A Good Block

The Stratford Festival of Canada

January 11 to June 10, 2007

The Stratford Festival Archives is the world’s largest performing arts archive devoted to a single theatre. The complete history of one of the world’s foremost classical theatres is housed in a state-of-the-art, purpose-built facility. The Archives is but one of the Stratford Festival’s myriad treasures. The Festival’s most significant contribution to the world of Shakespearean performance is its revolutionary thrust stage, celebrated here in the exhibition, A Good Block, curated by Jane Edmonds. 

In 1951, Stratford journalist Tom Patterson envisioned a Shakespearean festival as a way to revive his hometown of Stratford. He invited British director Tyrone Guthrie to advise on its development. In the same year, the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters & Sciences, better known as the Massey Report, was published, leading to the establishment of the Canada Council for the Arts in 1957. Robertson Davies, who wrote the theatre portion of the report, argued that while Canada had its share of theatrical talent, it lacked facilities, training, and opportunity. 

On March 24, 1952, Guthrie told the Shakespeare Stage Society: “There will be no drastic improvement in staging Shakespeare until there is a return to certain basic conditions of the Shakespeare stage.  There is no need for an exact replica of the Globe Theatre, but it is essential to make the contact between players and audience as intimate as possible.” 

In 1953, a simple oak stage was built in the midst of a cement circle.  Consisting of a hexagonal, curtainless apron of oak, with a diagonal prow for a balcony, this innovative “thrust” stage was an experiment—one that would eventually be imitated many times over and would, in fact, change the way Shakespeare is presented around the world. Taking its inspiration from both the Elizabethan stage with its pillared, porticoed façade, as well as ancient Greek amphitheatres, the stage was realized by English designer Tanya Moiseiwitsch. Now internationally famous, the Stratford Festival has presented productions of Shakespeare on this wooden stage that rival productions around the world. 

The exhibition, A Good Block, features a full-scale mirror-image model of the thrust stage balcony demonstrating the changes that the stage underwent from 1953 to 1962 (under then-artistic director Michael Langham and Moiseiwitsch in association with designer Brian Jackson).  Costumes and props from the 2006 production of Twelfth Night (designed by John Pennoyer), including a caged, animatronic Langur Monkey and a Green Indian Ring-necked Parakeet, are also on view.  Infamous for their creation of faux food and décor, the Stratford exhibition also includes a bushel of apples and a Boar’s Head Tavern Tapestry, from the 2006 production of Henry IV, Part 1 (designed by Dana Osborne), as well as a Jousting Horse from the 1979 production of Richard II (designed by Daphne Dare). This metal horse, which has a twin, exemplifies the fine metal work produced at the Stratford Festival. Also on view is a crown designed by Ann Curtis for the 1994 production of King John which was used again in a 1996 production of King Lear. The crown is a replica of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation crown. On seeing the replica, the Queen commented: “I’m sure the original is much heavier!” 

Image:
The Stratford Festival of Canada’s thrust stage (1997)

Site Map • Collections • Events • Publications • Donors • Links

Last modified: March 14, 2007