Stratford Shakespeare Festival gears up for Hockey Day in Canada

On Friday, January 29th actors from Stratford's Shakespeare Festival will face off against members of the administration and production staff at the Allman Arena as part of the festivities leading up to Tim Horton's Hockey Day in Canada.

For Hockey Day in Canada, musicians will play as Don Cherry arrives at the Allman Arena at 7PM. The Tom Patterson Theatre and lobby will be open from 1PM to 5PM so that the public can get warmed up, and volunteers will be serving free hot chocolate, coffee and cider. People watching at home on CBC will see a vignette featuring Sean Cullen, Don Cherry and Ron MacLean which was shot during a performance of the smash-hit A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum this past November.

For theatre lovers, there is a lot happening at these events. In addition to the great video from one of the festivals most popular shows of last season, there will also be a costume try-on rack operated by Friends of the Festival. This is a unique chance to really feel like you are part of the action and see what it is like behind the scenes at Stratford.

For the hockey game, the actors team is comprised of Jesse Aaron Dwyre, Randy Hughson, Gordon S. Miller, Jonathan Purdon, Andrew Shaver and goalie Trent Pardy. The opposing team includes stagehands Bruno Hacquebard and Alan Hughes, Derek Atkins, of the IT department, web developer Bryan Richardson, scenic painter Mike Wharran, house manager Eldon Gammon and carpenters Mark Smith and Joe Tracey.

James Walker, applications development manager, is captain of the Festival's hockey team, which plays regularly throughout the winter. He coordinated this game for the Festival and will be crossing over to play on the actors team.

General Director Antoni Cimolino will be on hand to drop the puck. Bruce Dow will be announcing the game and Michele Keutsch, of the applications and analytics department, will be doing the scoring.

Tickets for the 2010 Stratford Festival are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased online at www.stratfordfestival.ca or by phone at 1-800-567-1600

The 2010 Season will feature the following shows (current at time of publication):

As You Like It
Dangerous Liaisons
Do Not Go Gentle
Evita
For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again
Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
King of Thieves
Kiss Me, Kate
Peter Pan
The Tempest
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
The Winter's Tale

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