Shaw Mag - Summer

MAGAZINE FOR FRIENDS AND PARTNERS SPRING 2024

Cover: Kristi Frank and Tom Rooney in My Fair Lady.

Shaw Magazine is a publication for the Friends and Partners of the Shaw Festival.

Editorial Committee: Tim Carroll, Tim Jennings, Kimberley Rampersad, Marion Rawson

Artistic Director: Tim Carroll

Executive Director: Tim Jennings

Associate Artistic Director: Kimberley Rampersad

My Fair Lady sponsored by

My Fair Lady Hotel Sponsor Festival Theatre Season supported by Mary E. Hill David Adams with the Ensemble in My Fair Lady

Marion Rawson

TENT TALKS

FOUR ACTORS, INVOLVED IN PROGRAMMING FOR THE SPIEGELTENT THIS YEAR, SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES WITH THIS SPACE IN 2023, AND WHAT’S IN STORE FOR 2024. LOOKS LIKE WE CAN EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED ONCE AGAIN!

TRAVIS SEETOO

Last year I was in the Spiegeltent in The Game of Love and Chance. I loved it. I loved how close we were to the audience and could bring them into the story so easily. The tent is so gorgeous, everyone who comes in is transported to a different time and place. It puts you in the mood to have a great experience, different from anything else you are going to see at The Shaw. It’s moody and atmospheric.

The show I am writing for the Spiegeltent in 2024 is called The Roll of Shaw. It was an educational game I created for my Master’s thesis, a way to help people learn about literary figures through game-based learning. It was so fun to play, and it also turned out to be really fun to watch. So, I invited TC to come see a playtest I was doing with the University of Toronto and pitched it for the 2024 Season as sort of a fun improvised romp through some of Bernard Shaw’s greatest hits. He said yes, and we knew that it would fit in the Spiegeltent, which is a space where audiences are really down for something unique, offbeat and unconventional. I’m running workshops of the show now and having a great time. It combines my love of Shaw, improv and elements of games and chance. I think the audiences who come to see it are going to be delighted.

I’m also co-writing The Shaw Variety Show, which is really fun – a lot of writing jokes and writing music at the moment.

I’ll also be performing by myself before some shows in the courtyard, playing an assortment of 1920’s songs on my banjo in a little show I’m calling "Travis Seetoo and His Big Brass Band." I’ll be playing a lot of Cole Porter, which I love. TC asked me to come up with a little pre-show concert music on my guitar, but I opted to play on my banjo because it is a little more unexpected and different. I’m always trying new instruments for shows at The Shaw, like when I learned the Irish Bazouki for The Game of Love and Chance, so it made sense to do some music on a different instrument.

I love the Spiegeltent. It is like my home now.

SHAWN WRIGHT

I wasn’t part of the first season in the Spiegeltent, but I was an audience member, and I was completely intoxicated and thrilled by the possibility of what would go on. It’s going to be the same for audiences this year. You will feel that something’s going to be festive, but you won’t know what’s going to happen – and everything is going to happen.

I’m most looking forward to seeing actors who have been confined by different genres, different costumes, different dialects, etc., being completely abandoned in personality. We are letting the actors be themselves. It is like something we have at the Shaw Festival that’s only for company members, that we’ve been doing for decades. It’s called “Saturday Night at the George”, and it happens in the Royal George Theatre after the curtain comes down on select Saturday evenings. It’s Shaw actors doing our own variety shows for each other, and they are hilarious: actors showing their individual, charming talents that don’t fit into any of the plays. That’s what we are bringing to the Spiegeltent with The Shaw Variety Show. It’s going to feel like you’ve had the best night with your chums at a pub. It’ll be, I would say, chaos but with a certain slickness to it – controlled chaos.

For example, one thing that I did have to learn back in the day was how to eat fire. I’m scared that someone might ask me to try that again. Will I do it again? Well, you’ll just have to come and see.

COSETTE DEROME

Last year I did make it to the Spiegeltent to watch The Game of Love and Chance , which was the improv show, and it was phenomenal. There isn’t that separation that you have in a larger or more traditional theatre space. The actors were right there, up in your face, walking around among the tables and the booths, and I loved it. As an audience member, it really felt like you were sharing this secret, beautiful experience with the actors.

There’s just something about the energy in the Spiegeltent that is just a little bit spooky and a little bit magic. It feels so much more grassroots and it’s intimate. I am so excited to be a part of it in the 2024 Season.

I’m also excited to do the kind of show that we’re putting together for the tent. The Shaw Variety Show is not a strictly structured show, but it’s not an improvised play in the way that The Game of Love and Chance was . It’s a variety show. We’re going to have some acts. We’re going to have some sketches. It’s going to change night to night, making it a pretty exciting, dynamic experience for the audience.

Every night we will have a new guest come in and we’re going to put them on the hot seat and have some fun with them. I don’t want to say it’s going to be a raunchy night, but from the sounds of things, it’s not necessarily going to be a PG evening. You know, the drinks will be flowing.

And that, I feel, is part of the nature of the Spiegeltent –it’s a little on the sly. It’s a little sneaky, but it’s also just a lot of silliness and fun. But really, who knows? Who knows what it’s going to be?

KRISTOPHER BOWMAN

I’ve got some stuff to tell you about the Spiegeltent. First, for the record, I love the Spiegeltent. From the outside, it looks so unassuming, and you think, “This will be a fun, quaint little theatre thing”. And then you walk in, and it’s this mirrored and stained-glass magic place that feels like it doubles in size. As soon as you walk in, you’re transported.

For an actor, it does so much of the heavy lifting for you. The space is so magnificent and draws such diverse emotions from the audience. There is no likelihood of someone walking into that space and thinking, “Oh, this reminds me of…” because it is unique unto itself. At least that was my experience.

I loved performing The Game of Love and Chance in it last year. It was hilarious and that space lends itself to that. The mirrors amplify the smiles, and you find yourself among a crowd of happy people. And so, when we were behaving ridiculously – such as when the delightful Deb Hay was jumping on me, like a spider monkey, or when Jenny Wright poured an entire pitcher of water on herself during the show because she was playing a mermaid – it was that space that allowed for something that preposterous, incredible, and surreal to happen. To me, it’s a really cool little container for lunacy. That’s why I love it.

What’s to come in 2024? Just so much more fun, and the opportunity to exploit and encourage all the amazing talents that our ensemble and our staff and our community have available. Conversely, it may also be very scary because it’s a live wire. We’re encouraging people to do things that they’ve never tried before. The potential for failure is great. When I say failure, I mean the highlight reel is going to be ten out of ten. And, with any luck, the blooper reel is also going to be ten out of ten. I have every intention of trying some new things that I’ve never tried before.

It will be entertaining, no doubt.

Previous page: Spiegeltent (2023). Photos by Michael Cooper.

This spread, top left: Kristopher Bowman in The Game of Love and Chance (2023). Bottom left: Travis Seetoo in The Game of Love and Chance (2023)

Right: Spiegeltent (2023).

Production Sponsor

The Shaw Variety Show Production Sponsor Kabarett

James F. Brown

The Secrets of The Secret Garden

BY TINA SCHMIDT

Though The Secret Garden was not part of my childhood library or VHS collection, and I had not attended the Broadway musical as a tot, I do know that it was beloved by many. Which was why I was curious to speak with authors Paul Sportelli and Jay Turvey, and to hear all about their new adaptation of this classic tale.

“We took a research trip to York, where The Secret Garden takes place, and came back inspired and prepared to start writing.”

TS: First, why The Secret Garden?

PS: I get together regularly with TC [Tim Carroll] and Kimberley [Rampersad], and Kate [Hennig] before that, to give musicals a read and listen. I’ll have the scripts ready, cast recordings cued up, so we experience it together. At the end we talk about what we think and if it is something we might be interested in doing at The Shaw. Years ago, I presented the Broadway musical The Secret Garden and at the end TC said, “I like it, I don’t love it. I wish we could do our own version with pre-existing folk music”.

And I thought, “We probably won’t be doing The Secret Garden”.

A year and a half later TC suggested we consider it again. We went through the whole exercise of listening and reading again and at the end he said, “I like it, I don’t love it. I wish we could do our own version with pre-existing folk music,” and I reminded him that he had said exactly the same thing a year and a half earlier!

Jay and I threw our hat in the ring a few days later, because we thought it would be an exciting piece to adapt. We took a research trip to York, where The Secret Garden takes place, and came back inspired and prepared to start writing. Then COVID hit – a circumstance which actually afforded us a lot of time to come up with a first draft. We have been working on it – on and off – since.

JT: I remember being backstage during Holiday Inn [2019] working on it in the dressing room, but not really knowing what the future would hold. We came at it pretty fiercely in early 2020 because, at the time, it was slotted for 2021. Then everything got pushed. I’m grateful for that extra time to sit with it, revisit it and do several informal readings to come up with what we have for this season.

PS: During COVID we were all trying to find things to do with our time. If it had been a normal season, we would have had to carve out bits of time around rehearsals or on our days off to write. We did an informal reading in our backyard in 2020 and put it away for probably close to a year. Sometimes there is nothing better than being away from something you’ve written because you come back with fresh eyes. In summer 2022 we did a workshop for TC and Kimberley. At that point, it looked likely it would happen in 2024, and we went into high gear.

One thing that impacted our story was the opportunity to be outside and experience nature in a different way during COVID. So many of us felt lucky to be in such a beautiful part of the world where we could get out for hikes and walks. Nature plays a huge role in The Secret Garden, and I think in terms of OUR Secret Garden we were definitely influenced by those times when we were spending so much time outdoors during COVID. That whole notion of our relationship to nature, listening to and taking care of nature, where we find ourselves in the world with the climate crisis … there are lots of things that speak to us in The Secret Garden, but I’d say that’s one of the strongest.

JT: Absolutely. I think a lot of people would say that nature was a saving grace and it’s something you can take for granted until you realize that getting out into nature is what makes the difference between being a happy person mentally and physically or just feeling incredibly distressed. I was so grateful for those walks on The Commons and by the Niagara River. That feeling definitely made its way into The Secret Garden

TS: There have been many adaptations of The Secret Garden, did you look at other adaptations or did you steer clear of that?

PS: I would say we steered clear until we had a really solid first draft and sense of how we wanted to tell the story. The book by Frances Hodgson Burnett was our primary source material and we used that as our guide and let that inspire us.

TS: How do you feel about working with existing music versus writing your own?

JT: I loved it. Obviously, it’s a different experience, and writing from scratch is very exciting, but this was a great curating

exercise. It was so much fun to go through the script and find the places where the music would fit. There are some wonderful online resources for folk music, and you can just go down the rabbit hole.

PS: It’s a lot more like writing from scratch than you would think. Music functions in this play in a way that is very like a musical. The songs must be right for the character and the moment. It was exciting to come upon a song and think, for example, “That would be a great song for Martha on her weekly walk to see her mother”. You begin constructing things using the same muscles that you would use as a musical theatre writer. Once you choose the portion of the song you’re going to use, you still need to arrange it – and not only a vocal arrangement – we will have a five-piece band playing live for the show.

JT: The other thing I would add is that because many of these songs have been passed down through oral tradition, they haven’t been written down necessarily, so there are many different lyric versions. We were able to compare and really hone in on what the ideal lyric for each character in each case would be. There was a lot of researching, but it was fun detective work.

There are lots of folk songs that people know very well, but we didn’t want to always go with the obvious choice. There is some really lovely music that we’ve uncovered that I don’t think the general public has heard.

TS: Since this is not a musical, but a play with music, what role would you say music plays in the story?

PS: To use music of the time and place helps to situate you; in a way it becomes another design element that helps the audience enter into the world of the play.

“There is some really lovely music that we’ve uncovered that I don’t think the general public has heard.”

Paul Sportelli

Jay Turvey

“Practically every song has a fascinating origin story because it was part of an oral tradition.”

that might have a large number of children in the audience, and I think that is going to be fascinating. I remember we were still writing this and sitting in Prince Caspian behind a family and the children were just so full of wonder and I thought how exciting that is going to be.

TS: Is there a specific message you aim to convey with the work?

Beyond that, music was such an important part of people’s lives in this period. Not that it isn’t now, but it tends to be what we’re listening to on our smartphones. Back then it was more of a shared experience and there was a real enjoyment of singing together, which you still see in pubs in the UK. When we were in York we went to several pubs where they were singing folk songs, and you just know how important these songs are to them.

JT: It’s that sense of history that they have and that oral tradition. I like that the characters are part of a real, working-class tradition that integrated music into their lives.

PS: Practically every song has a fascinating origin story because it was part of an oral tradition, not that it was written by this person at this time with these lyrics and

that’s the end of it. It was very interesting to trace the different versions from different places to see what suited us best. There were many times we’d be looking through them and we’d hit on a variation on the lyric and think, “That’s perfect for Dickon.”

TS: As we at The Shaw are trying to create human connections, that oral tradition and the history of folk music bringing people together to sing really speaks to that. It’s very cool.

JT: It’s a very communal feeling, I hope that we are able to create that with our play.

TS: What are you excited for the audience to experience?

JT: I don’t think I’ve ever written something

PS: We’re not message-oriented, but if our Secret Garden makes people think about the climate crisis and needing to work with nature, then for me that’s a wonderful thing. We just want to animate the audience so that they’re open to that kind of feeling.

If you are nostalgic for a part of your childhood or a lover of nature, if your toe starts tapping to the sound of an upbeat folk tune or if you just love a family friendly production from a seat in the Royal George, we hope to see you in the audience for our new adaption of The Secret Garden this season!

A Cohort of Creativity and Collaboration

By Heather Sargeson-Callara

“The Baillie Cohort is not only an investment in The Shaw’s future, but in the future health of Canadian and American theatre.”

– Kimberley Rampersad, Associate Artistic Director

This season, the Shaw Festival welcomes the second-ever Baillie Cohort to our acting Ensemble. Established in 2023, thanks to long-time Festival supporters Marilyn and Charles Baillie, this program provides young actors with a unique opportunity to expand their knowledge and skillset through various classes, workshops and understudy roles in the spaces that occur between learning lines, rehearsing and performing.

I asked these eight young artists –Deborah Castrilli, Rais Clarke-Mendes, Cosette Derome, Gryphyn Karimloo, Graeme Kitagawa, Ryann Myers, Taurian Teelucksingh and Lindsay Wu – what sorts of classes and workshops they will be participating in and what they hope to gain from this incredible experience.

Deborah: This is my second season at The Shaw, so I am coming fresh off all the new insight and work ethic that my first full repertory season provided. I look forward to having more individual training and scene work with Artistic Director Tim Carroll this season and getting to work

with a range of Ensemble members who have a wealth of knowledge to share.

Rais: I feel so grateful that the Shaw Festival is invested in my education and development as an artist. I’m excited to make use of all the resources available to me so that when I finish the season, I can say that I gave it all I’ve got. I hope to refine my skills in text analysis, rhetoric and argumentative language so my Shaw monologues will come from a place of ease. I also look forward to witnessing the work of my fellow cohort members, whom I’m already so inspired by!

Cosette: I’ve been working as a performer for over a decade now, but this is my first season with The Shaw. In addition to performing, we will all be given magic potions that will transmogrify us into Tom Rooney. Either that or we will have classes, coaching and mentoring – all of which will help us become stronger, more fine-tuned versions of our own weird and wonderful selves.

Gryphyn: I joined the Shaw Festival late last season as an understudy in

A Christmas Carol . This season, as part of the Baillie Cohort, I can spend time sharpening my tools outside of rehearsals and then implement those tools in my work. Working at The Shaw is already an incredible environment for growth, and being a part of the cohort will provide all of us with even more opportunities for development.

Graeme: It’s about pushing myself to become a better, more versatile artist with excellent training and guidance from exceptional teachers and mentors – an opportunity to improve and hone my craft through classes led by members of the Company, all of which will help me take the next steps in my career.

Ryann: This feels like a real chance to surpass my own expectations as a performer. It’s about growth and taking risks, making mistakes and growing from them…and then making even more mistakes! Most of my time will be spent training and perfecting my craft through classes at The Shaw. I also want to shadow and eventually teach some classes.

Deborah Castrilli: appearing in The House That Will Not Stand and Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Human Heart

Rais Clarke-Mendes: appearing in The House That Will Not Stand and Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Human Heart; understudy for Witness for the Prosecution.

Cosette Derome: appearing in Snow in Midsummer and The Shaw Variety Show

Gryphyn Karimloo: appearing in Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady and The Secret Garden

Taurian: I always dreamed of walking these halls and rehearsal spaces, and now this is my third consecutive season here, which is very exciting and a huge “pinch me” moment. In addition to the three productions I’m acting in, I also understudy three tracks for shows I’m not in and will be taking several classes in voice, Alexander, movement and dance. The Baillie Cohort is an opportunity to further embrace life-long learning – a commitment to myself and to my peers to maintain safe spaces that foster bold choices, wrong answers and instant forgiveness.

Lindsay: I’ll get to learn from some incredible artists this season. I look forward to expanding my vocabulary in the world of Shaw and gaining a deeper understanding of the craft of acting. When I’m not rehearsing, taking classes or performing, I’ll be playing LOTS of tennis in Niagara-on-the-Lake!

Gryphyn: I look forward to exploring all The Shaw has to offer – watching familiar faces on stage, working with, and

learning, from artists of all backgrounds and experiences and collaborating with the group to push ourselves to become better than we were yesterday.

Cosette: It means a lot that there are people in this organization who believe in me, see my potential, and are willing to invest the time and effort to help me realize that potential. I feel very, very honoured to be a part of this cohort and am excited to train with and work alongside so many brilliant minds.

Ryann: I hope to gain adaptability, confidence, a stronger voice, and a better understanding of how to approach heightened text. I’m very grateful for this opportunity of continued growth and learning from teachers I admire, and am looking forward to watching everyone – me included – grow over the next few months.

Deborah: I hope the training will help me achieve new heights in speech and voice work. I also look forward to the inevitable artistic discoveries that will emerge

through this process and building them into the personal intricacies that make me unique as a performer.

Taurian: I’m really looking forward to being pushed out of my comfort zone as an actor. I’m hoping to gain further understanding of the specifics of text through punctuation and embodiment and developing additional tools to have the text serve me as an actor.

Graeme: I want to increase my comfortability with text, which I know will also improve my skills as a dancer and singer. I always strive to be the best artist I can be and I’m looking forward to working with – and learning from – many talented individuals over the course of the season.

Rais: I want to be an expansive, inquisitive, self-assured artist, always striving for excellence.

Graeme Kitagawa: appearing in Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady, Kabarett, Cotton Club and Footlights; understudy for One Man, Two Guvnors & The Secret Garden

Ryann Myers: appearing in The House That Will Not Stand and Witness for the Prosecution

Taurian Teelucksingh: appearing in Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady, Kabarett, and Footlights; understudy for Witness for the Prosecution, The Secret Garden and One Man, Two Guvnors

Lindsay Wu: appearing in Snow in Midsummer and The Orphan of Chao

Baillie Cohort Sponsored by Baillie Family Fund for Education

The Art of Ideas

Challenge your beliefs. Engage with our art.

JUNE

6

ART & NATURE

Join Shaw designer Judith Bowden and Arctic researcher and conservationist Dr Peter Ewins as they show the inspiration that art takes from nature, speak about The Secret Garden, and address the pressing need to conserve our environment.

JULY

7

REIMAGINING CLASSICS

Join director Philip Akin and University of Toronto Professor of Dramatic Arts Dr Lawrence Switzky as they explore this season’s plays, including thought-provoking analysis of The House That Will Not Stand, One Man, Two Guvnors and others.

AUGUST

2

BALDWIN VS BUCKLEY

On the 100th anniversary of the birth of James Baldwin, The Shaw re-enacts the historic 1965 debate between playwright James Baldwin and prosegregationist William F. Buckley on race and the American Dream. A no-holds-barred verbal boxing match of radical thinkers of mid-20th century America. The motion being, “The American Dream is at the cost of the American Negro”.

“This is an opportunity for us to immerse ourselves in another place and time; to witness two great orators verbally joust with one another.”

—Kimberley Rampersad, Associate Artistic Director

SEPTEMBER

28

ART AND MEDICINE

Join Executive Director of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Dr Glen Bandiera, Shaw Festival Movement Director Alexis Milligan, Cardiologist Dr Penelope Rampersad and Artistic Director Tim Carroll in this panel discussion about the inextricable connection between art, artists and medicine.

The Art of Ideas sponsored by Humeniuk Foundation

Julia Course backstage (Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit , 2023). Backstage Tour of the Festival Theatre.

A Legacy of Giving

REMEMBERING SUZANNE GOUVERNET (1940 – 2023)

BY CHARLIE OWENS

Last September, dozens of cultural organizations from Niagara-onthe-Lake to Manhattan mourned the passing of a much beloved arts advocate and philanthropist, Suzanne d’Autremont Gouvernet.

Elegant and soft-spoken, with a keen eye for style, Suzanne was a passionate lover of dance and opera, music and theatre, fine art and fashion, literature and film – and all things French. She had been a continuous supporter of The Shaw since 1989, which she discovered just a few years after she and her late husband, Gérard, moved to Rochester.

It was always a special treat for me to encounter Suzanne at a performance, as I did many times during my long career in Rochester and more recently in Niagara-on-the-Lake. In the Governors Council tent at intermission or at lunch the next day,

she was always eager to share her astutely perceptive comments or debate the subtler points of acting, directing and design with her theatre-going companions.

One of my favorite memories of Suzanne dates to the summer of 2021, our first chance to meet following the long pandemic shutdown. After catching up over salades Niçoise and a crisp rosé at her favorite bistro, we drove together to a gallery opening and garden tour in the leafy suburb of Pittsford, NY. Stopping to take a deep breath of the fragrant and humid August air, she said, “You know, this moment reminds me of Henry James when he wrote, ‘Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.’” She rarely missed an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the moment.

Suzanne frequently attended and generously supported organizations as wide-ranging as the Metropolitan Opera and the Glimmerglass Festival. In the Rochester-Finger Lakes region, her name was synonymous with philanthropic support of Geva Theatre, Garth Fagan Dance, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, George Eastman Museum, Eastman Opera and WXXI Public Media, among many others. Over the past decade, she took great pride in introducing others to the magic of grand opera through Finger Lakes Opera, of which she had been a founding board member, principal supporter, and tireless champion since its inception in 2012.

Not only did Suzanne support the arts during her lifetime, but she also worked hard to ensure their preservation for future generations. Her long history of giving to The Shaw’s U.S. Foundation* and many other organizations will continue through a legacy fund she established at the Rochester Area Community Foundation.

Simeon Bannister, the Community Foundation’s President and CEO, remarked “Suzanne Gouvernet’s unwavering dedication as a generous benefactor and an ardent champion for the arts will continue to echo throughout future generations, leaving an indelible mark on the artistic community for years to come. We are honored to continue stewarding Suzanne’s commitment to the Shaw Festival through the Gouvernet Legacy Fund at Rochester Area Community Foundation, ensuring her lasting legacy endures in perpetuity.”

Charitable gifts to community foundations can be a wonderful way for donors to leave a permanent legacy, ensuring their values will be sustained for the long term and knowing that their contributed dollars will be responsibly stewarded and wisely invested in the foundation’s endowment. A small percentage of the proceeds are distributed each year in keeping with the donors’ wishes, while the bulk of the funds continue to grow for the future. This method also makes it easy for donors and their families, as the foundations expertly handle the legal requirements, investment decisions and gift administration.

In a 2023 Community Foundation video addressing the question, “Why is it important to support the arts?”, Suzanne Gouvernet talked about her fervent belief in the many ways that the arts enrich a community and “feed the mind and the soul.”

Growing up in New York City, where the arts were always part of her life, she learned firsthand the value of exposing children to the arts “so they grow up wanting that to be part of their lives.” With a note of caution, she added, “But we have to support them, because if we don’t support them, they will go away.”

Suzanne wrapped up her video remarks with a knowing smile and the characteristic panache that neatly summed up her life’s work: “J’aime les arts.”

There’s a Community Foundation Near You!

There are more than 750 community foundations in the United States – including highly respected ones in The Shaw’s core markets – and another 190 across Canada. Here are just a few and where to find them online:

Rochester Area Community Foundation - racf.org

Community Foundation for Greater Bu alo – cfgb.org

The Cleveland Foundation – clevelandfoundation.org

The Pittsburgh Foundation – pittsburghfoundation.org

• Niagara Community Foundation –niagaracommunityfoundation.org

• Toronto Foundation – torontofoundation.ca

Working with a community foundation ensures your legacy leaves a lasting imprint on your community, amplifying the reach and longevity of your support. The foundation protects and grows the endowment, allowing for future generations to continue to benefit from your gift, while also having the local expertise and flexibility to respond to society’s ever-changing needs.

Mary Hartstein, Director of Donor Engagement and Impact, Rochester Area Community Foundation

At the Niagara Community Foundation (NCF), we pride ourselves on connecting donors to causes and communities to resources. One of the ways we accomplish this is working with generous individuals, families and businesses in our community to help them realize their philanthropic goals and dreams. By making allowances in your estate plan of ANY amount, you can make a significant di erence giving to the charitable organizations of your choice – like the Shaw Festival – benefiting the causes you care about, while still supporting those you love. Simply put, you can do both! NCF is here to help donors give a charitable gift that will not only make an impact on the community today but will leave a legacy in Niagara for generations to come.

Bryan Rose, Executive Director, Niagara Community Foundation

*Gifts to the Shaw Festival in U.S. dollars are received through the Shaw Festival Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity based in Bu alo, New York. IRS ID 22-2809351. Gifts in Canadian dollars are received by the Shaw Festival Theatre, Canada. Charitable No. 11914 7882 RR0001.

To help plan for your Legacy Gift or for more information, contact Kimberley White, Associate Director, Individual Giving: 289-783-1924 or 1-800-657-1106 ext 2397

kwhite@shawfest.com

In case you missed it

Tim Carroll and Kimberley Rampersad are heading across the Pond!

Earlier this year, Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans announced their inaugural season as co-artistic directors of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratfordupon-Avon, England, and Tim Carroll and Kimberley Rampersad were part of that announcement. They will each direct a play as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2024-2025 Season.

“We are thrilled to offer a warm welcome to our newest Governors Council members. Thank you!”

Tim Carroll directs Othello, one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies with Jon Douglas Thompson in the title role, Will Keen as Iago and Juliet Rylance as Desdemona, at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Kimberley Rampersad will make her UK debut directing and choreographing a new version of the classic fairy tale The Red Shoes, by Nancy Harris, at the Swan Theatre.

Check out the RSC website for further details: rsc.org.uk

→ As of May 1, 2024

Mrs Amanda Binnie

Donald & Susan Bourgeois

Chris Brown & Catherine

Philbrook

Robin Cardozo & Jeff Richardson

Greg Case

Mr & Mrs Bill Crothers

James & Mary Frances Derby

Naomi Gordon

A. Gorodezky & S. Curtis

Jan & Kathy Goulding

C.S. Greiner

Marcia & Michael Grimes F. Gruehl

Diana & Stewart Hall

Judith & David Hecker

Mr Paul Jensen & Ms Julie Harrington

Ms Dawn Joki

Sylvia Kennedy

Peter & Elke Kluge Family Foundation

Susan & Rebekah Little

Laura Mason

Robert McClure

Ross & Fran McElroy

Robert McGavin & Kerry Adams

Andrea & Endre Tibor Mecs

Alex & Abby Moore

Ms Nancy Murray

Charles H. Owens*

Ms Judith Callender & Dr

Thomas Pekar

Peter & Paraskeve Petrakis

Mr Paul Rogers

Marti & Bob Sachs

Mrs Carolyn Sibbick

Bob & Linda Sommerville

Dr Graham Spanier

AJ & Nancy Stokes

David Sutherland, in loving memory of Susan Sutherland

Maureen Simpson & Almos Tassonyi

Ms Karen Tribble

June & David Weind

Donald Ziraldo+

4 anonymous gifts

Tim Carroll, Artistic Director

Tim Jennings, Executive Director

Remembering Nona

"Nona was the very definition of what Bernard Shaw called The Life Force. The fire inside her burned so bright; she was determined to extract every last drop of fun, laughter, bliss and love from each moment."

By Kimberley White

The Shaw Festival has lost a dear friend, Nona Macdonald Heaslip. A fierce advocate for the arts across Canada, Nona shared our belief that the world is a better place with live theatre. Her loyal support over the years came from her personally and through the William and Nona Heaslip Foundation — a foundation she created with her late husband, Bill. Many of you have wandered through or enjoyed a drink in the Macdonald Heaslip Lounge in the Studio lobby, to gather and talk about the play you’ve just attended.

Artistic Director Tim Carroll muses, “Nona was the very definition of what Bernard Shaw called The Life Force. The fire inside her burned so bright; she was determined to extract every last drop of fun, laughter, bliss and love from each moment. She was wonderfully naughty, and an outrageous flirt — right to the end. What an example she set us all.”

Though Nona sponsored many productions over the years at The Shaw, a standout for her was the delightful comic romp, Me and My Girl. One of our fondest memories was singing “The Lambeth Walk” with the cast at a party she hosted in town.

Executive Director Tim Jennings remembers Nona as a oneof-a-kind, powerhouse of a human being: “The kind of person you referred to with the understanding that if you said ‘Nona’ — everyone knew exactly which one, of all the Nonas, you were talking about. She loved theatre and art, and her perspectives were lovely, insightful and often got right to the heart of matter. She was our North Star — always there, always shining, and the world has dimmed without her in it.”

Every season, Nona would travel to The Shaw and see as many plays as she could, including the production she sponsored. I can still hear her say, “Dear Heart — what have you got planned for me?”

We shall miss you Nona…

Martin Happer, Nona Macdonald Heaslip and Graeme Somerville at an Opening Night Celebration.

The Shaw and Niagara: Explore it all

JUNE

Friends

Friends Post-Show Chats

Various Wednesdays | Through October

Wednesday after select Festival Theatre matinees (except those marked P or OC). Please check the website for dates. Post-show chats begin approx. 10 minutes after the show.

Free | For all Friends, Governors Council and Corporate Partners

Backstage Tours

Various Dates & Times | Through December

Peek behind the stage curtain! An hour-long guided tour of the Festival Theatre.

$10; $5 with a ticket to a performance

Tuesday Q & A

Tuesday Evenings | Post-Show, through October

An informal question-and-answer session with actors following Tuesday evening performances (except Previews & Openings), in all three theatres.

Free

Continue the Conversation

Multiple Dates | Post-Show, through October

Following Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday matinees and all performances of The Orphan of Chao (except Previews and Openings). Join fellow patrons for engaging guided discussion. See calendar online for dates and times.

Free

Sponsored by Riverview Cellars Estate Winery

The Shaw Guild Garden Tour

June 15 | 10am-3pm |

A self-guided tour of beautiful gardens throughout Niagara-on-the-Lake.

$35

Father’s Day Ploughman’s Lunch

June 16 | 10:30am-12:30pm | Spiegeltent

Celebrate Dad with a pint and a hearty ploughman’s lunch on Father’s Day, in the spectacular Spiegeltent. Add on the workshop to make a boutonniere to wear during lunch, and enjoy One Man, Two Guvnors as a family. Ploughman’s lunch $85 + Workshop $10. Show ticket extra.

Artistry by the Lake

June 29-July 1 | 10am-6pm

Come see a variety of artists showcasing their work. A juried show presented by the Niagaraon-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce set in picturesque Queen's Royal Park.

Free | niagaraonthelake.com

JULY

Celebrate Canada Day

July 1

For more information, visit Friendsoffortgeorge.ca or 905-468-6621

Pop-up Patio

Thursdays in July | 4:30pm

Food! Refreshments! Live Music! Thursdays in July following matinee performances at the Festival and Studio Theatres. Open to all, no theatre ticket required.

Food & beverages available ($)

Governors Council

Onstage Rehearsal

July 6 | Royal George Theatre

Experience an onstage rehearsal for Candida. Free | For Governors Council and above

Footlights

July 6 | 8pm | Spiegeltent

Songs from the Golden Age of Broadway.

$30

Friends

Onstage Rehearsal

July 16 | Festival Theatre

Experience an onstage rehearsal for Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Human Heart

Free | For all Friends, Governors Council and Corporate Partners

Alexis Gordon and Kyle Blair (Fall Concert Series 2020). Photo by Peter Andrew Lusztyk.

The Doherty-Rand Legacy Circle

Onstage Rehearsal

July 16 | Spiegeltent

Experience an onstage rehearsal for Cotton Club

Free | For all members of The Doherty-Rand Legacy Circle

Shaw Symposium

July 19-21

Revel in the works of Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries with thought-provoking scholarly presentations curated by the International Shaw Society and sessions with Shaw creatives. Includes reception, picnic lunch and parking.

$175 for non-members | $100 for Students

Gospel Choir

July 21 | 10:30am | Spiegeltent

Big, beautiful uplifting vocals to take your breath away! In the Festival gardens, enjoy this euphoric and inspirational musical experience performed by the glorious voices in our Company.

$20

Speakeasy

July 27 | 8pm | Spiegeltent

An evening of jazz music featuring members of the Shaw Orchestra and special guests.

$20

Sponsored by Critelli's Fine Furniture, Spirit in Niagara — Small Batch Distillers.

Coffee Concert

July 28 | 10:30am | Spiegeltent

Classical music concert performed by members of the Shaw Festival Orchestra.

$10

What’s in your Songbook?

July 30 | 8pm | Spiegeltent

An intimate evening of songs and stories. Hosted by Ryan DeSouza, Associate Music Director, Company members sing songs from their audition songbooks and talk about all things musical theatre, from what inspires their song choices to stories from the audition and rehearsal rooms.

$20

AUGUST

Pop-up Patio

Thursdays in August | 4:30pm

Food! Refreshments! Live Music! Thursdays in August following matinee performances at the Festival and Studio Theatres.

Open to all, no theatre ticket required. Food & beverages available ($)

Governors Council

Onstage Rehearsal

August 1 | Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre

Experience an onstage rehearsal of Snow in Midsummer.

Free | For Governors Council and above

Shaw Seminar

August 1-4

Four days, seven plays and engaging sessions with Shaw professionals, writers and scholars. Includes two lunches, Cabernet Cabaret, guest speakers and parking.

$400

Baldwin vs. Buckley The Art of Ideas

August 2 | 8pm | Court House

On the 100th anniversary of the birth of James Baldwin, The Shaw re-enacts the historic 1965 debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley on race and the American Dream. A no-holds-barred verbal boxing match of radical thinkers. Limited seating.

$100

Sponsored by Humeniuk Foundation

Footlights

August 3 | 8pm | Spiegeltent

Songs from the Golden Age of Broadway

$30

Shaw Acting Camp

August 12-23 | Mon-Fri 9am-4pm

Make new friends and create a play! Kids 11-14 will have a great time strengthening their acting skills. Classes held at Carousel Players Arts Education Centre, St. Catharines. Includes a performance of Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Human Heart.

$475 | Register with Carousel Players carouselplayers.com | 905-682-8326 ext 27

Monologue Derby for Teens

August 14-18 | 10am-4pm

Opportunity for young actors to work with Shaw professionals, engage in mentorship, training and performance. Participants will perform on the Shaw Festival stage.

$200 | 1-800-657-1106 ext 2265

What’s in your Songbook?

August 23 | 8pm | Spiegeltent

An intimate evening of songs and stories. Hosted by Ryan DeSouza, Associate Music Director, Company members sing songs from their audition songbooks and talk about all things musical theatre, from what inspires their song choices to stories from the audition and rehearsal rooms.

$20

Footlights

August 24 | 8pm | Spiegeltent

Songs from the Golden Age of Broadway

$30

Gospel Choir

August 25 | 10:30am | Spiegeltent

Big, beautiful uplifting vocals to take your breath away! In the Festival gardens, enjoy this euphoric and inspirational musical experience performed by the glorious voices in our Company.

$20

Speakeasy

August 31 | 8pm | Spiegeltent

An evening of jazz music featuring members of the Shaw Orchestra and special guests.

$20

Sponsored by Critelli's Fine Furniture, Spirit in Niagara — Small Batch Distillers.

SEPTEMBER

What’s in your Songbook?

September 12 | 8pm | Spiegeltent

An intimate evening of songs and stories. Hosted by Ryan DeSouza, Associate Music Director, Company members sing songs from their audition songbooks and talk about all things musical theatre, from what inspires their song choices to stories from the audition and rehearsal rooms.

$20

Plan your visit to The Shaw and Niagara: shawfest.com/plan-your-visit/ or niagaraonthelake.com

To book Shaw events: call 1-800-511-7429

Governors Council call 1-800-657-1106 ext 2208

David Adams Matt Alfano David Alan Anderson Damien Atkins Tat Austrie Kristopher Bowman

Alana Bridgewater Fiona Byrne Shane Carty

Deborah Castrilli Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster Rais Clarke-Mendes

Nehassaiu deGannes Cosette Derome Peter Fernandes Sharry Flett

Kristi Frank Sochi Fried

Patrick Galligan JJ Gerber Élodie Gillett Martin Happer Manami Hara Patty Jamieson

Claire Jullien Gryphyn Karimloo Graeme Kitagawa Andrew Lawrie Eponine Lee Richard Lee

Lawrence Libor Allan Louis Michael Man Tama Martin Allison McCaughey Marla McLean

André Morin Cheryl Mullings Ryann Myers John Ng

Ruthie Nkut Monica Parks

Drew Plummer Ric Reid Jade Repeta Tom Rooney Kiera Sangster Travis Seetoo

Donna Soares 陸明慧 Graeme Somerville

Johnathan Sousa Jeremiah Sparks Gabriella Sundar Singh Sanjay Talwar

Jonathan Tan Taurian Teelucksingh

Jacqueline Thair Sophia Walker Kelly Wong Shawn Wright

Lindsay Wu

Christopher Newton Interns.

Embedded Artists.

Marilyn and Charles Baillie

Baillie Family Fund for

Roe Green

Baillie Cohort. Supported by

Photo