Shaw Festival production history
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.
The following is a chronological list of the productions that have been staged as part of the Shaw Festival since its inception.
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , it was announced on 26 August 2020, that the entirety of the 2020 season was cancelled, with the possible exception of A Christmas Carol , which may still be performed depending on government guidelines.[ 3] Previously, on 22 July 2020, it was said there was the possibility that some performances of Charley's Aunt and Flush might begin in September.[ 4]
Gypsy – book by Arthur Laurents , music by Jule Styne , lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
The Devil's Disciple – by Bernard Shaw
Sherlock Holmes and the Raven’s Curse – by R. Hamilton Wright , based on the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Mahabharata – adapted by Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes , original concept developed with Jenny Koons
Charley's Aunt – by Brandon Thomas
Prince Caspian – adapted for the stage by Damien Atkins , based on the novel by C. S. Lewis
Flush – based on the novella by Virginia Woolf , adapted and directed by Tim Carroll
Assassins – book by John Weidman , music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim , from an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr.
The Playboy of the Western World – by J.M. Synge
Desire Under the Elms by Eugene O'Neill
Trouble in Mind – by Alice Childress
The History of Niagara – created and performed by Mike Petersen and Alexandra Montagnese, at Fort George Historic Site , in association with Parks Canada
A Christmas Carol – by Charles Dickens
Me and My Girl – book and lyrics by L. Arthur Rose and Douglas Furber , book revised by Stephen Fry , with contributions by Mike Ockrent , music by Noel Gay . Presented for the Christmas season.[ 5]
2021
For the 2021 season, the Shaw Festival presented many of the productions that were originally scheduled for 2020.[ 6]
Gypsy , originally planned for the 2020 season, and then intended to be staged in 2021, has now been postponed until the 2023 season.[ 7]
The productions that were originally scheduled, and subsequently cancelled, for 2020 and not planned for 2021 are: Mahabharata , Prince Caspian , Assassins , The Playboy of the Western World , and Me and My Girl .
2022
2023
Shows announced for the 2025 season:
Frequency of production of Shaw's plays
The Admirable Bashville – 1974
Androcles and the Lion – 1963, 1984, 2017
Annajanska, the Bolshevik Empress – 1994
The Apple Cart – 1966, 1976, 2000, 2023
Arms and the Man – 1967, 1976, 1986, 1994, 2006, 2014
Augustus Does His Bit – 1987
Back to Methuselah – 1969, 1986
Caesar and Cleopatra – 1975, 1983, 2002
Candida – 1962, 1970, 1983, 1993, 2002, 2011, 2024
Captain Brassbound's Conversion – 1979
The Dark Lady of the Sonnets – 1964, 1988
The Devil's Disciple – 1974, 1984, 1996, 2009, 2021
The Doctor's Dilemma – 1969, 1991, 2000, 2010, 2022
The Fascinating Foundling – 1984
Fanny's First Play – 1973, 1987, 2001
Geneva – 1988
Getting Married – 1972, 1989, 1999, 2008, 2019
The Glimpse of Reality – 1989
Great Catherine – 1977
Heartbreak House – 1964, 1968, 1978, 1985, 1999, 2011
How He Lied to Her Husband – 1963, 1984, 2018
The Inca of Perusalem – 1985
In Good King Charles's Golden Days – 1981, 1997, 2009
John Bull's Other Island – 1964, 1985, 1998, 2010
Major Barbara – 1967, 1978, 1987, 1998, 2005, 2013, 2025
The Man of Destiny – 1963, 1981, 1993, 2018
Man and Superman – 1962, 1966, 1977, 1989, 2004, 2019
The Millionairess – 1965, 1977, 1991, 2001, 2012
Misalliance – 1966, 1972, 1980, 1990, 2003, 2012
Mrs. Warren's Profession – 1976, 1990, 1997, 2008, 2016
The Music Cure – 1982
O'Flaherty V.C. – 1971, 1983, 2018
On the Rocks – 1986, 2011
Overruled – 1980, 1992
Passion, Poison and Petrifaction – 1986, 1998
The Philanderer – 1971, 1980, 1995, 2007, 2014
Press Cuttings – 1971, 1991
Pygmalion – 1965, 1975, 1982, 1992, 2004, 2015
Saint Joan – 1981, 1993, 2007, 2017
Shakes versus Shav – 1989
The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles – 1983, 1996
The Six of Calais – 1995
Too True to be Good – 1974, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2022
You Never Can Tell – 1963, 1973, 1979, 1988, 1995, 2005, 2015
Village Wooing – 1964, 1979, 1990, 1999, 2023
Widower's Houses – 1977, 1992, 2003
Note: The following original theatrical works by Shaw have never been produced at the Shaw Festival:
Buoyant Billions , Cymbeline Refinished , Farfetched Fables , The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet , and Why She Would Not .
References
Bibliography
Holmes, Katherine, ed. (1986). Celebrating!: twenty-five years on the stage at the Shaw Festival . Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills Press. ISBN 0-919783-48-1 .
External links