The Meighen Forum brings more insight to the Stratford Festival this September. The month features opportunities such as a look into King Lear with Paul Gross, Conversations with Adam Gopnik, Scholars and Experts Week, a mind-boggling culinary adventure with Art and Food Historian Janet Dawson and Encountering Ukraine: Readings in Solidarity.

King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s most discussed and debated characters among scholars. As part of the Peer Into the Playbill series, Playing King Lear (September 7) is providing an opportunity for audiences to hear Paul Gross (King Lear) talk about what it is like to be inside the mind of the king. He will be joined in an intimate conversation by veteran company member Seana McKenna, who played King Lear in a 2018 production for Groundling Theatre Company, moderated by this season’s Goneril, Shannon Taylor.

As part of the Celebrated Speakers series, this month features award-winning writer and essayist Adam Gopnik in conversation with some of today’s most inspiring and insightful thinkers. The Real Wrinkle in Time (September 8) features a discussion with award-winning theoretical physicist and cosmology expert Professor Lee Smolin about quantum theories, the concept of time and everything in between.

Scholars and Experts Week at the Meighen Forum (September 15-17) will explore the 2023 playbill alongside a selection of scholars and experts, who each bring special insight and experience to the conversation. Celebrating The 400th Anniversary of the First Folio (September 15) will bring together Emma Smith, University of Oxford’s Professor of Shakespeare Studies and one of the world’s foremost experts on the Folio, with artist and scholar Dean Gabourie as they discuss the origins of one of the great wonders of the literary world.

The Meighen Forum Dinner Series presents a gravity-defying, mind-boggling gastronomical adventure that is sure to astonish your mind: Franken-Dine Molecular Gastronomy. This meal features Art and Food Historian Janet Dawson, who will discuss Mary Shelley’s inspirations and the artistry of food as we reflect on the world of Frankenstein Revived. This culinary adventure will be curated and prepared by Chef Matthew Sullivan, Culinary Director of The Food Dudes, and will take place on September 16 in the Paul D. Fleck Marquee at the Festival Theatre.

From September 22 through 24, the Meighen Forum will host Encountering Ukraine: Readings in Solidarity. Join Ukrainian-Canadian artist and activist Andrew Kushnir for readings of plays in translation, which represent some of the best of Ukraine’s theatre and showcase how artists help define and defend the culture of a people. One of the featured works is Cassandra: A Dramatic Poem by Lesya Ukrainka, translated by Nina Murray which will be read at Lazaridis Hall in the Tom Patterson Theatre on September 22. In Cassandra: A Dramatic Poem, Lesya Ukrainka spotlights the Trojan War and offers a play about fighting for the truth, even when no one believes you. Series curator Andrew Kushnir will lead a dialogue with guests on how Ukraine has been historically impacted by cultural imperialism in Stepping Out of the Shadow: Ukraine Known on its Own Terms (September 23).

The Meighen Forum also includes favourites such as Lobby Talks, Monday Night Music, workshops and tours, which continue through September.

Celebrated Speakers

The Real Wrinkle in Time: Adam Gopnik with Lee Smolin

Lazaridis Hall, Tom Patterson Theatre

Friday, September 8

10:30 a.m. – noon

Award-winning theoretical physicist and cosmology expert, Professor Lee Smolin from the Perimeter Institute joins Adam Gopnik to discuss quantum theories, the concept of time and everything in between.

A Thousand Small Sanities: Adam Gopnik with Rosalie Abella

Lazaridis Hall, Tom Patterson Theatre

Sunday, September 10

10:30 a.m. – noon

The incomparable, incredible and inspiring retired Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella sits down with Adam Gopnik to discuss his new book, A Thousand Small Sanities: the Moral Adventure of Liberalism.

Scholars and Experts Week

September 15 to 17

Explore the 2023 playbill alongside scholars and experts, each bringing their insight and experience to the Meighen Forum.

Events include:

 • Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the First Folio

Lazaridis Hall, Tom Patterson Theatre

Friday, September 15

10:30 a.m. – noon

2023 marks the 400th anniversary of the First Folio of Shakespeare. Without this achievement, we would have lost half of his dramatic work. University of Oxford’s Professor of Shakespeare Studies and one of the world’s foremost experts on the Folio, Emma Smith, joins artist and scholar, Dean Gabourie and others as they discuss the origins of one of the great wonders of the literary world.

 • Bestowing Knowledge: The Role of Elders

Lazaridis Hall, Tom Patterson Theatre

Saturday, September 16

10:30 a.m. – noon

Through a connection to the past, Elders perform a vital role in cross-generational learning. In this very special conversation, Algoma University Chancellor and Survivor Shirley Horn and President and Vice-Chancellor Asima C. Vezina discuss the unique and vital role that Elders play in educating the next generation of leaders, passing on knowledge that can only be obtained through life experience and their inspiring work in the field at Algoma University.

 • Franken-Dine Molecular Gastronomy

Festival Marquee

Saturday, September 16

5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Join us for a gravity-defying, mind-boggling gastronomical adventure that is sure to astonish your mind. Art and Food Historian Janet Dawson speaks to Mary Shelley's inspirations and the beauty and artistry of food.

Prepared by Chef Matthew Sullivan with The Food Dudes.

This series of exclusive meals will take you on a journey of the senses, complete with informative speakers, incredible entertainment and an exquisite atmosphere. We've partnered with some of the nation's most celebrated chefs to present a distinctively theatrical culinary experience.

Tickets are $165 and include dinner and drink pairings.

Ticket purchases for this dinner must be made by September 11, 2023.

 • Searching for Wisdom: Learning vs. Living

Lazaridis Hall, Tom Patterson Theatre

Sunday, September 17

10:30 a.m. – noon

"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool” (As You Like It).

What is wisdom and how is it valued? Join President and Vice-Chancellor of Algoma University Asima C. Vezina and Anita Abraham, Director Experiential Learning at Toronto Metropolitan University as they discuss the new trend of “Experientia Learning” programs and their place in postsecondary institutions. Find out how these new programs and ways of learning can be used in the rapidly evolving world of academia.

 • Shakespeare’s First Folio

Lazaridis Hall, Tom Patterson Theatre

Sunday, September 17

2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Playing Shakespeare’s First Folio: A practical guide for the actor from original practice to living thought. Building on the work of theatre scholar Neil Freeman and theatre director Patrick Tucker, this session, led by artist and scholar Dean Gabourie, will investigate Shakespeare's First Folio to examine the clues it offers as to how to play the text.

 • Encountering Ukraine: Readings in Solidarity

September 22 to 24

War. Witness. Heroic resistance. From the early 20th century to today, Ukrainian playwrights have epitomized their fellow compatriots' distinct grit, humour and imagination through challenging and troubling times. Curated by Ukrainian-Canadian artist and activist Andrew Kushnir, this reading series of plays-in-translation represents some of the best of Ukraine's theatre and showcases how artists help define and defend the culture of a people. Funded (in part) by the Shevchenko Foundation, Ukrainian Canadian Veterans Fund.

Events include:

 • Cassandra: A Dramatic Poem by Lesya Ukrainka, translated by Nina Murray

Lazaridis Hall, Tom Patterson Theatre

Friday, September 22

8–10 p.m.

Among Ukraine’s greatest literary figures and feminist activists, Ukrainka at the age of 13 chose the penname “Ukrainian Woman”. In Cassandra, she spotlights one of the more marginal characters of the Trojan War and offers us a remarkably timely play about fighting for the truth, even when no one believes you.

 • Stepping Out of the Shadow: Ukraine Known on Its Own Terms

Lazaridis Hall, Tom Patterson Theatre

Saturday, September 23

10:30 a.m. – noon

Series curator Andrew Kushnir will lead a dialogue with guests on how Ukraine has been historically impacted by cultural imperialism, how artists have been critical to Ukraine’s fight for independence and freedom, and what solidarity can look like on the cultural front of this war.

 • Sonata Pathétique by Mykola Kulish, translated by George S.N. Luckyj and Moira Luckyj

Lazaridis Hall, Tom Patterson Theatre

Saturday, September 23

2–5 p.m.

Set in the chaos between Easter 1917 and Easter 1919, Kulish’s sweeping and satirical take on love and revolution is considered by many to be the finest Ukrainian drama of the 20th century. In what may be a first in Western theatre, the play’s dramaturgy carefully mirrors a piece of classical music: Beethoven’s much-loved “Piano Sonata No 8.”

 • Bad Roads by Natal’ya Vorozhbit, translated by Sasha Dugsdale

Lazaridis Hall, Tom Patterson Theatre

Saturday, September 23

8–10 p.m.

An often darkly comic, unsparing and ever-surprising portrait of how women fight to sustain their humanity in times of war, Bad Roads is a seminal work from one of Ukraine’s most brilliant contemporary playwrights. Vorozhbit’s own film adaptation of the play was Ukraine’s submission to the Academy Awards in 2021.

 • Witnessing War: Ukrainian plays since February 2022

Lazaridis Hall, Tom Patterson Theatre

Sunday, September 24

2–5 p.m.

The war in Ukraine has been called the most reported upon war of all time and Ukrainian playwrights have been prolific contributors. This closing event features an assemblage of short works written since the full scale invasion of February 2022 – Ukraine’s leading dramatists reaching out to us, as they make sense of a world shattered and reformed. This event features readings of the following:

A Dictionary of Emotions in a Time of War by Olena Astaseva, translated by John Freedman

What is War? by Andrii Bondarenko, translated by John Freedman with Natalia Bratus

24 Hours by Nina Zakhozhenko, translated by Iana Gudzenko, ed. by Paulien Geerlings. Final edit by John Freedman.

Robinson by Vitaly Chensky, translated by John Freedman

Three Rendezvous by Natalka Vorozhbyt, translated by John Freedman with Natalia Bratus.

Three Attempts To Improve Daily Life by Maksym Kurochkin, translated by John Freedman with Natalia Bratus

Planting an Apple Tree by Irina Garets, translated by John Freedman with Natalia Bratus.