The Stratford Festival of Canada said Monday that it was putting its entire 2020 summer season of theater “on hold,” which meant a cancellation or postponement of all planned shows. There is some vestige of hope for special programming this fall or during the holiday season.
“This is devastating for the Festival and for the city of Stratford,” said Antoni Cimolino, the Festival’s artistic director. Among the cancellations is a dedication of the newly restored Tom Patterson Theatre. Those festivities now will take a place at a future date.
One of Canada’s most important cultural institutions, the 67-year-old festival is a massive economic engine for its region of Southern Ontario, responsible for at least $135 million (in Canadian dollars) in economic activity. It supports numerous hotels, bed and breakfasts, restaurants and retail outlets in its bucolic home town, not to mention 150 actors and scores of other artistic staffers who rely on the theater for months of steady employment.
The announcement impacts 15 major theatrical productions in four theaters, including “Much Ado About Nothing,” the musical “Chicago,” “Hamlet” and “The Miser” in the Festival Theatre.
Prior to Monday’s announcement, Stratford had only canceled programming in May. But like other summer operations, it faced deadlines to make final decisions on hiring, rehearsing and whether or not to sell tickets. The largest comparable theater in the United States, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, also has cancelled its summer season, along with many smaller seasonal operations.
Stratford also relies heavily on U.S. audiences from cities like Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland. In August, the Chicago Tribune had planned a special weekend of events and programming for its readers at the festival, events that will now be postponed.
Since March 21, the borders between the United States and Canada have been closed to non-essential travelers. Any reopening date has yet to be announced.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
