Shaw Festival

Hello theatre creators, educators, scholars and everything in between! I hope you’re having a productive-yet-restful summer.  Ever wonder what it’s like to work at the second-largest theatre company in North America? Well, I am happy to report to you as the 2022 DART Intern at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake,…

Frances Johnson graduated from the Department of Dramatic Arts in 2020 and was about to begin an internship at the Shaw Festival when the Covid-19 pandemic halted live theatrical activity. Her internship in stage management is now happening this spring and early summer, as the Shaw Festival continues to navigate pandem…

In their final post, our team of embedders at the Shaw Festival discuss their experience sitting in on a technical rehearsal and watching the world of The Horse and His Boy come vividly to life. Shannon Fletcher, Matt Lazaris-Brunner, Alexandra Chubaty Boychuk, and Danielle Woodcock write, Well, readers, we have follow…

The embedders return to the Shaw Festival’s The Horse and His Boy for their last rehearsal before they move into the Festival Theatre for technical rehearsals. Shannon Fletcher, Matt Lazaris-Brunner, Alexandra Chubaty Boychuk, and Danielle Woodcock write, It’s an exciting thing, walking into Shaw and being recognized b…

Our Shaw embedders stepped into The Horse and His Boy‘s rehearsal hall for the first time. Shannon Fletcher, Alexandra Chubaty-Boychuk, Matt Lazaris-Brunner, and Danielle Woodcock write, The Shaw Festival is one of Canada’s most prestigious theatre companies. The four of us have all seen shows at Shaw before, and now w…

The second production we have students embedding is The Horse and His Boy at The Shaw Festival. Their first order of business was to meet the director, Christine Brubaker. Alexandra Chubaty Boychuk, Shannon Fletcher, Matthew Lazaris-Brunner, and Danielle Woodcock write, Photo by Peter Andrew Lusztyk. Design by KeyGordo…

In October, the DARTcritics class of 2017/18 saw the Shaw Festival’s production of Alan Bennett’s 1994 historical dramedy The Madness of George III. Cue an impassioned discussion about madness and metatheatricality:  Colin Williams writes, As I enter the auditorium of the Royal George Theatre, I am immediately whisked…

On August 6th we (Caroline and Sarah), had the pleasure of interviewing four astounding actresses at the Shaw Festival: Natasha Mumba, Marla McLean, Fiona Byrne, and Jennifer Phipps. Between them they represent a spectrum of experiences and generations, from Natasha, who is in her first Shaw season, to Jennifer, who pe…

A haunting opening number asks us to “Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd,” and attend it we did, with pleasure. The Shaw Festival’s production of Sweeney Todd, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler, and directed by Jackie Maxwell, transforms the Festival Theatre into the gritty underbelly of Lond…

Imagine if you will, racism, colonialism, sexism, imperialism…and any other “ism” you could possibly imagine being tackled in just one short hour. I give you the world premiere of The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God, which presents controversial subject matter with brutal honesty and more than a litt…