THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW, STAGE KISS, HENRY V and More Slated for Shaw Festival's 2018 Season

Artistic Director Tim Carroll and the Shaw Festival reveal the complete playbill for the 2018 season. Having introduced Festival patrons to Two-Way Theatre in 2017, the Shaw Festival will continue to invite the audience into the creative process, giving them a real voice in the theatre experience.

"I have been overwhelmed by the support shown for my first season, with all that was new and risky in it," says Tim Carroll, Artistic Director. "That has emboldened me to keep trying new things, like Stephen's epic Greek myths, or our first Shakespeare, or Chekhov as lived through the South Asian diaspora. I'm especially looking forward to seeing three Shaw one-act plays; I think they are among his greatest achievements."

In 2018, the Shaw Festival will expand the use of the newly renamed Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre with three productions appearing in the company's newest and most accessible space. The Court House Theatre, which has housed Shaw Festival productions since 1962, will be repurposed as a rehearsal, training and education facility and for the Festival's expanded audience programs.

"The Court House is an important part of the Shaw's legacy and future, but as a true historic building, it is also the least physically accessible venue we work in, and that has presented a real concern. It is important to us to re-examine how we want audiences to interact with us. We want to remove physical challenges or barriers and welcome everyone to our theatres. By repurposing the spaces, we actually are able to keep our programmatic depth while making progress toward ever greater inclusivity," says Tim Jennings, Executive Director and CEO.

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The 2018 Shaw Festival Lineup:

FESTIVAL THEATRE

The Magician's Nephew
By C.S. Lewis
Adapted for the stage by Michael O'Brien
Directed by Tim Carroll

Taking place 1,000 years before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Magician's Nephew follows the adventures of Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer who find themselves in the Wood between the Worlds. Audiences will be enchanted as they watch Aslan create Narnia, learn what the famous wardrobe was made of and discover why there's a lamp post in the middle of the forest.

Grand Hotel
Book by Luther Davis
Music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, with additional music and lyrics by Maury Yeston
Directed by Eda Holmes

Set in the glamorous 1920's, this musical is chockfull of love, laughter, passion and murder as the lives of the beautiful and the damned collide during one tumultuous night at the Grand Hotel.

MYTHOS: A Trilogy
Gods. Heroes. Men.
Written by and starring Stephen Fry
Directed by Tim Carroll

Based on his upcoming book, Mythos is a trilogy of plays telling the stories of Ancient Greece. Stephen Fry will take to the stage to give the audience his witty and fresh take on everyone from Aphrodite to Zeus.

The Hound of the Baskervilles
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Adapted by R. Hamilton Wright and David Pichette
Directed by Craig Hall

The murder mystery returns to the Shaw Festival's stage with the most famous detective the world has ever known. Sherlock Holmes and the audience race to solve what seems to be a supernatural murder plot.

ROYAL GEORGE THEATRE

Stage Kiss
By Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Anita Rochon

Complications arise when life imitates art in this charming romantic comedy and backstage farce. Two actors with a history are cast opposite each other; soon the boundary between stage kiss and real kiss is blurred.

Of Marriage and Men: A Comedy Double-Bill
How He Lied to Her Husband and The Man of Destiny
By Bernard Shaw
Directed by Philip Akin

How far will a man go to preserve his lady's reputation? Bernard Shaw answers the question with dazzling style in his masterpiece about Napoleon, The Man of Destiny, and in his hilarious farce in How He Lied to Her Husband.

O'Flaherty V.C.
By Bernard Shaw
Directed by Kimberley Rampersad

Bernard Shaw's rarely-produced satirical comedy about the political corruption of heroism. A young man awarded the Victoria Cross is paraded around Ireland to recruit his fellows. Part of the Shaw Festival's programming honouring the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI.

Oh What a Lovely War
Book by Joan Littlewood, Theatre Workshop and Charles Chilton
Directed by Peter Hinton

A Canadian take on a classic anti-war musical, this production will feature the songs that Canadian and other soldiers sang as they were sent to their deaths by greedy Imperialists. Part of the Shaw Festival's programming honouring the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI.

A Christmas Carol
By Charles Dickens
Adapted for the stage by Tim Carroll
Originally directed by Tim Carroll

Returning to the Shaw Festival for a second season, A Christmas Carol tells Charles Dickens's classic tale with music, puppetry and all the imaginative magic of the stage.

Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre

The Orchard (After Chekhov)
By Sarena Parmar
Directed by Ravi Jain

The Orchard (After Chekhov) uses a 100-year-old Russian play to examine the Canadian immigrant experience. Following a family transplanted from India to the Okanagan Valley, The Orchard (After Chekhov) is a bittersweet comedy about attachment and loss.

The Baroness and the Pig
By Michael Mackenzie
Directed by Selma Dimitrijevic

At the end of the 19th century, a Parisian baroness attempts to teach a savage girl how to behave in society. This modern Canadian classic is a dark and funny look at what it costs to become a lady.

Henry V
By William Shakespeare
Co-Directed by Tim Carroll and Kevin Bennett

Shaw was obsessed with Shakespeare and this is Shakespeare as Shaw might have written it. Set in the trenches of France in 1918, this version of Henry V is part of the Shaw Festival's programming honouring the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI.

SECRET THEATRE

Returning for a second season, Secret Theatre will continue to delight audiences with surprise theatrical experiences throughout the year. People who want to be in on the secret can sign up for the Secret Theatre newsletter at www.shawfest.com.

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Tickets for the 2018 Festival season will be available through the Box Office at 1-800-511-SHAW and online at www.shawfest.com. The Shaw Festival's 2018 season goes on sale to Friends of The Shaw beginning November 4 and the public on December 9. Patrons wishing to get front-of-the-line access to the 2018 Shaw Festival can visit www.shawfest.com or call 1-800-657-1106 x 2556 to become Friends of The Shaw.

Inspired by the spirit of George Bernard Shaw, the Shaw Festival creates unforgettable theatrical encounters in any way we want. The Shaw Festival, home to Two-Way Theatre, is a place where people who are curious about the world gather to share the unique experience of live theatre. For more information, visit www.shawfest.com.