The Shaw Festival

We've been going to the Shaw festival, which takes place in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario, since 1996. Here's a bit about the festival from Wikipedia:

The Shaw Festival is a major Canadian theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, the second largest repertory theatre company in North America. Founded in 1962, its original mandate was to stimulate interest in George Bernard Shaw and his period, and to advance the development of theatre arts in Canada.

Below are my comments on our expereince at the Shaw in 2005.

This was our 10th year in a row up here. We now stay in the Marriott Courtyard at Niagara Falls (Ontario). The town of Niagara Falls is a bit seedy, but the area directly around the falls is very nice. We hadn't seen the falls in several years (even though we can almost hear them from our room), but this year I wanted to get some pictures with my digital camera, so we spent our first evening looking at the falls. Below are a couple of shots I got that first night.

Niagara Falls - Canadian Version Up Close

Boats Going To And From Falls With Wet People

Before I first came up here, I wasn't aware that there is a "Canadian side" to the falls, and that actually, the Canadian falls are more impressive than the American falls.

But, we don't spend much time in the town of Niagara Falls (the fact that it's main attractions besides the falls seems to be the "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" museum and Louis Tussand"s wax museum says it all). Rather, we hang out in the unbelievably beautiful little town of Niagara-On-The-Lake, home of the Shaw Festival. The eminent critic John Simon has described the Shaw as "The best repertory theater on the entire continent", and it is inconceivable to me that he's wrong. I think the actors here are among the best in the country (I mean, I've never seen better, in the movies or on the stage - with some individual exceptins of course), and virtually every play we've seen here has been superb. Of course, to some extent, that depends on one's taste, and the play's author. But, for me, seeing these plays has always been an exciting and gratifying experience (and that's a significant statement from a "movie person" like me).

The Day's Lineup

The Courthouse Theater

The Royal George Theater And The Shaw Shop

The more memorable plays for me this year are: (by the way, the Playbills are minature works of art in themselves, and I've been collecting them since 1996, but starting last year, some unfortunate changes were made in their design).

1. The Constant Wife (Somerset Maugham)

I was surprised at how "modern" were the ideas of this play, written (and first performed in the U.S.) in 1926. It's theme is the sexual and economic freedom of women. An article in the Playbill summarizes it nicely: "Constance rejects the social convention voiced by her mother and practiced by her husband. When she chooses to become financially self-sufficient and thereby to claim equality with her husband in sexual matters, she redefines the marriage contract for woman of her class and time".

I had no idea that this sort of thing could even talked about publicly in 1926. And yet, this play had a run of 300 performances in that year!

The Constant Wife Playbill

2. Something On The Side (Georges Feydeau)
I'd never heard of this playwright, but the Playbill says "In his day - his thirty most productive years were 1886-1916 - Feydeau was considered the funniest, wittiest dramatist in France". I can believe that, based on this play alone, which I found hilarious at times.

The plot: two male acquaintances run into each other at a small restaurant. It turns out that both are there for assignations with women. And that both are cheating - not only on their wives, but on their mistresses! Well (and I think this is sort of funny) it turns out that each man is meeting the mistress of the other. And (of course there's more) these two women happen to be the first two wives of the Maitre'D of the restaurant!


Something On The Side Playbill

3. Bus Stop (William Inge)

I was very impressed with Inge's "Picnic", which the Shaw put on a few years ago, and equally impressed when I read "Bus Stop" a few days ago. To quote once again from the Playbill, Inge said of this play: "Bus Stop, I suppose, has less real story than any play that ever survived on Broadway. I meant it only as a composite picture of varying kinds of love, ranging from the innocent to the depraved".

And, it is exactly that. It takes place on one snowy night, when the few passengers on a bus are stranded for a night in a small cafe because the roads are impassable. The young (21) cowboy Bo passionately and idealistically loves the "chanteuse"/near prostitute Cherie. The café owner Grace "loves" the bus driver Carl in a "occasional one night stand" sort of way (she has no illusions or regrets about this). The drunken professor Dr. Lyman loves the high-school-girl/part-time waitress Elma in a pathetically unrealistic sort of way (and yet the fact that he shows an interest means a lot to the innocent young girl). And, there's a strong paternal (perhaps repressed homosexual) love for Bo by his older friend Virgil (who has "looked after" Bo since his father died when he was 10).


Bus Stop Playbill

4. Gypsy (Music by Jule Styne, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim)

This is a wonderful musical that primarily focuses not on the stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, but on her mother, the archetype of all pushy "stage mothers". One of its well-known songs is "Everything's Coming Up Roses". I may now check out the 1962 movie version with Rosalind Russell.


Gypsy Playbill

5. Journey's End (R.C. Sherriff)

A poignant "anti-war" play which takes place in a bunker during WWI, where Six English officers await a massive German attack. I was struck by the authenticity of the language, and by the glaring intensity of what was not said. And, by the humor that somehow was able to emerge from men who were very aware that they were doomed.


Journey's End Playbill

6. You Never Can Tell (George Bernard Shaw)

A very funny play about "true love", which conquers in spite of the restrictive atmosphere of Victorian England. Shaw is not one of my favorite playwrights, but this play is superb!


You Never Can Tell Playbill

Lunch is a very pleasant experience in Niagara-On-The Lake. Often we eat at a place called The Harvest Barn, which looks like a sort of barn on the outside, while inside it offers soups, sandwiches, salads, and pies, which one can eat on picnic benches outside. Why can't there be places like this in the D.C. area?


The Harvest Barn

Niagara-On-The-Lake also has fruit stands and "country markets" all over the place. Walker's Country Market is an example.


Walker's Country Market

One day we ate lunch at the Whirlpool golf course, and I was struck by the... elegance of these golf carts all in a row.


Golf Carts Ready For Inspection

Near our hotel is a huge observation tower (there's some restaurants up there too). We hadn't been up to the top since our first time here in 1996, so I was anxious to get some shots with my digital camera.


Observation Tower

Before 1996, I wasn't even aware that there was a "Canadian side" to Niagara falls (I mean, I didn't realize that there was more than one waterfall here). But, the Canadian falls are actually wider than the American falls, as you will see in the shots below.


Niagara Falls (American Version)


Rainbow Bridge, Connecting Canada With The U.S.


Niagara Falls (Canadian Version)

Finally, it's nice to walk (and drive) around town looking for interesting things to take pictures of. I've always had a particular fascination with boats and lighthouses.


Boats


Lighthouse