A storm at sea brings love into the life of Prince Pericles; another snatches it away. The Stratford Festival's magical production of Shakespeare's epic tale follows a fairy-tale hero on a miraculous journey to one of drama's most poignant reunions. "Moving from beginning to end," it's a story rarely told and one you won't soon forget.
When Helena (Jessica B. Hill) cures the King of France (Ben Carlson) of an ailment that has confounded every other doctor, he grants her lifetime wish: the hand in marriage of the aristocratic courtier Bertram (Jordin Hall). However, Bertram proves a reluctant husband and immediately heads off to war, leaving Helena with a seemingly impossible riddle to solve in order to secure their marriage.
Reason and judgement prove no match for the tsunami of mutual passion engulfing Mark Antony, one of the three joint rulers of the Roman republic, and Cleopatra, the seductive queen of Egypt. Surrendering everything to their desires, they open the floodgates to a civil conflict that will shake the very foundations of their world.
See Robert Lepage's breathtaking production that explores the age-old tensions that still tear at the heart of democracy. There's one visual surprise after another in this fast-paced show.
A ghostly visitor with a shocking secret, a daughter devastated by loss, a deadly duel and the most famous question in all of drama: Shakespeare's iconic tragedy will hold you spellbound. Hamlet has been called the greatest play and this Stratford Festival production "the most complete, most fulfilling, most satisfying in decades."
Prince Hamlet (Amaka Umeh)'s father is dead, poisoned by his uncle (Graham Abbey), who has usurped the throne and married Hamlet's mother, the Queen (Maev Beaty). When the dead King's ghost appears, commanding his son to avenge his foul and most unnatural murder, Hamlet is set on a course of action that can only end in the destruction of a dynasty and his own extinction.
War is the inevitable result when the King of France demands that John relinquish his crown in favour of his nephew, the young Prince Arthur. Excommunication, attempted atrocity, rebellion and assassination all contribute to a political and personal turmoil that finds devastating expression in an anguished mother's grief for her son.
An aging monarch resolves to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, with consequences he little expects. His reason shattered in the storm of violent emotion that ensues, with his very life hanging in the balance, Lear loses everything that has defined him as a king - and thereby discovers the essence of his own humanity.
A king and three friends swear off women to devote themselves to their studies just as a princess and three ladies arrive on a diplomatic mission. Shakespeare delivers a touching and funny coming-of-age story with a twist ending, beautifully told in this "vibrant" and "sublime" Stratford Festival production.
Inspired by the prophecies of three witches and encouraged by his ambitious wife, a murderous king claws his way to power. The Stratford Festival's chilling production of Macbeth will haunt your dreams and leave you tingling.
Pursuing two respectably married women at the same time, a would-be seducer fails to anticipate that his targets will, quite literally, compare notes. Nor has he reckoned on the mischievous spirit in which the wives will use their wits and wiles to teach him the error of his ways. Set in the 1950s, in a town not unlike Stratford, Ontario, this production from Canada's renowned Stratford Festival brings Shakespeare's rollicking comedy close to home - and close to our hearts.
Undeterred by the differences in their backgrounds and life experiences, Othello and Desdemona defy prejudice to be united in marriage. But deadly malice lurks where the newlyweds least expect it, as the one man Othello trusts the most resolves to destroy their happiness at any cost. Whispers of suspicion feed irrational jealousy in this gripping psychological drama, one of Shakespeare's greatest and best-known tragedies, produced by the renowned Stratford Festival.
Charismatic, cunning, and utterly ruthless, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Colm Feore), is the very embodiment of lethal ambition as he maneuvers and murders his way to the throne of England. But once he reaches the top, the only way is down, and among Richard's growing roster of vengeful enemies, none are more menacing than the ghosts of his past.
Falling headlong in love, two teenagers defy the long-simmering hatred between their families - but daring to love one's enemy comes with a terrible cost. The famous tragedy of star-crossed lovers has never been more heartbreaking than in this captivating production by the Stratford Festival.
Courtship or conquest? The breakdown of a defiant spirit or a breakthrough that liberates a heart deprived of love? The Stratford Festival production of Shakespeare's boisterous comedy will stir your emotions with the love story of Katherina and Petruchio, the feisty couple at the centre of this fierce and funny battle of wills.
In Shakespeare's great drama of loss and reconciliation, a long-deposed ruler uses magical arts to bring within her power the enemies who robbed her of her throne and marooned her on a remote island. But what revenge does she mean to take?
Timon's compulsive generosity makes him the most popular man in Athens - until his funds run out. Now, embittered by ingratitude, what will he do when his city comes under attack? This stirring production from the Stratford Festival is a heartbreaking masterpiece.