Canadian Stage's Shakespeare in High Park Returns for 34th Season This Summer

By: Jun. 03, 2016
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Just in time for William Shakespeare's 400th anniversary, Canadian Stage's Shakespeare in High Park returns to the High Park Amphitheatre for a 34th season with two passionate Shakespearean classics: the great tragedy of Hamlet alongside the bold fairytale romance All's Well That Ends Well. Outdoors and under the stars, the plays run on alternating evenings from June 30 to September 4, Tuesday to Sunday at 8 pm. Each performance is pay-what-you can, with a suggested contribution of $20. The productions are presented by Canadian Stage in collaboration with the Department of Theatre, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design at York University.

"As part of the global celebration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, Canadian Stage is delighted to pay tribute to the Bard's enduring legacy on our outdoor stage," said Matthew Jocelyn, Artistic and General Director, Canadian Stage. "This summer, over 30, 000 Torontonians and visitors to our city will have the opportunity to discover or re-discover Shakespeare through two of his most memorable and richly complex heroes - Hamlet and Helen. With a multi-talented and energetic acting ensemble led by two of the city's most exciting young theatrical minds, Birgit Schreyer Duarte and Ted Witzel, Shakespeare in High Park continues to be the quintessential theatrical event of the Toronto summer."

For the first time in its 33-year history, audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy Shakespeare's tragic masterpiece Hamlet under the stars. Tormented by the mysterious death of his father the King and the union of his mother Gertrude (Rachel Jones) and Uncle Claudius (Alon Nashman), the young prince Hamlet (Frank Cox-O'Connell) takes action to avenge his father's death. Faced with the impossibility of the task, Hamlet's world quickly spirals into chaos; the boundaries between truth and deception, sanity and madness, start to unravel. Offering a gripping psychological portrait of a family caught in a web of manipulation and shifting allegiances, director Birgit Schreyer Duarte's (Canadian Stage Dramaturg & Artistic Associate) stripped-back contemporary staging will cast Shakespeare's most infamous royal family in a thought-provoking new light.

In the rarely performed fairytale comedy All's Well That Ends Well, Helen (Mina James) will go to any lengths to win the affections of Count Bertram (Kaleb Alexander). When she cures the King of France of fistula, Helen claims Bertram as her reward. But her brand-new husband immediately flees to the Italian warfront with his wingman Parolles (Qasim Khan), setting off a battle of wits and wills that sparkles with some of the Bard's most inventive wordplay. Director Ted Witzel (The Taming of the Shrew- Canadian Stage, Artistic Director - the red light district), shakes up the play's traditional fairytale tropes against a modernized setting in an uproariously upbeat production that drives towards Shakespeare's infamously elusive happy ending.

Performed in repertory and sharing the same 11-person cast, actors transition from comedy to tragedy night after night, playing a combined total of 37 characters. The sizzling company of both established and up-and-coming actors includes Kaleb Alexander, Frank Cox-O'Connell, Raechel Fisher*, Nicki Guadagni, Marvin Ishmael, Mina James, Rachel Jones, Qasim Khan, Kyle McWatters*, Alon Nashman, and Rose Tuong* (*Recent graduates of York University's acting program).

Following the success of the jointly-presented double bill Botticelli in the Fire & Sunday in Sodom by Jordan Tannahill and building on the Shakespeare in High Park collaboration established in previous seasons, the Shakespeare in High Park creative team includes both past and present talent from York University's theatre department.

An inaugural graduate of the York-Canadian Stage MFA in Large Scale Theatre - Stage Direction, All's Well That Ends Well director Ted Witzel brings forward an interrogation of gender construction and politics after his 2013 take on The Taming of the Shrew. York University Theatre faculty members Teresa Przybylski (Set Design - Hamlet, All's Well That Ends Well) and Shawn Kerwin (Costume Design - All's Well That Ends Well) lend their respective design talents to the Shakespeare in High Park shows alongside Costume Designer Michelle Tracey (Hamlet), a recent graduate of York's Theatre Production and Design program. Once again this year, York Undergraduate students get hands-on experience as apprentices and assistants under the guidance of York faculty members and professional theatre artists on each production's creative team.

With a growing audience of over 30,000 visitors every summer, Canadian Stage's Shakespeare in High Park continues to be one of Toronto's favourite summer traditions and a cornerstone of the company's mission to present accessible theatre of the highest quality.

Hamlet runs from June 30 to September 3 with performances on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 8 pm. Opening night will be July 15 with previews June 30, July 5, 7, 9, and 12. All's Well That Ends Wellruns from July 1 to Sept. 4 with performances on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 8 pm. Opening night will be July 15 with previews July 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, and 13. Both performances run approximately 90 minutes without intermission at the High Park Amphitheatre (1873 Bloor St. W). Gates open at 6 pm.

Tickets: Each performance is pay-what-you can (suggested $20 contribution), with the option to pay with debit or credit at the entrance. Advanced $25 premium seats can be reserved online atcanadianstage.com . Backstage tours, youth nights and pre-show workshops for groups are also available.



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