Stratford

"Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come."

-- Caesar in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

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Returned yesterday from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. I have gone to the Festival three times before, on trips sponsored by my college's theatre department. The three of us--Zach, Heidi, me--met up at Zach's house in Michigan before making the three-hour drive into Canada.

I always love seeing refined professional theatre, and have even enjoyed the less impacting shows I've caught at Stratford. Counting this last visit, I think I've seen a total of nineteen shows there, and most have been innovative, immediate, and worthwhile. (Exceptions include Bedford's Lear and this year's Macbeth, both of which received unearned standing O's from the audiences I saw.)

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We saw (in this order): Julius Caesar (very good, my favorite Shakespeare from the trip), Three Sisters, Macbeth, and Zastrozzi. Of these, the most surprising and enjoyable was Zastrozzi, Canadian playwright George F. Walker's adaptation of Percy Bysshe Shelley's novel. Zastrozzi is about a criminal mastermind who seeks revenge on an idiot-artist at no expense. Along the way, Zastrozzi manipulates his thug and his seducer girlfriend, lures a restrained virgin, swordfights with a lapsed priest-turned-bodyguard, and finally, serves his revenge. At once a response to Hamlet and a very cunning tweak on melodrama, this production gets high marks from me for impressive theatrical storytelling and some kickass swordfighting.

I hate to skip over the other shows, but if you are a fan of the Festival, the other three will deliver much of what you've come to expect. Colm Feore as Macbeth was a personal disappointment for me, as I enjoyed his Coriolanus and Don Juan a few years ago, and at the risk of sounding obtuse, the production itself was full of sound and fury while signifying nothing. (Plasma TVs, a machine gun truck with a dead mannequin at the wheel, and kitchy effects really hurt the show, which already has a reputation for being "notoriously difficult to stage effectively.")

Three Sisters is a masterful rendition with solid acting. I've seen only a few other professional and classical theatres attempt Chekhov, and the Stratford ensemble succeeds where those faltered. For instance, whereas other groups have resorted to unrealistic asides to the audience and heavy-handed use of distractions, the Stratford actors were able to set aside their classical postures and give a proper, realistic, unforced treatment of the old Russian play. It's good.

As is Julius Caesar. The first act is stellar and the build is tragically good. The Cassius and Brutus scenes rocked, but what really sells the show is the Antony, played by Jonathan Goad. Antony's oration at Caesar's funeral...well, it blew me away.

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As far as the in-betweens of the trip, the meals and the walks and the pictures, it was fun, relaxing and affordable. We were able to get "play on/play" tickets for three of the four shows for under $30 each (unthinkable, as some of these seats normally sell for over $100). We stayed at the nurse's residence hall, where we had stayed in the past, a nice and cheap spot for travelers who don't want to spend all of their money on lodging. In the lobby, it also has the most comfortable couches in the world.

Pictures will appear on Facebook soon enough. My fourth trip to Stratford was a success. I already wish I could go back.