The Stratford Festival Story: A Catalogue-Index of the Stratford, Ontario, Festival 1953–1990 by J. Alan B. Somerset

Abstract

REVIEWS J. Alan B. Somerset, The Stratford Festival Story: A Catalogue-Index of the Stratford, Ontario, Festival 1953-1990. Bibliographies and Indexes in the Performing Arts, Number 8. (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1991). xxvii, 317. Illustrated. $49.95 US. The Stratford Festival Story, number 8 in the Greenwood Press series of bibliographies and indexes in the performing arts, is a companion volume to Stage Lives and Stage Deaths, and perhaps that is appropriate. The Stratford Festival Story records all the relevant details of every production at the Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ontario, from its inception in 1953 until 1990. As such, it records a significant part of the theatrical lives and deaths of countless actors, directors, and production personnel who have been part of the Stratford adventure over the years. The Stratford Festival Story is the published form of a data base that Pro­ fessor Alan Somerset, Chair of English at the University of Western Ontario, prepared for the Stratford Festival. Indeed, the book demonstrates only a fraction of the possibilities inherent in the data base. With this valuable tool provided by Professor Somerset, it is quickly possible to discover all the roles played by an actor at the Festival. Or, looked at from another angle, such being the marvel of computers, it is quickly possible to identify every actor who played Feste or Falstaff or the Fool. How many productions of As You Like It at Stratford? Ten, the most of any of Shakespeare’s plays, although Twelfth Night comes close behind. However, Festival trivial pursuiters will quickly tire of the book’s pedantic nature and leave it to the scholar. The scholar will applaud the thoroughness of Professor Somerset’s re­ search. Every production is catalogued, including much of the ephemera that appears every season as workshops or fringe activities. The facts are all here: opening and closing dates; number of performances; itineraries of tours; creative and production credits; cast lists; and a compact bibliography of significant reviews or interviews. The productions are discussed chrono­ logically, season by season, and within a season. The book begins with a brief overview of Festival activities and concludes with separate indexes of titles and names. If Professor Somerset’s book is of value to the researcher by itself, and it is, it is also valuable as an introduction to the riches of the Stratford Festival archives. The Archives are an indispensable repository of production records E n g l i s h S t u d i e s i n C a n a d a , 19, 3 , S e p t e m b e r 1993 and memorabilia. The Festival must be applauded for its support of this resource. It is encouraging to note that the data base will continue to be updated, as it has already proved invaluable. The book is a straightforward reference, but does not completely omit the flavour of living theatre. For example, we note that the stage manager’s notebook for Mother Courage contains “a memo from the Public Health authorities advising against use of a dead chicken as a stage prop.” However, it also does not draw attention to defamatory and colourful notations found in the many promptbooks, especially from the early years. Although The Stratford Festival Story appears to be very meticulous, there are some small errors or omissions that need to be corrected. Several ap­ peared on a cursory reading, which does suggest that there may be more. Stage managers are rarely credited prior to 1969; it must be possible to fill in some of the gaps. Actress Sally Sing/ial in the introduction becomes Sally Singal in the data base. Which is correct? Surely Sidonie Bell is Sidonie Ball, the Ophelia of 1991. There was a Master Merrythough and Mistress Merrythought in Knight of the Burning Pestle, 1990. Barren/ Yerma, 1979, is correctly described as “an improvisation inspired by Lorca’s Yerma” and yet Ken Dyba is incorrectly credited with authorship. Robin Phillips’s dates are wrong in the introduction. With the “Stratford Tempest” of 1980 still fresh, he certainly would not have been in charge in 1981. Indeed, it seems unkind not to credit Muriel Sherrin as Producer in...