Did you know that just 2 hours from Toronto you can escape from the everyday routine? At the Stratford Festival, you can experience the live performances of classic-famous literary plays. If you don’t have a car, you can get there on a special bus for only 29 CAD, round trip, 2 times per day. Moreover, you can enjoy a beautiful day in the town with a lot of victorian style architecture, Romantic walks around the Avon River, and try the cuisine of the local restaurant in the city.
“Stratford City Hall” Photography by @jen.sever
The area we know today as Stratford was settled in 1832, some years later, in 1859, it was incorporated as a Town, and 17 years after it became a City. Nowadays the city is well known for its culinary selection, art plays, and The Avon River, being this named after the Avon River in England. As I mentioned in the downtown city you will find many examples of Victorian Style architecture, which is nothing but houses and buildings built during the reign of Queen Victoria (1819-1901). To the eye, this kind of architecture looks a bit Gothic influence with the details of the woodwork. Usually, they have bay windows, roof towers, pitched roofs, front porches, and cylindrical turrets.
“Chicago, Stratford bus Festival”. Photography by Raymundo Moreno
The Stratford Festival is also known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival. It is one of a kind, Founded by Tom Patterson in 1952, running every year from April to October presenting each season a new repertoire of well-known plays, from classical literature to vaudeville-style plays. The festival has four permanent theatres: the Festival Theatre, the Avon Theatre, the Tom Patterson Theatre, and the Studio Theatre. You can find tickets from 31 to 224 CAD. And if you are on a budget, On Tuesday and Thursday evenings there are some tickets which you can find at half price. This festival is one of the first art festivals in Canada and still one of the most important in the country, each year it receives about One million visitors from Canada, the USA, and British.
“Chicago in the Festiva Theatre”. Photography by Raymundo Moreno
Some of the most popular plays in the festival by Willian Shakespeare are
All’s Well That Ends Well (1623), which is listed among the comedies. Richard III (1592-1594) is usually considered a Tragedy. While Measure for Measure (1963) is considered a dark comedy. And from comedy – The Taming of the Shrew (1590- 1592.
For this year’s season, the festival will be presenting: Hamlet, Chicago, The Miser, Little Women, Richard III, All’s Well That Ends Well, Death and the King’s Horseman, and Every Little Nookie. Do not miss the opportunity to live an experience and run to buy your tickets!
Also you can read: The Tomen Poles in Canada
Raymundo Moreno is a contemporary, multidisciplinary and conceptual artist, who works through dance, performance, painting, sculpture, dance films and writing. He is passionate to talk about social movements and artistic activism. He was born in Puebla, Mexico, earned a degree in dance in the school of arts at the University of the Américas Puebla (UDLAP) in Mexico. He is currently living in Toronto.
