The St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival is back for 2023!! It’s Shakespeare’s Birthday, and we can't think of a better way to celebrate than by announcing our season for 2023!!

We're presenting four fun-filled shows with all the pop and fizz of champagne bubbles to compliment a warm summer evening.

The Festival is bringing A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Importance of Being Earnest to our outdoor stage; both will run alternately from July 8 - August 5. We are also so happy to host once again our friends, Guild Festival Theatre, with their award-winning production of Alice in Wonderland and Company of Fools' madcap Hamlet.

We're delighted to present all these timeless classics in one of Canada's most picturesque waterfront amphitheatres.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is the most performed and popular of all Shakespeare's plays and an excellent introduction to the playwright for all ages. This beloved comedy captivates in a magical tale of two pairs of young lovers, the king and queen of the woodland fairies, and the mischievous sprite Puck, who sprinkles romance and uproarious, free-for-all havoc over everyone.

The creative ideas of Richard Sheridan Willis’s acclaimed Toronto production will blend with the design elements of award-winning designer Shannon Lea Doyle along with music and sound by Emmy-winning composer Rob Bertola. It promises to be a delightful and dreamy production featuring an all-new cast to the Festival.

A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Richard Sheridan Willis

July 8 - August 5

Saturday Matinees 1pm.

Saturday Evenings 6 pm

Opening/Closing Nights Saturday July 8th /August 5th - 7 pm

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Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest sparkles with all the wit and effervescence of its famous author. It is one of the cleverest comedies ever written. Wilde's hilarious work introduces us to Jack and Algernon, charming bachelors living a double life aided by a fictional alter ego called "Earnest." The two fall truly in love with a pair of proper young women. Jack is in love with Gwendolen. Algernon is in love with Cecily. Gwendolen and Cecily are each in love with "Earnest".

Double lives and double standards abound, and plot-twisting mayhem ensues. Directed by Kerry Ann Doherty, this quintessential comedy of manners features some of the funniest lines ever written.

The Importance of Being Earnest directed by Kerry Ann Doherty

July 12 - August 5

Saturday Matinees 1pm.

Saturday Evenings 6 pm

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Toronto's Guild Festival Theatre returns! Alice in Wonderland, adapted by David Savoy, is their award-winning production remounted for 2023 and will surely delight the child in everyone. This fast-paced production brings Wonderland to life in a swirl of sound, colour, and imagination. It will leave everyone with a smile on their face and curiosity in their hearts! After a sold-out run in 2021, seven Dora nominations and two wins, GFT's fantastic show for all the family comes to Prescott's riverside amphitheatre.

(The show runs 90 mins with no intermission)

Alice in Wonderland, directed by Tyler Seguin

August 8 – 12

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Returning home to attend her father’s funeral, Hamlet discovers that another ceremony has already taken place: her mother's marriage to her uncle. That’s right, her dead father’s brother. When Hamlet is visited by her father’s ghost demanding that she avenge his murder, Hamlet begins to wonder – has she gone mad or everyone around her?

Join the Fools as they race into the depths of the human experience and have a few laughs along the way. Whether you’re a Shakespeare nerd or this is your first foray with the Bard since high school, their foolish take on Hamlet has something for everyone.

(The show runs 90 mins with no intermission)

Hamlet, directed by Nicholas Leno

August 16

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For tickets visit www.stlawrenceshakespeare.ca.