Stratford Festival is preparing to celebrate its 75th season with a new artistic director at the helm and a lineup that features one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, a practically perfect nanny and the Merry Murderesses of the Cook County Jail. Thirteen productions will be staged during the 2027 season. Musical lovers will be treated to Chicago and Mary Poppins while Hamlet, The Taming of the Shew, and The Merchant of Venice will represent the Immortal Bard’s works. Other shows include Present Laughter, Almighty Voice and His Wife, Anne of Green Gables, the Canadian premieres of Wolf Hall (Part 1) and Bring up the Bodies (Part 2) and the world premiere of a new Canadian musical based on Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang. Church’s Inaugural season This is Jonathan Church’s first season as the Stratford Festival’s artistic director following the departure of Antoni Cimolino. “One of the things that drew me to Stratford is the extraordinary range of work that can flourish here,” Church said in a news release. “There are very few theatre companies in the world where Shakespeare, major musicals, family theatre, new Canadian plays and large-scale historical drama can share the same season. That breadth is one of Stratford’s great strengths and it is something I wanted to embrace in my first season as artistic director.” To start the 75th season, Hamlet will open on July 13, the same date as the Stratford Festival’s inaugural performance in 1953. Director Des McAnuff, a former Stratford Festival artistic director himself, has set this adaption in postwar Europe as the Soviet threat grows. Meanwhile, fresh off her stint as the titular character in Mirvish Entertainment’s & Juliet production in Toronto, Vanessa Sears will be stepping into the role of Mary Poppins. Stratford Festival representatives said the show will feature “the most elaborate flying sequences ever staged on the open stage.” U.K. directors Jonathan O’Boyle and Stephen Mear will lead the production. Mear previously won at Olivier Award for his work on the show. He will also serve as choreographer. Shakespeare fans will also have an opportunity to see The Merchant of Venice and then take a deeper dive into the importance of one of its main characters. Stratford Festival is staging a trio of works to spark conversation: The Merchant of Venice, followed by Playing Shylock, and then a new show by Saul Rubinek, All in the Telling, will explore Jewish identity. There will be an opportunity to see all three plays in one day. The 2027 season runs from April 28 until Nov. 28. Tickets go on sale Nov. 15.
