Antoni Cimolino
iPhoto caption: Headshot of Antoni Cimolino. Photo by Ted Belton.
“You want to choose things that feel important to the moment,” he says about building a Stratford Festival season. “If you choose plays and they don’t resonate, it’s very hurtful. You believe in them and the power of them.”
iPhoto caption: The company of 'The Comedy of Errors.' Photo by JVL Photography.
“It’s got to be my favourite [Shakespeare play] at this point,” says Abbey. “I don't understand why it's so rarely done. It’s listed as a ‘problem play,’ and I see that, but I have had such beautiful experiences with it throughout my life… I think it has the ability to unite audience and cast in a deeply human event.”
iPhoto caption: Philip Myers as Mamillius (left) and Lucy Peacock as Time in 'The Winter's Tale.' Photo by David Hou.
Stratford Festival reviews: The Winter’s Tale and Anne of Green Gables
A winter story told by a melancholy child and a fanatical Lucy Maud Montgomery book club help frame the final two productions in the Stratford Festival’s 2025 opening week.
iPhoto caption: Members of the company in 'Annie.' Photo by David Hou.
Stratford Festival reviews: Macbeth, As You Like It, Annie, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
While the four productions I reviewed spanned different genres and styles, the presence of household-name director-designer Robert Lepage led me to reflect more broadly on the craft of directing, and how the demands of specific shows shift what’s entailed in that intense, wide-reaching job.