Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, May 9, 2013 . . . An ambitious new production of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan begins previews today on The Shaw’s Festival stage. Director Peter Hinton returns to The Shaw for his first Wilde play, following his critically acclaimed Shaw Festival directorial debut in 2011 with Andrew Bovell’s When the Rain Stops Falling.
Hinton worked closely with designers Teresa Przybylski (sets), William Schmuck (costume), Louise Guinand (lighting) and Richard Feren (sound) to create an original approach to Wilde’s play that promotes contemporary ideas and themes, yet connects clearly to the art of the 1890s.
Wilde’s early play has the wit of his later comedies, but also probes the complexities and darker desires of the human heart. Lady Windermere (Marla McLean), a young woman recently married into the aristocracy, is preparing for her birthday party. Although deeply in love with her husband Lord Windermere (Martin Happer), she is troubled by his relationship with the mysterious Mrs. Erlynne (Tara Rosling) and vulnerable to the advances of the charismatic Lord Darlington (Gray Powell). Society’s high veneer of elegance and propriety threatens to crack as secrets from the past are revealed – only to be quickly suppressed.
Lady Windermere’s Fan was last seen at The Shaw in 1998.
About Lady Windermere’s Fan
May 9 – October 19; Opening: June 8
Lady Windermere’s Fan will be on stage at the Festival Theatre (10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-the-Lake)
The Shaw Festival 2013 season runs until November 3 and also features Our Betters, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Enchanted April, Major Barbara, Faith Healer, Peace in Our Time: A Comedy, The Light in the Piazza, Trifles and Arcadia.
Illustration: Lady Windermere’s Fan. ©2013 Emily Cooper.
2013-05-09
Niagara-on-the-Lake: Oscar Wilde’s “Lady Windermere’s Fan” begins previews at the Shaw Festival