Beloved Stratford Festival actor and artistic director dies

Marti Maraden seen in an undated photo. (Submitted/Stratford Festival)

The Stratford Festival is mourning the loss of Marti Maraden, a 78-year-old artistic director, actor and director.

Stratford Festival staff said she died on Thursday while visiting family in Sweden and suddenly falling ill.

Maraden joined the festival in 1974 as an actor. She later moved back to the United States after the 1979 season. She worked in New York and then began to teach and direct before returning to Canada.

In 2006 she was appointed co-artistic director of the Stratford Festival and went on to direct many different shows.

Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino described Maraden as a “much-loved member of Canadian theatre.”

“Her contributions as an actor, director and artistic director will be remembered with great appreciation and affection. She was a valued colleague and I’m deeply grateful to her for our work together. My thoughts are with her family and many friends who will miss her dearly,” Cimolino said in a news release from the Stratford Festival.

The Stratford Festival said they plan to dedicate one of the 2024 Shakespeare productions to her memory with plans for a memorial at a later date.