A Counterpane for Rememberance

There is a beautiful quilt, the work of 60 employees of the Stratford Festival wardrobe department , that hangs in the upper lobby of the Avon Theatre.  I saw it last year and remarked on the workmanship that went into it - not something really surprising given who had created it.  For some reason this year it was partially hidden behind a podium that had served for some presentation earlier in the day.  I am honestly surprised that the house manager would allow this to happen but .....

The quilt was created in memory of Renato La Selva a master tailor who worked at Stratford for many years.  Each year a Gutherie Award, named after the great Irish director, is given to someone in the wardrobe department in memory of their colleague Renato.  The quilt honours both him and the recipients of the award.

The volunteers who created it choose both the Shakespearean subject and the medium that they would use in their panel.  Some choose plays, others logos or simply things that said to them:  this is Stratford.   Some choose embroidery others appliqué, silk screening, leather work or simple quilting techniques.  Six designers closely identified with the Festival - Susan Benson, Debra Hanson, Desmond Heeley, John Pennoyer, Christina Poddubiuk and Ann Curtis -  had costume sketches or block designs incorporated into the quilt.  The four corner blocks represent flowers from the gardens surrounding the Festival Theatre and the border features drifts of swans reflected in the waters of the Avon River.

I was able to get shots of many of the 39 blocks that make up this remarkable tribute to a respected friend and colleague.  Unfortunately others - particularly those higher up on the quilt - were out of proper range for my little camera.  However I've included close-ups of as many as I can.

A left click on any of the hot-spots on the picture will enlarge a goodly number of the blocks, as will a left click on any of the titles shown below the photo.

Swan Border | Two Noble Kinsmen | The Merchant of Venice | The Merry Wives of Windsor  | Tom Patterson | Pericles | A Midsummer's Night Dream | Othello | Twelfth Night | Anthony and Cleopatra | The Winter's Tale | The Merchant of Venice | Hamlet | Cymbeline | Hamlet - John Pennoyer | The Tempest | The Comedy of Errors | Richard II | A Midsummer's Night Dream | The Merry Wives of Windsor - Desmond Heeley | Julius Caesar | Shakespeare | Festival Symbol | Image Map

I haven't been able to find out when the Quilt was made but the small card beside it in the lobby mentions the names of Laurie Krempien-Hall and Joanne Zegers, both long-time artisans in the wardrobe department,  as the two people who led the project. They and all the others involved can be proud of a remarkable piece of work and a loving tribute to a colleague.

September 30 - 1938: The League of Nations unanimously outlaws "intentional bombings of civilian populations".

Raising the Tent - 1953

When the Stratford Shakespeare Festival was founded in 1953 Tanya Moiseiwitsch’s iconic stage was at the centre of a concrete amphitheatre. However there was neither sufficient monies nor assurance of longevity to do other than enclose the “wooden O*” with canvas. For the first four years of the Festival history the Bard was declaimed in a large tent, often to the sounds of pounding rain, whistles from the nearby train yards and umpires' calls from the local baseball diamond.

Nestled in Queen's Park the original home of the Festival rose 61' above the landscape and was 150' in diameter.  It's original cost was $23,000.

From 1953 to 1956 canvas covered Tanya Moiseiwitsch's thrust stage set in a concrete
amphitheatre. When money became tight that first year local contractor Oliver Gaffney
refused to stop work and completed the theatre in time for opening night.  His daughter
Anita is now the Festival's Executive Director. 

In 1953 Tent Master Roy "Skip" Manly and his crew - many of them local volunteers - raise the tent for
the first time.  It took two whole days to complete the operation.  Two miles of cable and 10 miles of rope kept audience and performers protected and dry - most of the time!  This photo was the inspiration for the sculpture group that now adorns the lawn in front of the theatre.

It's hard to imagine sitting for three hours of Shakespeare in
one of these original seats from the tent days.  And what's with the
single armrest?  I guess there was no fighting to see who got it.

At the end of the 1956 season when Christopher Plummer had sounded his final call to the troops at Agincourt the tent was struck for the last time.  By the opening of the 1957 season Robert Fairchild’s unique round structure resounded to the, by now, familiar sound of Louis Applebaum's trumpet fanfare and the answer to Plummer’s Hamlet was:  it is “to be”.  The building has undergone major changes since I first saw it back in 1958 most involved reconfiguring the stage.  But in 1997 the theatre itself was totally renovated with the addition of public spaces for talks, food and drink, a very pleasant members' lounge, as well as an expanded backstage.  And the Festival has grown to four theatres and a season that stretches from April until October - all of it inside without a train whistle to be heard**!

Robert Fairchild's innovative re-imagining of the original tent was expanded in 1997 and turned into an event centre that would have brought joy to the hearts  of Sir Tyrone, Tom Patterson, Miss Moiseiwitsch, "Skip" Manley, Oliver Gaffney and the incredible people who had a vision back in 1953. 

To celebrate the next stage in the Theatre's life and the first raising of the tent a sculpture grouping was created by a talented group of artisans working at the Festival.  As well as honouring the people who made the renewal in 1997 possible designer Douglas Paraschuk paid tribute to the remarkable "Skip" and stage carpenter Al Jones, who's handiwork included that first thrust platform.

This sculpture group on the lawn in front of the Festival Theatre celebrates the many people who's contributions made the renovation of the theatre possible.  But it also commemorates that first exciting day when "Skip" Manly and his crew - many of them local volunteers - raised the canvas on one of the four Queen poles. 

Design Coordinator Douglas Paraschuk's concept was realized in the Festival Workshops by property maker Ruth Abernathy with the assistance of Frank Holte and Brian Mcleod.  Another example of the exceptional creative work that comes out of the Festival shops.

Tent Master extraordinaire Roy "Skip" Manly (right) was known throughout the circus world as one of the greats - and as the years passed Festival veteran Al Jones (left) became as much a legend for his wizardry as a stage carpenter.

The one thing I find a bit puzzling is the little girl and her dog sitting in the bleachers watching - for some reason it strikes me as more Dorothy pointing the way to Oz than anything.  I don't really see where it was needed - those two figures straining at the ropes are enough, in my mind,  to convey the dream and the hard work that established the Festival.   I'm also not fond of the ostentatious statue of the Bard that stands nearby either.  However I do find the lovely rose garden with it's simple plaque remembering Ann Casson (Campbell) a touching tribute to a much respected member of the  company.

The gardens around the Festival Theatre are quite lush - almost too much so - however this simple rose garden serves as a memorial to Ann Casson.  The daughter of Dame Sybil Thorndyke and Sir Lewis Casson she came to Canada with her husband Douglas Campbell.  He was a member of the original company and she was to appear in subsequent seasons.

Though the Festival has grown well beyond the hopes of any of those original (in so many senses of the word) dreamers who watched as that first tent was unfurled in Queen's Park there remians a slightly homespun atmosphere to it all.   We are still in small town Ontario, there is still a nearby baseball diamond and there is still a wonder that this is all here.

*Well okay the concrete O in this case but let's be literary rather than literal!

**Stratford was once a railway hub with as many as 30 passenger trains going through a day - now there are only four though an old chap at the station was optimistic that there would be an increase in service in the future. 

September 9 - 1839: John Herschel takes the first glass plate photograph.

Now, fair Hippolyta

In 1976 Stratford was bursting with Canadian and International theatrical royalty - Kate Reid, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Gordon Pinsent, Jeremy Brett, William Hutt, Martha Henry, Brian Bedford and Maggie Smith. Several were to be visiting for the season but others like Hutt, Henry, Bedford and Smith became members of a company that gave some of the most exciting and memorable performances and theatre experiences of the period.

It was at Stratford that Smith and Beford were to forge a partnership that flowered in The Guardsman, Much Ado About Nothing and Private Lives.  And over five seasons Smith spread her wings in many of the great classical roles:  Cleopatra, Lady Macbeth, Rosalind, Marsha, Milliament, Elizabeth Gray, Beatrice, Madame Arkadina, Judith Bliss  and in 1977 the duel role of Hippolyta/Titania in a gorgeous A Midsummer Night's Dream set as an Elizabethan court masque*.

Susan Benson's costume sketch for Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1977.

It was a revival of the production from the previous year with Maggie Smith replaced Jessica Tandy as the earthly and fairy queens.  Designer Susan Benson created new costumes for Smith - Titania in flowing white, silver and gold floating through the woods almost mocking the stiff black, silver and gold of the court bound Athenian bride.

Maggie Smith as Hippolyta - every inch the image of Gloriana.  And a rollover will reveal her alter-ego  Fairy Queen Titania.  Perhaps the real Gloriana wished she could have been so free-spirited.

The work that goes into the costumes for any production at Stratford is remarkable - whither it is  a sequined cowgirl outfit for a dancer in Crazy for You or the Chaplain's stained and worn shirt in Mother Courage.  As part of a Festival display at the Stratford Perth County Museum (a delightful side trip that is definitely "worth the detour") several designers thoughts on how to dress Gloriana on the stage were on display.  And as with any costumes made in the workshops at Stratford they were stunning examples of the craftsmanship that has become one of the trademarks of the Festival.

One of those displayed was Hippolyta's first costume from that 1977 production. To get a closer look either left click on the hot spots at various points on the costume or left click on one of the titles below the picture.

Neck ruff | Necklace | Bodice | Panels | Border trim | Cuff and Sleeve | Collar | Image Map

A dress fit for a queen!  Fair Hippolyta indeed.

* The first production of A Midsummer Night's Dream I saw at Stratford in 1960 also had Elizabethan costuming though the fairies were dressed à la Turque.

August 28 - 1879:  Cetshwayo, last king of the Zulus, is captured by the British.

Sidd Gets Some Culture - Ontario Style

It's been almost a year since we had the pleasure of Sidd's company on one of our travels.  The last time the Hounds from Hell were left to the gentle mercies of their Uncle Pervy Sidd was off gallivanting around the United States of America with another colleague from work.  At that point we had the pleasure of Juan's company for a jaunt through Germany and Austria.  He attended the opera, several impressive exhibitions and even had caffe and strudel mit schlagsahne at the Zwinger in Dresden.

Juan has an afternoon coffee with a rather taciturn but seemingly contented Matrone aus Dresden in the
square in front of the Zwinger.  Her strudel was - you should excuse the expression - smothered in schlag.

However now it's Sidd's turn to join us for a bit of culture - Ontario style as we head down to Stratford.  Sidd has travelled on trains in Europe but this will be his first adventure on Via Rail - going to have to see how it compares.

Sidd was a bit overwhelmed by everything that's on offer this season but decided that for
his first go at Ontario Culture he'd try Shakespeare, Brecht, Gershwin and Farqhaur.

And though he's been to the theatre in London, Salzburg and several other places he's never seen anything by that Shakespeare guy.  And apparently this Stratford Shakespeare Festival has been going on for a while and has a reputation for doing the guy's stuff up pretty good.  And Sidd's heard there's a chance he'll be able to try some fancy stepping and learn a number from Crazy For You at one of the extra events.  Plus he'll get to meet Spo and Harper's Other Daddy and have some good food and wine.  Now if that ain't culture I don't know what is.

August 17 - 1959: Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, the much acclaimed and highly influential best selling jazz recording of all time, is released.

Lunedi Lunacy

Back in the 1980s as well as Shakespeare the Stratford Festival offered a yearly helping of Gilbert and Sullivan directed and choreographed by Brian Macdonald. Macdonald is recognized as one of his generations' important ballet choreographers but was also known for directing musicals, operettas and operas with a dance-like flair. His G & S productions were well-cast, beautifully designed, often campy, more often innovative and most often offensive to died-in-the-wool Savoyards. But the audiences flocked to see them and the SRO signs were up most nights that they played.

I saw The Gondoliers twice and each time this number brought the house down.



It may not have been traditional Gilbert and Sullivan but it was great fun!

22 settembre - San Maurizio