Rolling out the red carpet for Stratford Festival’s 2025 season opener

The red carpet has been rolled out at the Stratford Festival! CTV’s Will Aiello has more from opening night.

From plucky young orphans, to a Scottish tragedy and women taking centre stage in the Trojan War, the Stratford Festival is gearing up for another big season.

The beloved theatre company in Stratford, Ont. rolled out the red carpet on Monday night for their official 2025 season opener.

Previews for the festival’s latest slate of shows started a month ago, with fans flocking to the Avon Theatre to get a glimpse of ‘Anne of Green Gables.’

The captivating story is just one of this season’s offerings featuring strong girls and women.

The 2025 roster also features the musical ‘Annie’ and plays by Shakespeare, including ‘As You Like It,’ ‘Macbeth’ and ‘The Winter’s Tale.’

Fans of the classics can look forward to ‘Sense and Sensibility,’ based on Jane Austen’s novel, and ‘Dangerous Liaisons,’ based on ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ by Choderlos de Laclos.

Meanwhile, the Trojan War will be told from a new perspective. Writer Erin Shields explores the tale through the eyes of women and girls in ‘Ransacking Troy.’

The 2025 season comes after the Stratford Festival reported a financial shortfall of around $1.1 million last season.

Last season’s shows included musicals ‘Something Rotten’ and ‘La Cage aux Folles,’ alongside Shakespeare plays ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ ‘Twelfth Night’ and ‘Cymbeline,’ as well as ‘Hedda Gabler’ and ‘Wendy and Peter Pan.’

Stars walk the red carpet

CTV News Kitchener’s Will Aiello was on the scene as Stratford Festival stars hit the red carpet for the big event.

The cast of ‘Annie’ serenaded their fans as two of their four-legged co-stars stood at attention.

“I really like bringing the character of Annie to life because she’s so optimistic,” Harper Rae Asch, the actor who plays the titular role, said. “I think the show as a whole send a really powerful message to the audience that the sun will come out tomorrow.”

The cast of ‘Macbeth’ made an unusual entrance, rolling in to the roar of motorcycles.

“It’s been a fantastic experience,” Emilio Vieira, who plays Lennox in the show, said. “Robert Lepage – incredible director, visionary, Canadian. We both had the great privilege of working with him in the past on ‘Coriolanus’ in 2018,” he said.

“Three out of four stages are thrust stages, so its an experience that you really can’t get anywhere [else],” Macbeth’s Assistant Director André Sills said when asked what makes Stratford Festival unique. “Its confrontational in a sense where people can come and really be a part of the experience.”

A thrust stage is designed to jut out into the audience, leaving performers surrounded on three sides and allowing theatre-goers to be closer to the action happening on the stage.

“I think with Macbeth we have an opportunity to show a spectacle with this stage here at the Festival and the [Tom] Patterson [Theatre] where the audience is part of the experience, living and breathing with it,” Sills added.

Vieira promised audiences coming to see Macbeth will be treated to murder, mischief, mayhem and motorcycles.

The stars of ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ also came out to shine.

“Our show’s a riot, it’s silly, [there’s] some crass humour – it’s a good time,” Liam Tobin, who plays Freddy, said. “We’re all having a great time tonight. It’s a great magical night out here tonight.”

The cast of ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ popped the traditional champagne to mark the occasion.