypsy and The Imaginary Invalid. Mr. Tyler’s recent credits elsewhere include Tom Shaw in the Theatre Orangeville production of Ned Durango, Sam in Sitting Pretty for Showboat Festival and the Balladeer in Assassins for Talk Is Free Theatre. He also was a member of the ensemble in Des McAnuff’s production of The Who’s Tommy at the Shaftesbury Theatre in the U.K.

42nd Street will also feature Sean Arbuckle as Julian Marsh, Kyle Blair as Billy Lawlor and Cynthia Dale as Dorothy Brock, with Naomi Costain as Anytime Annie.

The production co-sponsors of 42nd Street are The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company and Union Gas.

Timothy D. Stickney joins cast of Henry V

Timothy D. Stickney, returning for his fourth season, will take on the role of Exeter in Henry V. This past season he was seen as Corporal Nim in The Merry Wives of Windsor and the Sea Captain in Twelfth Night. His other Stratford credits include Sebastian in The Tempest, Thurio in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Banquo in Macbeth, Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Pothinus in Caesar and Cleopatra. His other recent credits include Macbeth at the New York State Theatre Institute, Hamlet for Take Wing and Soar, Oswald in the Public Theater’s 2007 production of King Lear with Kevin Kline, and Escalus in Romeo and Juliet for Central Park’s Delacorte Theater. He is best known on television for playing R.J. Gannon on One Life to Live.

Henry V will feature Aaron Krohn in the title role, with Ben Carlson as Fluellen, Juan Chioran as Montjoy, Deborah Hay as Alice, Lucy Peacock as the Hostess and Tom Rooney as Pistol.

The production sponsor of Henry V is Scotiabank. Production support is generously provided by Claire and Daniel Bernstein, Jane Petersen-Burfield and Family, and Catherine and David Wilkes.

Funding for the 2012 season is provided by the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund.

Tickets for the 2012 season are now on sale to Members of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and will be available to the general public beginning January 7. To order call 1.800.567.1600 or visit www.stratfordshakespearefestival.com.

The 2012 season features Much Ado About Nothing; 42nd Street; The Matchmaker; Henry V; You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown; The Pirates of Penzance; A Word or Two; Cymbeline; Wanderlust; Elektra; MacHomer; The Best Brothers; Hirsch; and The War of 1812.

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