Stage Door News
Stage Door News
September 15, 2015… The Stratford Festival will be creating films of each of this season’s Shakespeare productions for international release. Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew and The Adventures of Pericles will be in cinemas in 2016, while Love’s Labour’s Lost will be part of the 2017 series of films.
“I am delighted that we will be able to bring all of our 2015 Shakespeare offerings to a global audience,” says Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino. “These productions enjoyed tremendous success on stage and can now continue to inspire audiences on the screen. Ultimately, I hope they will entice people new to our theatre to visit Stratford and see the glorious performances of our exceptional artists in person.”
Mr. Cimolino’s production of Hamlet will be directed for film by Shelagh O’Brien and will have its Canadian première on May 7. Chris Abraham’s production of The Taming of the Shrew and Scott Wentworth’s The Adventures of Pericles will be directed for film by Barry Avrich and will première in Canadian cinemas on March 12 and April 23 respectively. Each première will be followed by encore screenings throughout Canada, with international markets to follow. Mr. Avrich will also direct John Caird’s production of Love’s Labour’s Lost, to be released in 2017.
Hamlet stars Jonathan Goad in what the National Post’s Robert Cushman calls a “glowing performance.” In the Toronto Star’s 4-star review, Richard Ouzounian gushes: “This is the most complete, most fulfilling, most satisfying production of Hamlet I can recall in decades of theatregoing and the praise belongs to everyone. That is the wonder of the Stratford Festival at its best.”
The Taming of the Shrew stars Ben Carlson as Petruchio and Deborah Hay as Katherina, both described as “excellent” by J. Kelly Nestruck in The Globe and Mail’s J. Kelly Nestruck. Of Ms Hay’s portrayal of the titular shrew, Mr. Ouzounian proclaims: “There are performances at Stratford which people boast for decades about having seen. I’m going on record that Deborah Hay’s Katherina will be one of them.”
The Adventures of Pericles, hailed by The Chicago Tribune’s Chris Jones as “an intimately staged font of poignant pleasure,” stars Evan Buliung in what and The Hamilton Spectator’s Gary Smith calls a “masterful performance.” Smith adds that the Festival has a “miracle worker” in Mr. Wentworth who has given the play “a remarkably fluent, intelligent production that infiltrates its deepest crannies and offers up its secrets.” Notes Postmedia’s Steve Rice: “Wentworth and this cast have made [Pericles] a tale worth telling, and one well worth seeing.”
Love’s Labour’s Lost, directed by John Caird and starring Ruby Joy and Mike Shara, received high praise from am New York’s Matt Windman, who called it “the most vibrant production of the play I’ve ever seen.” Torontoist’s Martin Morrow was especially moved by the calibre of the ensemble, noting: “It’s impossible to say who gives the most delicious performance in this comic feast.”
Each production will be filmed live in spectacular HD and edited before distribution to ensure the best possible representation. Additional behind-the-scenes features will be included in each release. The Adventures of Pericles will be captured on September 15, Hamlet on September 22, The Taming of the Shrew on September 29 and Love’s Labour’s Lost on October 6.
These films are part of the Stratford Festival HD series, a massive initiative to capture all of Shakespeare’s plays over the next 10 years and bring them to audiences around the world. The project officially launched this past February with the release of King Lear, King John and Antony and Cleopatra.
The films will be produced by Melbar Entertainment Group and Executive Producer Barry Avrich. They will be distributed in Canada through Cineplex Entertainment’s Front Row Centre Events, which specializes in bringing world-class events and performances to the big screen. The cinema screenings will be followed by digital and on-demand release.
Stratford Festival HD is sponsored by Sun Life Financial as part of their Making the Arts More Accessible™ program, with generous support from Laura Dinner & Richard Rooney, the Jenkins Family Foundation, Ophelia & Mike Lazaridis, Sandra & Jim Pitblado, the Slaight Family Foundation, and Robert & Jacqueline Sperandio. The Festival also acknowledges the generous support of the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
The Stratford Festival’s 2015 season, which runs until November 1, features Hamlet, The Sound of Music, Carousel, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Taming of the Shrew, She Stoops to Conquer, The Physicists, The Alchemist, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Oedipus Rex, Possible Worlds, The Last Wife and The Adventures of Pericles. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit stratfordfestival.ca or call 1.800.567.1600.
Photo: Jonathan Goad as Hamlet with Geraint Wyn Davies as Claudius. ©2014 Don Dixon.
2015-09-15
Stratford: Stratford Festival to film its 2015 Shakespeare productions for HD release