September Lineup Revealed For The Meighen Forum

The Meighen Forum brings more insight to the Stratford Festival this September. The month features opportunities such as a look into King Lear with Paul Gross, Conversations with Adam Gopnik, Scholars and Experts Week, a mind-boggling culinary adventure with Art and Food Historian Janet Dawson and Encountering Ukraine: Readings in Solidarity.

King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s most discussed and debated characters among scholars. As part of the Peer Into the Playbill series, Playing King Lear (September 7) is providing an opportunity for audiences to hear Paul Gross (King Lear) talk about what it is like to be inside the mind of the king. He will be joined in an intimate conversation by veteran company member Seana McKenna, who played King Lear in a 2018 production for Groundling Theatre Company, moderated by this season’s Goneril, Shannon Taylor.

As part of the Celebrated Speakers series, this month features award-winning writer and essayist Adam Gopnik in conversation with some of today’s most inspiring and insightful thinkers. The Real Wrinkle in Time (September 8) features a discussion with award-winning theoretical physicist and cosmology expert Professor Lee Smolin about quantum theories, the concept of time and everything in between.

Scholars and Experts Week at the Meighen Forum (September 15-17) will explore the 2023 playbill alongside a selection of scholars and experts, who each bring special insight and experience to the conversation. Celebrating The 400th Anniversary of the First Folio (September 15) will bring together Emma Smith, University of Oxford’s Professor of Shakespeare Studies and one of the world’s foremost experts on the Folio, with artist and scholar Dean Gabourie as they discuss the origins of one of the great wonders of the literary world.

The Meighen Forum Dinner Series presents a gravity-defying, mind-boggling gastronomical adventure that is sure to astonish your mind: Franken-Dine Molecular Gastronomy. This meal features Art and Food Historian Janet Dawson, who will discuss Mary Shelley’s inspirations and the artistry of food as we reflect on the world of Frankenstein Revived. This culinary adventure will be curated and prepared by Chef Matthew Sullivan, Culinary Director of The Food Dudes, and will take place on September 16 in the Paul D. Fleck Marquee at the Festival Theatre.

From September 22 through 24, the Meighen Forum will host Encountering Ukraine: Readings in Solidarity. Join Ukrainian-Canadian artist and activist Andrew Kushnir for readings of plays in translation, which represent some of the best of Ukraine’s theatre and showcase how artists help define and defend the culture of a people. One of the featured works is Cassandra: A Dramatic Poem by Lesya Ukrainka, translated by Nina Murray which will be read at Lazaridis Hall in the Tom Patterson Theatre on September 22. In Cassandra: A Dramatic Poem, Lesya Ukrainka spotlights the Trojan War and offers a play about fighting for the truth, even when no one believes you. Series curator Andrew Kushnir will lead a dialogue with guests on how Ukraine has been historically impacted by cultural imperialism in Stepping Out of the Shadow: Ukraine Known on its Own Terms (September 23).

The Meighen Forum also includes favourites such as Lobby Talks, Monday Night Music, workshops and tours, which continue through September.

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