Offstage, onstage: inside the Stratford Festival [Widescreen

This documentary presents an inside look at one of Canada’s largest and most well-known theatre companies, Stratford, at work during its 2001 Festival season. Founded by Tom Patterson in 1953, this classical repertory theatre company presents more than a dozen plays each season, from Shakespeare to modern classics to new works and provides employment for not just aspiring actors and directors, but designers, technicians, backstage hands and other staff. Through interviews with the Artistic Director, Richard Monette, Stage Manager, Louise Currie, directors Scott Wentworth, Diana Leblanc, Props Master Frank Holte and actors Rami Posner, Douglas Campbell, William Hutt, Martha Henry, Lucy Peacock and others, the viewer is witness to the inner sanctum of live theatre performance and the important role each has to play to bring the written word to life. Provides a fascinating look at props, set design, costume design, stage design, make-up, actors in preparation, rehearsals, and excerpts from some of the performances including “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, “Merchant of Venice” and “Inherit the Wind”. Suitable for secondary and tertiary levels.