Stratford Festival Celebrates 60th Season Highlights at Annual General Meeting

The Stratford Festival held its annual general meeting on Saturday, celebrating the successes of its landmark 60th season, under the joint leadership of Artistic Director Des McAnuff and General Director Antoni Cimolino. This was Mr. McAnuff's final season as Artistic Director. Mr. Cimolino has now assumed that role, with Anita Gaffney becoming Executive Director.

"As befitted the occasion of our 60th season, we gave the world plenty of reason in 2012 to sit up and take notice of our Festival," said David Goldbloom, Chair of the Board of Governors. "Artistic Director Des McAnuff presented a playbill that combined Shakespeare and other classics with an unprecedented variety of new work created by our own Canadian artists. Our productions met with extraordinary acclaim, not only from the critics but also from patrons and Members. The season was a fitting culmination both to Des's tenure and to the first six decades of our history. We thank both Des and Antoni for their exceptional leadership over the past five years together."

Though heralded for its great artistic accomplishments, the 2012 season nonetheless ended in deficit, as the Festival, like other theatres around the world, continued to be buffeted by the struggling economy.

In a playbill featuring Shakespearean comedy, history and romance, along with ancient Greek tragedy, a Broadway musical, Gilbert and Sullivan and an American classic, Mr. McAnuff programmed seven Canadian works, including a new musical commissioned by the Festival and two other new works emanating from the New Play Department. As a special 60th season event, Christopher Plummer presented his one-man show, A Word or Two, directed by Mr. McAnuff.

"I'm particularly proud to have been Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival these past few years and to have marked its 60th season while still at the helm," said Mr. McAnuff. "In our partnership, Antoni and I have accomplished a remarkable amount over these past few seasons, during which time we produced 69 plays. I cannot pretend that the recessionary times didn't get in our way, but all in all, our artists and staff have made a Herculean effort to take the Festival to new heights. While we continue to face financial challenges, it is gratifying to see how theatre art at Stratford continues to flourish."

Mr. McAnuff is currently rehearsing the 2013 production of Tommy in Stratford, a musical he co-wrote with The Who's Pete Townshend. The show swept the Tony Awards in 1993, winning four awards, including Best Director for Mr. McAnuff. However, he was unable to attend the AGM because of a prior commitment to the 30th anniversary celebration of La Jolla Playhouse, where he was Artistic Director for 18 years and is now Director Emeritus. He did prepare a written statement that was read by Dr. Goldbloom.

"I want to thank Des for the tremendous contribution he has made to this Festival during the past five years of our work together," said Mr. Cimolino. "He challenged us to think in new ways, he introduced many artists into our company, he helped boost our international profile, he took us into new areas of repertoire, and he was a tireless champion of new work by our own Canadian playwrights. It is both an honour and a joy for me to have been chosen as his successor."

Among the season's many notable achievements in 2012 was the Broadway run of Jesus Christ Superstar, directed by Mr. McAnuff. The production was nominated for two Tony Awards and two Drama Desk Awards, and Josh Young won a Theatre World Award for his performance as Judas. The Festival opened a new archival Exhibition across from the Avon Theatre and published Stratford Behind the Scenes, a 60th season book and corresponding app for iPad and Playbook that takes readers on amazing journeys behind the scenes.

Maggie Smith returned to be honoured with the Festival's Legacy Award, celebrating her four glorious seasons at Stratford. Mr. McAnuff was twice honoured, with the Governor General's Performing Arts NAC Award and with an Order of Canada. The Festival's film of Twelfth Night, directed by Mr. McAnuff, premièred to great acclaim at Cineplex Theatres across Canada. And the film of The Tempest, also directed by Mr. McAnuff and starring Christopher Plummer, was screened across the U.S. and broadcast on Bravo!, winning a Canadian Screen Award for Mr. Plummer for Best Actor in an Arts Program.

"The work on our stages last year was outstanding," said Mr. Cimolino, whose production of Cymbeline was twice extended to meet the high demand for tickets. "Our only disappointment is that more people weren't able to enjoy a season that received such widespread critical acclaim. We were presented with a number of challenges in 2012 - people moving away from advance purchases to last-minute decisions, the continued effects of the economic slowdown, the high Canadian dollar and related issues affecting our American audience. These concerns were not ours alone, but are affecting the arts industry more generally. Our mission is to meet these challenges creatively, and to do so we will be introducing a number of initiatives in 2013 and beyond."

Despite the positive critical and audience acclaim for the season productions and a myriad of promotional efforts, attendance fell by 5% to 432,240. Total revenues for 2012 amounted to $54.3 million, with expenses of $57.7 million, resulting in a deficit of $3.4 million, or 6% of revenue. In 2011, the Festival had a surplus of $52,995.

Earned revenue from ticket sales and other related activities generated $33.3 million in 2012. Donor contributions to annual operations were the highest in the Festival's history, with contributed revenue (including amortization of contributed capital) totalling $13.3 million. The Endowment Foundation transferred $2.3 million to the annual budget. Government contributions totalled $5.4 million.

Upon realizing that the Festival was potentially heading toward a deficit situation, its leadership took swift action, introducing new marketing initiatives and cutting costs in-year without compromising the work on stage. In addition, the leadership addressed the 2013 budget, which was in the planning stages, to make every effort to avoid a second deficit. Savings totalling $1.8 million were identified and have been carried through to 2013, when further savings will be realized.

"The same spirit of creativity and innovation that infuses our art has helped us find ways to work more efficiently," said Ms Gaffney. "Achieving these savings without diminishing the work on our stages or the experience of our patrons has required the imagination and participation of everyone at this theatre."

The Festival last saw a deficit in 2008, which represented roughly 5% of revenue. It faced more significant deficits in the 1980s and '90s.

"Like Des in 2008, I have come to the job of Artistic Director in challenging economic times," said Mr. Cimolino. "But we have had challenges before and we have surmounted them. Thanks to careful stewardship during the years of surplus, we have been able to weather these periods of economic turbulence. It is often in the face of adversity that we achieve the most clarity - a principle that informs much of our greatest drama, from the ancient Greeks to the tragedies of William Shakespeare. Hard times have a way of stripping away superfluities and requiring us to confront the essence of who we are and what we are doing."

Mr. Cimolino's plans for the future of the Festival under his tenure include selecting a playbill around a cluster of themes that can be further explored through the new Forum, which offers a series of exciting enrichment events that will add immeasurably to the Stratford experience.

"The playbill for 2013, like those I have planned for subsequent seasons, will be more than the sum of its parts: individual titles will reflect, counterpoint and comment on each other in a variety of ways. Theatregoers can come here for a few days and become immersed in exploring various facets of a theme, through the works on stage and the offerings of The Forum."

Over the past several years, the Festival has seen a growing demand for enrichment activities.

"We see tremendous appetite among our audiences for insight, context, discussion and debate," said Mr. Cimolino. "The Forum provides an unprecedented opportunity to explore the thoughts and feelings provoked by the productions through a multitude of other means, from concerts to panel discussions to celebrity speakers to improv comedy."

Mr. Cimolino's vision for the future also includes the creation of the Laboratory, a place to experiment with new approaches to familiar work, explore classics from other cultures and create bold, large-scale new work.

"The Laboratory's purpose is to explore possibilities in every area of our art and thereby to reinvigorate our artistic practice."

The 2013 season gets underway in six weeks, beginning with the first preview of Fiddler on the Roof on April 23, Shakespeare's birthday. The Forum will be launched with a special event in Toronto that same day, the Shakespeare Slam, featuring Torquil Campbell, Adam Gopnik and Rufus Wainwright. The season also features Romeo and Juliet, The Three Musketeers, The Merchant of Venice, Tommy, Blithe Spirit, Othello, Measure for Measure, Mary Stuart, Waiting for Godot, Taking Shakespeare, The Thrill and more than 150 events at The Forum. To purchase tickets, call the box office at 1.800.567.1600 or visit stratfordfestival.ca.

To post a comment, you must register and login.