Our Stratford

Backstage Masterpiece, Slings and Arrows and Stratford

2007-07-04T10:20:00.000-05:00

by Ed Siegel, The Phoenix

INSPIRED: You don’t need to know a thing about King Lear to be moved by William Hutt’s performance as cancer-stricken actor Charles Kingsman (here with Sarah Polley as Cordelia).

As much as I adored The Sopranos, I have to wonder about the rush to anoint it the best television series ever. In fact, I don’t think it was even the best series to leave the air this past season. Those honors go to another show in which the members of a dysfunctional extended family bedded and betrayed one another at every turn while we waited — breathlessly — to see whether a central character would get whacked.

We’re talking Shakespeare, but have no fear. This is Will of the 21st-century world, not of the 16th and 17th. Some people have said that if Shakespeare were alive today, he’d be writing for television. I don’t know about that, but I’m willing to bet he’d love every minute of Slings & Arrows, the hilarious and hip series about a Shakespearean troupe in Canada that bears more than a passing resemblance to the real one in Stratford, Ontario.

The producers of the series, which aired on the Sundance Channel in the US, said they were interested in doing only three years, and true to their word, they finished up this past season — the final six episodes will join the previous two years on DVD shelves this Tuesday (Acorn Media). And whereas other great series in their last bow have gone for the mighty final gesture — Seinfeld and St. Elsewhere, in addition to The Sopranos — Slings & Arrows gracefully glides into an ending so sublime . . .

Unlike David Chase, I’ll finish that thought, but let’s start at the beginning. Oliver Welles — any relation to Orson is probably intentional — is the artistic director of the safely successful New Burbage Theatre Festival. He turns on the TV one day and sees his former protégé, Geoffrey Tenant, chain himself to the doors of his theater rather than let the landlord close it down. This is what theater should be about, thinks Oliver, who goes out and gets soused as he recalls how he lost his artistic vision. As he staggers about, he’s run over and killed by a truck carrying ham.

Funny, huh? Actually, it is. Oliver may be gone, but he’s not forgotten. Geoffrey is brought in at the last minute as the caretaker for the season, which includes Hamlet, the play that brought him fame and drove him to a nervous breakdown that was helped along by Oliver’s seduction of Geoffrey’s girlfriend, Ellen — this notwithstanding Oliver’s decided preference for the male of the species.

Before you can say, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,” Oliver is haunting Geoffrey’s waking hours with a hint of how better to interpret Hamlet here and a bit of spiritus ex machina there, the latter to get rid of a wayward Ophelia. This could all be Edgar-Allan-Poe-meets-Topper if the writing and acting weren’t so extraordinary.

The relationship between Stephen Ouimette’s Oliver and Paul Gross’s Geoffrey is so vivid and charged with envy and black-humored bitterness — with touches of love and respect — that it’s hard even to entertain the notion that Oliver is a manifestation of Geoffrey’s dottiness. The rest of the New Burbagers think Geoffrey’s lost it as they overhear him talking to the ghost — which, of course, they can’t see. When he challenges the wonderfully loopy postmodern director, Darren Nichols, to a duel, there’s not much doubt left about Geoffrey’s sanity.

What makes Slings & Arrows more than an inspired comedy, however, is the way the Shakespearean similarities are played for more than laughs. Engrossing analyses of the scripts are scattered throughout each episode, particularly when Geoffrey or Oliver is explicating a scene. To that woeful Ophelia, who thinks that her character’s little songs are just gibberish, Geoffrey pleads: “Ophelia is a child. . . . Her father is murdered by her boyfriend and he is suddenly shipped off to England. She is alone for the first time, grieving and heartbroken and guilty, because as far as she’s concerned, it’s all her fault. She ignored her brother’s advice and fell in love with Hamlet and now her father is dead, all because of her. And the pain and the loss and the shame and the guilt — all of this — is gnawing away at this little child’s mind and it comes out as little songs: ‘And will he not come again? And will he not come again? No, no, he is dead.’ My father’s dead and I killed him.”

Along with the compassion comes such perfectly timed scorn for the actress’s lack of understanding that you don’t know whether to laugh or cry. But Gross and Ouimette are only the beginning of the talent here. Mark McKinney (Kids in the Hall) and Susan Coyne — two of the writers, along with Bob Martin and Sean Reycraft — play Richard Smith-Jones, the festival’s business manager, and his administrative assistant with boundless degrees of exasperation. Don McKellar’s Darren Nichols is the pretentious postmodern auteur who keeps coming back for a licking each season. Martha Burns is slyly sexy as Ellen, Geoffrey’s former (and potentially future) lover — as well as Gertrude, Lady Macbeth, and Regan at the festival. Rachel McAdams takes over as Ophelia in the first season and then goes off to Hollywood (more art imitating life) at the beginning of Season 2; Sarah Polley (the director of Away from Her) is Cordelia in Season 3. Two of the more delightful characters are Graham Harley and Michael Polley (Sarah’s sire), who begin each show in the after-show pub singing irreverent music-hall send-ups of the Shakespeare shows being performed.

Although the story lines echo Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear, they’re hardly slaves to them. Season 2’s most outrageous moments come when Richard decides the festival needs rebranding and goes off to an ultrahip advertising agency led by the Nehru-jacketed Sanjay (Colm Feore); he, without telling Richard, puts up posters trashing both the festival and its patrons, who are pictured as being on life-support. There are also secondary story lines that have to do with what’s happening on the smaller stage — a beautifully rendered Romeo and Juliet that captures the play’s eroticism even as the postmodern director tries to undermine the emotion.

Even if you think the Bard’s a bore, this series is great television. The more you know about Shakespeare and the theater, the more you’ll get out of Slings & Arrows, but you don’t need to know a thing about King Lear to be moved by William Hutt’s performance as Charles Kingsman, who’s determined to play Lear before his cancer kills him. (Hutt, a legendary Lear at Stratford, was himself dying of leukemia; he passed away last week.) Neither do you have to know anything about Rent to appreciate the delicious satire of that musical in the second stage’s production of East Hastings.

Yes, the second stage gets handed over to a musical. And that’s another of the show’s biting subtexts — the contemporary clashes between art and commerce, the performing arts and the popular arts, smartening up and dumbing down, elitism and populism.

Which brings us back to the third-season ending. In those final images, we’re reminded that live performance and great art are transformative, even if there’s just one person in the audience. It’s a message that 99 percent of theatrical experiences fail to deliver — but that one in 100 keeps us coming back for more. Leave it to this one-in-a-million TV show to make the same case.

The Queen and Albert Bed and Breakfast in Stratford, Ontario, Canada

2007-06-21T16:34:00.000-05:00

www.queenandalbert.com

Its time for a little shamelss self promotion because I can and I will promote my paying gig. First let me make it clear, we are the coolest B&B in Stratford, if not all of Ontario. So if you are looking for teddy bears and dolilies, a dusty rose colour scheme, I will gladly assist you to get another B&B in Stratford. If you are into the arts, The Queen and Albert is for you. You will feel relaxed as soon as you check-in. The breakfast is a creative treat everyday and our knowledge of the food scene in Stratford is second to none.

We are conveniently located a five minute walk up the street from the Stratford Festival Theatre and a ten minute walk to downtown Stratford. The Queen & Albert has the best elements of a B&B and a hotel combined. This combination provides our guests with a unique service. Our reputation as being one of Stratford's best bed and breakfasts is based on professional and friendly service. We have four well appointed suites with large en suite bathrooms (bathtub/showers), central air, cable T.V., seating areas, desks, wireless internet access, fridges and of course comfortable beds.

www.queenandalbert.com

Andrew Watson

"We live in paradise" Food in Stratford

2007-06-06T12:51:00.001-05:00

Succulent Stratford
Wed, June 6, 2007
Eat, drink and be merry is more than a theatrical line for Stratford's fine cuisine emporiums.
By KATHY RUMLESKI
London Free Press

STRATFORD -- This city is a festival for the senses.

Long renowned for its theatre, this Perth County community also attracts international attention for its cuisine.

Hoping to promote it even more, the Stratford Tourism Alliance has recently launched its Sensuous Stratford website.

The site highlights all that Stratford has to offer in the way of palate pleasures.

"People know Stratford for the Stratford Festival . . . But in addition to that, there's a whole sensuality about a visit to Stratford that includes the food scene," says alliance marketing coordinator Cathy Rehberg.

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Restauranteur Eleanor Kane says Stratford "is becoming somewhat of a culinary capital in Canada."

Its chocolate is world-renowned, with orders coming from across North America, Europe and Australia. There are more gourmet chocolate shops, per capita, in Stratford than anywhere else in Ontario.

Great tea, great coffee, to-die-for desserts, these also are highlights of a trip to Stratford.

There are more than 100 restaurants in town and at this time of year, they're pretty much all hopping.

Last Monday was opening night of the Stratford Festival's 55th season, a time when some dining establishments prime for the theatre season.

The Old Prune on Albert St., Kane's restaurant, is one of them. Celebrating its 30th year, it works in tandem with the festival to make its patrons' trips to Stratford memorable.

"We consider our job as setting the stage . . . (for) people that want to combine a lovely meal with a great experience on the stages," Kane says.

That cuisine is prepared by seven chefs, some of whom have gone through the Stratford Chefs School, founded by Kane 25 years ago.

It is the only chef school in Canada operated by working restaurant professionals.

Guest instructors who have enhanced the experience for students include international chefs Riccardo Camanini, Paul Bertolli and Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

The Old Prune's chef de cuisine, Bryan Steele, spent time with Vongerichten at JoJo in New York.

Some of Kane's guests have told her they're not sure what is the biggest draw -- the restaurants or the theatre.

The Old Prune dining area includes a courtyard where patrons can eat their dessert -- Tasting of Rhubarb is particularly noted -- or mingle near the bubbling pond. The centrepiece is a century-old Manitoba maple tree that is magnificently stately.

The architecturally exquisite Church Restaurant, which was a church until 1975, remains the place to go if you have time for only one dining experience in Stratford.

Its reputation has drawn such stars as Christopher Plummer, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward and Bill Hutt.

Plummer prefers a seat in the upstairs Belfry, which has a stunning view of the main section of the restaurant with its stained glass windows, hues of brown, orange and yellow and old-time organ pipes.

Plummer is known to sit at a table with his back against the wall so nobody can approach him from behind.

Owner Mark Craft started his career at the restaurant as bus boy and purchased it in 1988.

He says he hires the best people to work at The Church.

That includes executive chef Amede Lamarche, one reason the crowds worship the food at The Church, which has been reviewed in newspapers around the globe.

Lamarche puts a lot of effort into his menus, which change every five to six weeks.

"You can't really fall out of favour (or flavour) when you're always changing."

Karen Hartwick believes that your senses awaken when you visit her Tea Leaves Tea Tasting Bar, set in an 1888 home, which also includes a B&B.

With more than 100 high-end teas to choose from, Tea Leaves is a spot to taste and learn and Hartwick is only too happy to share her knowledge as Canada's top tea sommelier.

Trained by some of China's tea masters, Hartwick says tea is as complex as wine.

Hartwick, who grew up in London, offers tasting before purchasing. Some of her teas include Jasmine Dragon Tears, High Mountain Dark Roast and Golden Monkey, which was around 5,000 years ago.

"The tea tasting includes smelling different teas and studying the scent and leaves," she says.

This year in honour of Richard Monette's final season as the festival's artistic director, Hartwick is offering Monette Supreme, a high-quality Earl Gray.

Hartwick is versed in tea's health benefits.

All teas have antioxidants. While green teas have cancer-fighting properties, Hartwick says blacks are beneficial because they fight infections.

Hartwick says her interest in tea started when she was young and would hold "tea parties" with her grandmother after going to the downtown London market and getting scones from a bakery.

"We had such good, nurturing talks, just Grandma and myself. With tea, we can create a ritual for ourselves. That's another thing in our North American society that we're lacking."

Great experiences from her childhood also prompted Kristine Steed to purchase Rheo Thompson Candies five years ago.

In its 38th year, it's the oldest candy company in the city, and known particularly for its fabulous mint smoothies chocolate.

"What I remember (as a child) is the aroma and the mint smoothie. We used to walk to school and go and pick up a smoothie bar and inhale it," Steed recalls.

Mint is still the predominant scent as you walk into the 144 square-metre store.

Rheo Thompson products -- more than 100, including a new bark made with ground Kenyan coffee beans and Heart Smart Bark with cranberries and almonds -- are hand-made on site by 18 staff, 25 in the peak season.

At this time of year, eating outdoors should be encouraged. So grab some chocolate and a double-fisted sandwich from York Street Kitchen -- which will provide you with a perfect picnic lunch and has a takeout window -- find a spot along the Avon river or near the gardens and relax.

Don't forget to smell the flowers in the gardens -- some 80,000 annuals. Stratford was a 2006 Communities in Bloom winner.

"We live in paradise," Susie Palach, owner of the York Street Kitchen, says of Stratford. "We do have it all."

---

STRATFORD INFO

- www.welcometostratford.com

- www.sensuousstratford.com

- www.city.stratford.on.ca

- 1-800-561-7926

ON THE MENU

- The Othello, local goat cheese, roasted sweet red peppers, black olives, lettuce and pesto on sourdough at York Street Kitchen, $6.25

- Grilled squab with a black bean tamale on roasted poblano sauce, includes choice of appetizer, dessert, coffee and petits fours at The Old Prune, $70.50

- Taste of rhubarb: sparkling rhubarb bellini, creamy rhubarb gelato, warm rhubarb crostato at The Old Prune, $12

- Scallop, orange, saffron, licorice off post-modern menu at The Church, $110

- Milk and dark mint smoothies at Rheo Thompson Candies, $14.75

- Flowering tea in wine glass at Tea Leaves Tea Tasting Bar, $9.50

William Ronald Various Images

2007-05-10T11:13:00.000-05:00

A Wonderful Stratford Mural by Donald Lewis

2007-05-08T09:09:00.000-05:00

Click on mural to enlarge

We have found this wonderful Stratford mural in the MacDonald Block of Queen's park in Toronto. It was done by Donald Lewis in 1968. If you have any information about the artwork and the artist himself, please contact us.

Vintage Stratford Slideshow

2007-05-08T07:20:00.000-05:00

Rundles Restaurant

2007-05-05T10:35:00.000-05:00

Rundles Restaurant

Stratford's Park System

2007-05-04T16:01:00.000-05:00

Stratford's Main Park System contains approximately 115 acres of formal parklands and nearly 60 acres of natural area. The formal parkland is bounded immediately to the south by major access routes and a vibrant downtown area and to the north by exquisite residential properties. Two of the city's three theatres; the Shakespearean Theatre and Tom Patterson Theatre are located within the formal park system with the Avon Theatre located in the downtown area. The park system itself is virtually bisected by Lake Victoria and the Avon River system. The combination of land and water lends itself to a wide variety of activities.

These Include:

Hundreds of benches and picnic tables scattered through the system for dining or just plain relaxing

Nearly 16 kilometres of trails accommodating walking, jogging and cycling activities

Lake Victoria stretching for nearly 2 kilometres affords one the opportunity to canoe, paddle boat or take a guided tour on the "Juliet." Or, if you prefer grab a lawn chair come on down to the shores of Lake Victoria and on many summer evenings enjoy the sounds of live jazz on the H.M.S. Razz Ma Jazz as it traverses up and down the lake

Don't forget to visit with our famous Swans. We have over 30 birds both Black Australian and the more widely known White Mute. Many of these birds are on Lake Victoria for the summer season and we are usually lucky enough to have one or two mated pairs hatch young every summer for your added enjoyment

A variety of sports activities can be enjoyed whether passively or actively including baseball, soccer, lawn bowling or tennis

Art in the Park is a regular feature along Lake Victoria during the summer months and affords one the opportunity to leisurely walk and browse among a variety of artists as they ply their wares

Upper Queen's Park overlooking Lake Victoria is approximately 6 acres in size and has many amenities including playground equipment, washrooms, bandshell and both informal picnic areas; or a formal picnic area which for a small fee can be reserved for family reunions, corporate picnics, gatherings, etc. Groups of 25 up to 200 can be accommodated. A covered pavilion is also available in case of inclement weather.

The parks two band shells provide a backdrop for many concerts given free throughout the summer months by a variety of musicians and musical tastes.

For those interested in horticulture there are literally dozens of annual, perennial and shrub beds to peruse throughout the formal park system. As well, 3 major formal areas: Shakespearean Gardens and Cenotaph/Memorial Gardens at the westerly end of the system, and Confederation Park/Gallery at the easterly end afford a quiet reflective atmosphere where one can certainly relax and enjoy.

If its information you require, the Tourist Information Centre located at the westerly end of the Lake Victoria near Thomas Orr Dam can certainly answer most if not all your inquiries. The Centre is open daily from May to November.

Gallery Stratford at the easterly limits of the main park system, just off Romeo Street and next to Confederation Park is just a short 5 minutes from the Festival Theatre and Upper Queens Park. Many interesting exhibits and programs are available throughout the year. Well worth a visit!

Stratford and District Horticultural Society

2007-05-04T15:58:00.000-05:00

The Society invites you to take a tour of the parks and flower beds, planted and maintained by the Society. A tour map is available through Tourism Stratford.

The tour passes through, or by; the Arthur Meighen gardens at the Festival Theatre, Confederation Park, Millennium Park, Meadowrue Corner Nature Gardens, Birnham Wood Arboretum and the Shakespearean Gardens.

The route shown on the map is three and half miles (6.5 km) long, but may be shortened by half as shown. There are many resting places en route to sit and enjoy the surrounding beauty. Also close by and worth a visit: T.J. Dolan Natural Area - opposite the #5 bed on John Street, maintained by the Community Services Department.

The Stratford and District Horticultural Society was founded in 1878 after the Agriculture Society had created interest by holding a flower show in 1877. From this came the decision by a group of prominent citizens to form a Horticultural Society. It was organized and had its first meeting on February 9, 1878. Today, all societies operate under the umbrella of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food and are affiliated with the Ontario Horticultural Association.

The Board of Directors of interested citizens guides the operation of the local group.

The Society holds a two day Flower and Rose Show in June; a Mixed Flower Show at the May open meeting; and a Flower and Vegetable Show at the September meeting. The Society plants and maintains 4 primarily perennial beds in the Churchill Circle, one near the Train Station, one on John Street at Centre Street and two in front of the Library. As well, there are 5 beds planted with annuals scattered throughout the City.
Members of the craft group are responsible each year for the planting of the 115 City Centre hanging baskets. The latest project is the Catharine East Memorial Garden on John Street, a planting of 5 each of 30 species of native flowering shrubs around a large plaqued rock and having 2 benches where the public may sit and enjoy the area's beauty. There are also some trees planted in memory of past members of the Society in this area.

Iris is Stratford's civic flower. A Memorial Iris Garden on McLagen Drive, bequested by the Rt. Rev. W. T. Corcoran, was planted by members circa 1970. The Lilac Dell, opposite, was originally planted by the Society in 1974.

The Society holds floral design courses and sponsors tours both within Canada, U.S.A. and overseas. A craft group makes and sells cards with pressed flowers and natural materials.

Meetings are held on the last Monday of the month, January through May and September, October and November at the Kiwanis Centre on Lakeside Drive at 8:00 p.m. There are talks and slide shows by knowledgeable people on a variety of horticultural topics, to which everyone is welcome. The annual membership fee covers 4 informative newsletters a year, plus the speakers' remuneration and refreshments at our meetings.

Please support the Society's endeavours to beautify the City by becoming a member and/or making a tax deductible donation to Stratford and District Horticultural Society, Box 21032, Stratford, ON N5A 7V4.

Stratford Railroad History

2007-05-04T15:52:00.000-05:00

Between 1856-1858 railways were built through Stratford, St. Marys and Mitchell in the south part of the county. All become associated with the Grand Trunk Railway, which become the Canadian National Railways in 1922. With two railways at once, Stratford soon becomes a railway hub. In 1871, the Grand Trunk Railway chose Stratford as it new locomotive repair shops location creating an economic boost to the town.

During the 1870s, railways were built through the north part of the county to Milverton, Listowel and Atwood. All became associated with the Grand Trunk Railway, later the Canadian National Railways. The Canadian Pacific Railways began to build in the County. In 1907 the line between Guelph and Goderich was completed cutting through Millbank, Milverton and Monkton, with a spur line to Listowel. However, the CPR’s campaign for a line through Stratford was defeated in a public referendum in 1913 by a majority who were intent on preserving the city’s parks.

By the 1950s, the CNR announced that it would be closing the shops in Stratford. The last part of the CNR locomotive repair shops at Stratford was closed in 1964. This year is symbolic of the change from the old economy of the city (railway and furniture) to the new economy (light automotive and theatre/tourism). Regular train service in the county ceased except on the main line through Stratford and St. Marys. Within twenty years most of the railways were closed to freight traffic as well and subsequently lines were removed.

Stratford City Hall

2007-05-04T15:50:00.000-05:00

Stratford's City Hall building was erected in 1899. It was designed by Toronto architects George King and John Siddall. This building has undergone massive renovation to accommodate modern demands but still maintains its original Victorian style.
Address: #1 Wellington Street Stratford Ontario Canada N5A 2L3

A Brief History of Stratford, Ontario, Canada

2007-05-04T15:46:00.000-05:00

The settlement of Stratford began with the surveying of the Huron Road by the Canada Company in 1828. In December of that year and January of 1829, their agent, William "Tiger" Dunlop, planted his surveyor's stakes around the area that was to become this beautiful city.

The Canada Company had been formed in 1824, when the government of Upper Canada was granted a million acres of land to settle. The district was known as the Huron Tract and included what is now Stratford and most of Perth County.

Stratford, itself, began to take shape in 1832 when Thomas Mercer Jones, a Canada Company director, gave a picture of William Shakespeare to William Sargint, the owner of the Shakespeare Hotel. A stone marks the site of this hotel, near 70 Ontario Street.

Jones gave the village the name of Stratford and the creek, which had been known as Little Thames, was renamed the Avon River.

In 1834 surveyor John MacDonald created the town plan. He placed the geographic centre of town at the point where four townships met, not far from today's Wade's Flower Shop. He then created four main roads radiating from the centre. Three of these roads were named for the Great Lakes to which they lead, Huron, Erie and Ontario.

In 1853 Perth County decided to separate from the Huron district, of which it had always been a part. A condition of separation was that Stratford become the county seat, with a courthouse, jail and registry office. The next year Stratford was incorporated as a village, and in 1859 it became a town.

The year 1856 signaled the arrival of the Grand Trunk Railway and the Buffalo and Lake Huron Line, beginning Stratford's long history as a major rail centre. In 1871 a locomotive repair shop came to town; it was expanded in 1889 and 1906. The Grand Trunk amalgamated with the Buffalo and Lake Huron Railway and in 1923 was taken over by the Canadian National Railway. The CNR was a significant contributor to the town's economy until the closure of the shops in 1964.

Another major economic sector was the furniture industry. In 1886, the year after Stratford was incorporated as a city, George McLagan created jobs in the furniture industry. These positions attracted prospective workers to the area in the early 1890's, a time of economic hardship in other parts of the country.

With corporate success came industrial dispute. In 1933 a general strike, which started with furniture workers and chicken pluckers, became so unruly that the army, along with its tanks, was called in to put a stop to the strike. The strike was a major event in Canadian industrial history and is the subject of playwright James Reaney's play Kingwhistle!

In 1904 the Parks Board was established. It created Upper Queen's Park, a professionally designed horticultural system around the area where the Festival Theatre now stands. Another major accomplishment came between 1905 and 1912, when the Board and citizens dissuaded the Canadian National Railway from laying its tracks along the Avon River.

Stratford's signature swans were introduced to the park system in 1918. And, in 1936, R. Thomas Orr, an original member of the Parks Board, succeeded in having the Shakespearean Gardens created.

It wasn't until 1953 that Tom Patterson, a Stratford-born reporter for Maclean's Magazine, and a group of local supporters opened the Stratford Festival. As the CNR shops closed and the success of the furniture industry waned, the Festival helped make tourism a significant industry for the city. Today Stratford has a diversified economy featuring manufacturing, finance and service-related businesses.

Facinating Facts About Stratford

2002
The Stratford Festival of Canada celebrated its 50th season welcoming 672,924 patrons to 18 plays.This was a record number of playgoers during the 50 seasons. The Avon Theatre realized a complete renewal and The Studio Theatre, a fourth theatre space seating 250 people was added.

1997
Stratford named "Prettiest City in the World" as champion of the Nations in Bloom Award presented in Spain

1997
Act III , a $13 million Festival Theatre renovation project, updates patron services including seating, box office and theatre store.

1993
Canadian Travel & Tourism Industry nominates the Stratford Festival as the Canadian Attraction/Event of the year . Population reaches 28,200 with an economy based on theatre and automotive industries.

1991
Tom Patterson Theatre dedicated. (formerly the Third Stage.)

1985
$3 million dollar addition to Festival Theatre allows production facilities to be housed in one of North America's largest backstage areas.

1982
150th anniversary of the founding of settlement.

1957
Stratford Festival moves into a new permanent structure .

1953
Stratford Festival opens in a tent , founded by Stratford journalist, Tom Patterson.
CNR announces its closure.

1935
Shakespearean Gardens open.

1918
First swans given to the city by a Michigan CNR employee.

1904
Parks Board founded , eventually servicing 850 acres of city parkland.

1901
The 1250 seat "Theatre Albert" is built (now the Avon Theatre).

1882-1889
Stratford reaches a population of 9000, designated a city. Present jailhouse and courthouse are built .

1856
Stratford becomes a railway town with the coming of the Grand Trunk and Buffalo-Lake Huron railways .

1854
Stratford is established as a village .

1849
First weekly newspaper, 'Perth County News' is established.

1832-1834
'Shakespeare Hotel' opens as Stratford is officially named . First sawmill & gristmill are built.

1827
Stratford is surveyed as a site for the Canada Company .

The Night William Shatner Substituted for Christopher Plummer

2007-05-03T16:44:00.000-05:00

WILLIAM SHATNER ON THE NIGHT HE SUBSTITUTED FOR CHRIS PLUMMER: "And none of that daunted me. A man is dying on our right. [Referring to interviewer Ramin Fathie.] It never occurred to me that I would fail. It never occurred to me that I wouldn't remember a word. It never occurred to me to be fearful. And so I went on. And the thought as later expressed was: 'The muse was on me.' I was blessed. I was in some kind of other dimension."

From Stratford to Vimy

2007-04-30T05:54:00.000-05:00

Allward’s rock of ages

By Paul Cluff Staff reporter

(The Stratford Beacon Herald - Tuesday April 10th 2007)

Walter Allward’s last assignment before being commissioned to design a memorial for the ages at Vimy Ridge was in Stratford.

The Toronto-born sculptor designed the First World War memorial that now rests in the cenotaph on Veterans Way, then departed overseas and laboured for 14 years on the Vimy Ridge Memorial in France.

It’s a connection local historians are proud of because it bonds Stratford with one of the most important military battles in Canadian history.

Former Stratford-Perth Archives director Lutzen Riedstra said the city’s chamber of commerce decided it wanted the best sculptor in Canada and was willing to pay for it. “He was Canada’s best sculptor and in true Stratford fashion, we went after the best,” said Mr. Riedstra.

It was 1919, and the people of Stratford and the three surrounding townships gave $25,000 to one of the finest memorials in the country.

The soldiers’ memorial committee decided on a site at the intersection of Erie and Ontario streets.

It took Mr. Allward some time. He finished the first portion but then became depressed by the experience and the relevance to war.

The monument was about the stresses of war, the tension and suffering, said Mr. Riedstra, so it got to its designer. It was a change in theme for sculptors. Victory alone had been the common theme in previous designs, and it is there in Mr. Allward’s central figure, which depicts Canadian manhood represented by victorious right. The defeat of might is exemplified in the sinking figure at the side, carrying a broken sword.

Carved on the centre is the inscription: “They gave their lives to break the power of the sword.”

A photo from the Nov. 6, 1922, edition of The Beacon Herald sums up the importance of the memorial to the city and region. Thousands lined the streets and heads popped out from the Gordon Block and surrounding buildings to witness the dedication of the Stratford War Memorial on a dull and foggy Thanksgiving Day. The bronzes were cast in Toronto, and the granite blocks came from Quebec. Buglers Percy Comley, Victor Ham and Frank Marshall played The Last Post as the monument was unveiled.

“The labour spent by the committee in selecting the memorial and raising the money has been a labour of love; no effort has been spared to assure the erection of a memorial worthy in every respect,” said William Preston, chair of the Stratford Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Preston said the committee “wished to honour the glorious dead whose names are cut in granite blocks. Over 1,800 left the district and 345 did not return.”

Mr. Allward was in Europe during the Stratford dedication.

The monument rested there until 1961 when it was moved to its current location. Mr. Allward was commissioned to design the Vimy Ridge Memorial from a pool of 160 others. Work began in 1925, and 11 years later it was unveiled.

The base and twin pylons that stretch to the heavens contain 6,000 tonnes of limestone imported from the former Yugoslavia.

The two pylons represent Canada and France, allies at war.

Mr. Allward’s masterpiece was hailed by artistic and military experts throughout the world as the noblest memorial in Europe.

The sculptor first earned acclaim for works in Queen’s Park, but the fan of Greek sculpture and
Michelangelo outdid himself at Vimy, putting him on par with his heroes.

William Ronald (SMITH) Abstract and Out There

2007-04-28T13:53:00.000-05:00

The posting of information about William Ronald is two fold. For one, getting the word out about the man and his art to Stratford and the world. Secondly, to motivate people in Stratford so that we can get a sidewalk star for William Ronald along with a retrospective art celebration next year. This is the beginning of a dialogue and I encourage any one in Stratford to help and participate in this process.

WILLIAM RONALD - 1926-1998
William Ronald was born in Stratford, Ontario. He was an acclaimed Canadian abstract artist and founder of the Painters Eleven (Toronto, 1953). Painters Eleven was a group of Canadian avant-garde abstract painters that helped to establish Modern art in Canada.

- Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
- A student of Jock Macdonald and Hans Hofmann
- Founder of Painters Eleven (pioneer movement of modern and abstract art in Canada)
Awards:

- Hallmark Art Award, New York, N.Y., 1952
- I.O.D.E. Scholarship, Canada, 1951
- National Award, Canadian Section, International Guggenheim Awards, 1956
- Second Biennial Exhibition of Canadian Painting, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1957
His works reside in the collections of many prominent museums/art galleries, i.e.:

- Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
- Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Penna.
- National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
- Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y.
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal
- Nelson A. Rockerfeller Collection, New York, N.Y
- Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
- Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore
- Whitney Museum, New York, N.Y.

"Common knowledge has it that Ronald is primarily a historical figure whose contribution to Canadian art lies in the formation of the free-thinking Painters Eleven in the 1950s. This is correct enough, but concomitant with it is the tacit assumption that his choice to downplay painting temporarily for a career in broadcasting implies that his later years were substantially a matter of showmanship and/or charlatanism.... [Ronald is] one of the more genuinely fascinating characters in Canadian culture, one to whom we are indebted for much more than a spirit of internationalism running counter to what was thought of in the 1950s as the choke-hold of the Group of Seven."

By Penny-Lynn Grosman/Users/qabb/Desktop/Ron4.jpg

Article published in ARTFOCUS/61, Fall 97 ©ARTFOCUS MAGAZINE

Article republished online in tribute to WILLIAM RONALD,
(1926-1998 ) who died in Barrie, Ontario, February 9, l998.
Ronald was the Founder of Canada's PAINTERS ELEVEN
& painted THE PRIME MINISTERS OF CANADA

WILLIAM RONALD SMITH got to New York City right out of the Ontario College of Art because he was a hockey player. The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association had a scholarship available for $1,000. Ronald applied stating only that he would "love to go to New York to study with Hans Hofmann and get to know other painters." He won the scholarship.

In l952, he visited New York for six months, attended Hofmann's classes and lived on Leyroy Street and then later on 2nd Avenue. Hofmann was not only one of the foremost teachers and philosophers of art, he was the leading educator of modern artists in the U.S. Second Avenue was the noisy, vibrant Jewish neighbourhood of street vendors, delicatessens and clothing stores. Ronald saw theatre, heard great jazz and devoured the art scene. For a boy born in Stratford who grew up in Fergus and Brampton it was a new world. He knew he would be back.

In staid Toronto, during the 1950's, the windows of the Robert Simpson Company at Queen and Yonge provided one of the few sources of visual excitement. In October of 1953, onlookers were perplexed and surprised by the abstract art featured in the room settings of the Home Furnishings Department. The initiator was a Simpson's display artist and window dresser named William Ronald. The art and publicity for Abstracts at Home stimulated enough interest that a month later, the seven artists involved plus four others, decided to try for a real exhibition. These artists were Alexandra Luke, Harold Town, Oscar Cahen, Kazuo Nakamura, Jack Bush, Hortense Gordon, Walter Yarwood, Ray Mead, Tom Hodgson, Jock Macdonald and William Ronald. In February l954, Painters Eleven, as they had named themselves, had their first exhibition at Roberts Gallery in Toronto. It was a seminal moment for art in Canada.

The work of Painters Eleven was aggressive and challenging. Many viewers, whose sensibilities still lay in the 19th Century, or with The Group of Seven, did not know how to react. Gallery goers in New York, and to a lesser extent in Montreal, had been gradually exposed to new work which could be seen in the context of international change. For the most part Torontonians were ignorant of these developments, so the abruptness of the change to cutting edge art was harder for them to handle. Ronald observes that "the collectors in Toronto were only 100 miles from the Albright Knox in Buffalo and they didn't know what the hell was going on."

After one more show with Painters Eleven at the Roberts Gallery in l955, Ronald moved to New York. His break came when Robert Beverly Hale, the Curator of American Art at the Metropolitan Museum was in Toronto, saw Ronald's work and invited him to visit when in New York. Then Ronald sold a work to a well known New York collector, Countess Ingeborg de Beausac. To celebrate her new apartment and her big,new painting, 'Inge' threw a large party. Among the guests was the leading art dealer Samuel Kootz who was taken aback that his client had bought an unknown Ronald rather than a Soulages. However, Kootz, always on the lookout for new talent, agreed to come to Ronald's studio located in a decaying building in a rundown area. Kootz was a fastidious man. Between his comments on the "goddamned rats as big as dogs" he asked for five paintings. One was subsequently bought by the Guggenheim Museum. Kootz took him on.

William Ronald's first commercial solo exhibition opened in New York in April l957. Ronald was on top of the world. The weekend the show opened, the Sunday New York Times featured a photograph of one of the works with a positive review. Jock Macdonald, Ronald's teacher and mentor at the Ontario College of Art, flew down for the opening. Macdonald was proud of him and generous in his praise, telling Kootz, "I see no end to his talent." Ronald says that statement has carried him throughout his entire career. Kootz represented Hofmann, Kline, Rothko, Motherwell and deKooning. "Kline complimented me on my work. I couldn't believe it. Rothco came to the Kootz Gallery later, when no-one was there. He sat down and looked at one of my paintings for 20 minutes. I never spoke to him. I was shell-shocked. They all came to my first show."

Ronald had not cut his ties with Painters Eleven. He negotiated an invitation for the group to exhibit at the 20th Anniversary of American Abstract Artists held at the Riverside Museum in New York, April 8, l956. It was the greatest hour for Painters Eleven . Ronald came back to Toronto to have a solo exhibition at Av Isaac's Greenwich Gallery in November of that year. He showed at Laing Galleries in April l960 and with Isaacs Gallery in l961. He returned a hero. He had made it in New York. "The art scene was so strong. New York had taken it away from Paris and the fucking French. I'm so grateful to have been there."

Ronald was under contract and producing 18 canvasses a year for Kootz and did so for seven years. The scene was so hot that paintings were going out the door wet. During this time Ronald and his first wife, Helen, decided to move out of New York to a house on an acre of land in New Jersey. "Then, like now, you have to be rich or poor to live in New York. In retrospect, it was a mistake." By l963, he had taken out American citizenship. He thought he was going to be in the U.S. forever.

That year his last exhibition with Kootz opened on December 1st. When he and Helen got back from a holiday there was a letter from Kootz terminating the relationship. Ronald was stunned and didn't know what to do. Jock Macdonald had said "Never come back to Canada. "Hofmann said "Well, you can always go back to Canada." Ronald didn't remember Macdonald's advice. "Well, I've got two beautiful daughters and six grandchildren I wouldn't have had if I stayed in New York."

Perhaps Kootz saw the direction changing: painterly abstraction had run its course and was being overtaken by a cooler, non-expressionistic approach. But Ronald's work defies easy labeling. It has never been purely abstract expressionist or non-objective. If anything, Surrealism has continued to have an enduring influence on his work.

When asked which artists of the New York School he admired or who may have influenced him directly or indirectly he remembers how Pollock "released everybody...he was exciting...crazy." Franz Kline's bold black and white strokes on a large canvases drove his equivalent positive and negative forces to the limit. Hofmann, the teacher of structural clarity, pushed his own work beyond structure stating that "The aim of art is to vitalize form." Although plane was Hofmann's key formal means he advocated that a "picture should be made with feeling not knowing." Ronald speaks of Bradley Walker Tomlin as "a great artist who never got the attention he deserved." Tomlin's use of underlying grids did influence Ronald because his geometric shapes were used to achieve a fluid and organic structure. But it is Jock Macdonald who remains closest to Ronald's heart. When Macdonald died in l960, Ronald lost a man he considered to be not only the most important influence in his life, but like a father. "He was closer than most fathers could ever be. He was eager. I was eager. When he died it was awful...just awful."

Ronald came home and branched out in a new direction. He started broadcasting with CBC-TV and then CBC-FM. For three years he was on-air host of 'As It Happens' and then went to CITY-TV to do 'Free For All.' But he never stopped painting. He completed a large mural for the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in l968, had museum exhibitions and gallery shows with David Mirvish, Quan, Dresdnere and the Morris Gallery. When John Morris suggested he apply for a Canada Council grant and asked what he would do if he got it, Ronald said offhandedly, "I'd paint the Prime Ministers or something." He got the grant. The press got hold of it, and the 16 canvasses of The Prime Ministers of Canada became a reality. The exhibition was opened by Pierre Elliot Trudeau at the Art Gallery of Ontario in April l984 and toured to museums across the country.

The exhibitions are more sporadic now. He showed at Christopher Cutts last year and this spring was the subject of a Bravo CITY-TV exhibit of current paintings and a short film which showed him at work in his former studio in Toronto. Ronald now works out of the former Bell Telephone building in downtown Barrie. The three story red brick building is soon to be renamed The William Ronald Building. A 4,000 foot studio provides him with the right environment to work on his big canvasses.

The building is owned by Peter Meier whose interests lie in real estate, art and promoting the work of William Ronald. (He is organizing a new exhibition for Berlin within the next year. ) Ronald paints on the good days and into the night. He says of his deteriorating health, "I'm 71. I don't remember a day without pain. I've had two heart attacks, a quadruple bypass. I've got arthritis and my knees are gone. I still paint and I paint fast. I worry about going blind."

But the outrageousness, the wildness, the outspokeness, the vitality and fun of William Ronald are still there. He has recently purchased a used Rolls Royce, metallic sand with dark green leather upholstery. His two comely female assistants drive him around because he hasn't driven for 12 years. He rides in the back seat behind dark sunglasses enjoying his celebrity.

"You have to believe in yourself, because it is a bitch. If I didn't do New York I would be nothing here." When asked how he sees himself, he replies "good...one of the best painters that ever lived in Canada." How would he like to be remembered? "As a great fighter...great painter."