July 6 - July 11, 2015

PROGRAM INFORMATION PACKET

McMaster StratfordShakespearean Seminar Series

- 4 -- 1 -

�e 2015 season at Stratford promises to be an intriguing one – the theme for the season will be discovery – a pursuit which is extremely important to us at McMaster! As Stratford’s Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino describes, “Shakespeare lived in an age of rapid change, a time of new worlds, new beliefs and scienti�c discoveries. In short, he lived in an age very much like our own.” �is is certainly a theme we can all relate to in today’s society and should provide us with some great entertainment.

Our host hotel for our series will again be �e Parlour Inn where we will have our Monday night dinner as well as daily lunches. We will continue to give people the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful variety of cuisine in Stratford during most nights, but will dine together as a group on Monday and Friday night. Seminar highlights will again include: premium theatre tickets; lectures by theatre scholars; discussions with Festival actors and sta�; and the choice of weekday and weeklong packages.

Participants will again be able to register on-line this year and you can visit alumni.mcmaster.ca for all of the details. If you would still like us to mail you a paper copy, just give us a call and we will be happy to send it to you.

A very special thanks to Dr. Graham Roebuck, our Academic Director, for his continued commitment to the program as well as insightful notes on this year’s program included in this package. I am con�dent that after reading Graham’s notes you will want to register for the series.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank �e University of Waterloo for providing us with their beautiful, state-of-the-art facility where we can comfortably enjoy our lectures during the week. We are thrilled with our continued partnership in delivering this series.

We are always happy to answer your questions and you can reach us by calling: 1-888-217-6003 or by email at damicok@mcmaster.ca or escalan@mcmaster.ca.

Looking forward to seeing you in Stratford in July!

Karen McQuigge, Director, Alumni Advancement

Dear Friends,

- 2 -

Date Time Performance Location Monday, July 6 3:00 pm- 5:00 pm Seminar registration The Parlour Inn

5:00 pm Welcome Reception The Parlour Inn

5:30 pm Welcome Dinner The Parlour Inn

7:30 pm Forum Music: Standards from the American Songbook Festival Theatre Lobby

Tuesday, July 7 9:30 am Lecture: Hamlet with Jane Freeman Waterloo Stratford Campus 10:45 am Lecture: The Physicists with Graham Roebuck Waterloo Stratford Campus 12:00 pm Lunch The Parlour Inn 2:00 pm Hamlet Festival Theatre 8:00 pm The Physicists Tom Patterson Theatre Wednesday, July 8 8:45 am Post-performance Discussion on Hamlet Waterloo Stratford Campus 9:30 am Lecture: Oedipus Rex with Peter Cockett Waterloo Stratford Campus 10:45 am Lecture: The Taming of the Shrew with Kel Pero Waterloo Stratford Campus 12:00 pm Lunch The Parlour Inn 2:00 pm Oedipus Rex Patterson Theatre 8:00 pm She Stoops to Conquer Avon Theatre Thursday, July 9 9:30 am Talking Theatre Tom Patterson Theatre 10:45 am Lecture: The Adventures of Pericles with Jane Freeman Waterloo Stratford Campus 12:00 pm Lunch & Post Performance Discussion on Oedipus Rex The Parlour Inn 2:00 pm Sound of Music (optional) Festival Theatre 8:00 pm The Taming of the Shrew Festival Theatre Friday, July 10 8:45 am Post-performance Discussion on The Taming of the Shrew Waterloo Stratford Campus 9:30 am Talk: Possible Worlds Waterloo Stratford Campus 10:45 am Actor Discussion Groups Waterloo Stratford Campus 12:00 pm Lunch The Parlour Inn 2:00 pm Possible Worlds Studio Theatre 5:00 pm Dinner Revival House 8:00 pm The Adventures of Pericles Tom Patterson Theatre Saturday, July 11 8:45 am Post-Performance Discussion: The Adventures of Pericles The Parlour Inn 9:30 am Talk: Stratford Festival Guest The Parlour Inn 10:45 am Lecture: Carousel and Sound of Music with Lois Kivesto The Parlour Inn 12:00 pm Lunch The Parlour Inn 2:00 pm The Diary of Anne Frank (Optional) Avon Theatre 8:00 pm Carousel Avon Theatre

Itinerary

- 4 -- 3 -

2015 Seminar PricesWeekday Seminar$709 CDN (Optional lunch package available for $40)The weekday price includes all seminar activities Monday evening - Wednesday evening, a welcome reception, dinner on Monday night, and theatre tickets for four performances. If purchasing the optional lunch package two lunches are included.

Weeklong Seminar$1099 CDN (Optional lunch package available for $100)The weeklong price includes seminar activities Monday evening - Saturday evening, a welcome reception, dinner on Monday night, dinner on Friday night and theatre tickets for eight performances. If purchasing the optional lunch package five lunches are included.

MealsAll of our lunches and Monday night dinner will be at The Parlour Inn. The Friday night dinner will be at Revival House, formerly the Church Restaurant. If you have any dietary restrictions please let us know when you send in your registration form.

SeatingAll of the seats we are given from the Festival are Premium Orchestra and Spotlight seating except for the optional performance. We have been promised the very best seats, despite continued intense demand for tickets in the coming season.

We attempt to provide a variety of seats for each member, and can usually accommodate special needs. Please let us know your particular requirements, such as Hearing Assistance Receivers, or your wish to be seated with particular friends. These requests must accompany your registration form.

Program Details McMaster Alumni Receive

$50 CREDIT toward program

- 4 -- 4 -

A most cordial welcome to you in this 56th McMaster Stratford Shakespeare Seminar Series which runs from July 6th – 11th. Our venues, as before, are the spacious, air-conditioned University of Waterloo campus, and the adjacent Parlour, where we take many of our meals. We hold a number of their hotel rooms for our members.

For his third year as Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino has produced a challenging and nuanced season. �e central theme is “discovery”. “Surprising truths about the world” are discovered, as are truths about the characters themselves that change their lives forever. I cite part of Mr Cimolino’s thematic summary because it seems to me very apt, arising from his understanding of the essence of the early modern age. �e birth of the modern world in the unsettling discovery of new worlds in every direction, inward and outward, at what seemed a frantic pace of change, pitted belief against skepticism at every turn. “New philosophy calls all in doubt,” wrote John Donne. All systems of belief and what had been held as unshakably true were challenged. “So have I heard and do in part believe it,” says scholarly Horatio about supernatural events, having just had his skepticism shaken to bits. Which part? All parts are crumbled into atoms, pronounces Donne, and for Hamlet man has become merely the “quintessence of dust”. Belief, skeptical agnosticism and rationality are cast into the crucible together.

And of our own times Cimolino observes, we are “inured to change . . . it is our new faith.” �e modern works staged this season explore this vertiginous mindscape and the classics we shall see—Oedipus Rex and She Stoops to Conquer, the essence of tragedy and of comedy—resonate in the 2015 play list, echoing the theme of surprise.

�e three Shakespeare plays we shall see are Hamlet, �e Taming of the Shrew and �e Adventures of Pericles. I shall say little here about them—they, although breathing the spirit of their own times, prove timeless in the questions they explore. Shrew is always a focus of controversy: how do we read Kate’s changed personality? She lives in a world of poses, social and sexual. Is Petruchio a �rm but fair loving guide of his headstrong wife, or brought under her control? Is the play “a document in the history of misogyny” or a subtle exploration of the dynamics of behaviour?

Notes from the Academic Director

- 4 -- 5 -

Notes from the Academic Director (cont.)

Pericles, performed less often at Stratford than the other two, was long suspected of being only a little bit Shakespearean, and fairly seldom staged. But perceptions changed and we have become much more receptive to its haunting beauty and the human narrative that does not depend on logic or naturalism, but rather on the appreciation of the nature of patience, constancy and forgiveness and the miraculous. How would Horatio have responded to this story?

Cimolino himself directs Hamlet on the Festival �eatre stage—the centerpiece of the season. �e cast is amazingly strong: Jonathan Goad as Hamlet, Seana McKenna, Gertrude, Geraint Wyn Davies, Claudius and the Ghost, Adrienne Gould, Ophelia, Tom Rooney, Polonius, Mike Shara, Laertes. Each is a veteran of many seasons and familiar to us as leading actors. I look forward to Juan Chioran, now in his fourteenth season, in the cameo role—a Shakespeare gem--of Player King. Several actors make their �rst or second Stratford appearances: Josh Johnston, Jennifer Mogbock, Ti�any Claire Martin, to name just three of those who come to the main stage from the Birmingham Conservatory that primes new and diverse talent to aim for the great roles of theatre. We shall watch their progress with interest.

Shrew is directed by Chris Abraham and designed by Julie Fox. As I write, their excellent production of Chekhov’s �e Seagull is playing in Toronto—a good omen for Shrew. Petruchio is played by Ben Carlson, Kate by Deborah Hay; Tranio, the second largest part (Kate’s is third) by Tom Rooney. Also in the �ne cast are old favourites Brad Rudy (Curtis) and Brian Tree (Grumio). �is production is also on the Festival �eatre stage.

Likewise mounted at the Festival is our third Shakespeare, Pericles, with Evan Buliung, a �ne artist, taking the title role, and Deborah Hay playing both his wife �aisa and Marina, his daughter. Among the strong cast are low-life characters, Boult and Pander played by Randy Hughson and Keith Dinicol, both among my favourite performers for their energy and bold clarity. Stephen Russell, always a pleasure to hear and watch, plays Helicanus. Scott Wentworth—yes, we expect to see him perform brilliantly in the spotlight—is directing the show. I’m expecting a tremendously moving production that lights up Cimolino’s theme of discovery.

- 4 -- 6 -

�e plays that Stratford designates “Classics” were written about two thousand years apart—yet they �t that billing. Oedipus, penned by Sophocles more than 400 years BCE is nothing less than a foundational text of civilization, and, for those of us brought up in the West, the original account of catastrophic self-discovery. Its austere lines never lose their terrifying power. You know the story, but it’s as if you never did. �e title role goes to Gord Rand; Jocasta is played by Yanna McIntosh, who, as I write, is a brilliant Arkadina in �e Seagull. She is, to her �ngertips, a classical actor par excellence.

Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer was �rst performed in 1773. Its title comes from a poem by Dryden in which he depicts the comical paradox of a prostrate lover “when he lowest lies / But stoops to conquer, and but kneels to rise.” Surprises, of course. Goldsmith, whose career was to put it mildly, chequered, must have had such amiable and admirable qualities. Bottom of his class at Trinity, Dublin, he continued to enjoy very little success in life. Horace Walpole called him an “inspired idiot”—a�ectionately, I think—and Dr Johnson valued his friendship. Who would not? �e play is a comedy of manners (not a designation appropriate for Oedipus). It is “laughing comedy”, not angled or satirical, but amused by life’s surprises. �e director is the redoubtable Martha Henry—great actor, director, and currently head of the Birmingham Conservatory. Melancholy note: Goldsmith, novelist, physician, playwright, was a failure in the game of life, some thought. But he left us this sparkling comedy.

With Possible Worlds John Mighton’s witty and penetrating art returns to Stratford. �e Little Years was staged to great acclaim at the Studio �eatre in 2011. �is intimate space is the venue for a thriller—a murder mystery with a twist that involves a search for a mad killer who steals brains, and a victim, George, who continues to . . . well, continue his attempted romance with Joyce and to ponder the great philosophical conundrum about the simultaneous existence of other worlds. “How could anything be di�erent from what it is?” she asks. How indeed. I shall say no more here than that this remarkable play has been described as “an evocative and subtle theatrical event that lingers in the mind.” Where else?

Mighton, a McMaster alumnus, is also a leading �gure in the world of mathematics, renowned for

Notes from the Academic Director (cont.)

- 4 -- 7 -

his new method of teaching the subject. Possible Worlds is directed by Mitchell Cushman, making his debut at Stratford. Krystin Pellerin, as Joyce, is also making her Stratford debut while other members of the cast, Cyrus Lane (George), Gordon S. Miller, Sarah Orenstein and Michael Spencer-Davis are well established performers.

Like Mighton, Dürrenmatt is enthralled by the other worlds science and philosophy have revealed, and, in the terrible aftermath of the atomic bomb, appalled by what may—or must inevitably—lie in store. Written in 1961 and given its premiere at the Zürich Schauspielhaus in 1961, the English translation, �e Physicists, soon appeared in London and New York. �is season will see its �rst staging at Stratford. Only one other work of his has played here—�e Visit in 1981. �is is rather surprising given the playwright’s stature.

Set in a Swiss asylum for the insane, Fräulein Doktor Mathilde von Zahnd, a “hunchbacked spinster . . . almost world famous” psychiatrist, presides over three inmates who go by the names “Newton”, “Einstein” and Möbius, each exhibiting extravagant delusions. �e play opens with a dead nurse—she has been throttled—lying on the �oor. A police inspector prepares to light a cigar. Love and death, of course, permeate this rare�ed atmosphere in which the profound paradoxes of scienti�c knowledge—“everything that can be thought”—are raised. A tragi-comic mystery, it is also satirical and horribly funny. Its tone has been described as one of “incandescent insanity.”

Miles Potter directs a splendid cast that including Seana McKenna as the Fräulein Doktor; Geraint Wyn Davies, Graham Abbey and Mike Nadajewski are the physicists. �e Designers’ parts in this are very challenging—Dürrenmatt’s essay setting the scene poses problems for them. I look forward to seeing how Peter Hartwell (set) and Gillian Gallow (costume) solve their challenges.

�e papers that comprised Anne Frank’s diary were found on the �oor of the secret annex where the Frank family and other Jewish friends were in hiding from the Gestapo. Betrayed and sent to Belsen concentration camp, all the Frank family perished except for their father, Otto, to whom

Notes from the Academic Director (cont.)

- 4 -- 8 -

the diary was later given by the man who had preserved the papers. Anne started what was to become her testament to her courage, intelligence and inextinguishable humanity just after her thirteenth birthday in 1942. She died of typhus in March 1945 just a short while before British forces liberated the survivors of the extermination camp.

Sara Farb, who made a strong impression at last seminar’s actors’ discussion session, plays the title role. Her parents are played by Lucy Peacock and Joseph Ziegler. Yanna McIntosh and André Morin play Mr & Mrs Van Daan. Jillian Keiley and Bretta Gereke, Director and Designer, made their Stratford debuts last season with Alice �rough the Looking Glass at the Avon where the Diary is also to be presented. Interesting staging is expected.

�e musicals for this season are Carousel and �e Sound of Music, both the work of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Sound of Music is so well-known especially as a consequence of the immensely successful 1965 movie, although the stage productions on Broadway, 1959 and in London’s West End in 1961 were amazing hits followed by revivals around the world, that little needs to be said here about it. It was to be R & H’s last collaboration. �e leads—Captain Von Trapp and Maria—are played by Ben Carlson and by Stephanie Rothenberg, who is making her debut. What an entry to Stratford! �e direction and choreography are in Donna Feore’s super-competent hands, with musical direction by Laura Burton who always does outstanding work.

Carousel was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s second collaboration after the smash hit of 1943 Oklahoma! A much darker work that had to be jollied up a lot to suit the demands of Broadway musicals, it opened in 1945 and ran for almost nine hundred performances. Its prior history is fascinating. Originally a play in Hungarian, Liliom, by Ferenc Molnár (1878-1952) from 1909, it concerns the disastrous life of a “tough guy”, a wife-beating fairground worker, who turns to theft and gambling, unsuccessfully in both new careers, and, following his suicide, spends some 15 years in purgatory, before being permitted a brief return (Hamlet says nobody returns from that bourn) to earth where he seeks out his daughter. I won’t spoil the plot for you, but remark that Molnár, who escaped to the USA from Nazi persecution, came to agree with R & H about a

Notes from the Academic Director (cont.)

- 4 -- 9 -

softer, kinder dénouement to his story. Molnár, we are told, turned down a proposition by Puccini to turn his play into an opera, not wanting to see it sentimentalized. For some devotees Carousel is R & H’s crowning achievement. I can hardly wait to see it at Stratford where I missed it in 1991. What luck—a second chance (sorry, Hamlet).

�ere is a large cast of which I note that the leads are played by Alexis Gordon—her Stratford debut—and Jonathan Winsby who has made such a strong impression with his talent in musicals. Susan Schulman is the director and the maestro of design is Doug Paraschuk, a �rm favourite of the Seminar.

What a rich programme! I hope to see you and enjoy your conversation in July.

-Graham Roebuck, Academic Director

Notes from the Academic Director (cont.)

- 4 -- 10 -

You are responsible for booking your own accommodations. A block of rooms has been set aside at the Parlour Historic Inn and Suites for the McMaster group, and are available on a �rst come, �rst served basis.

For other housing options and booking/contact information you can also visit the Stratford Festival’s website:http://www.stratfordfestival.ca/visitor/accommodations.aspx?id=1123

Accommodations

Participant Contact InformationFirst Name: ________________________________ Last Name: __________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________ City: _______________________________________________

Province: __________________________ Zip/Postal Code: _______________ Country: _____________________

Home Phone _________________________ Email: ____________________________________________________

Registration Information

☐ WEEKLONG Seminar ........................................................................... $1099 CDN _________ ☐ To add lunches with the group on Tuesday through Saturday add $100 _________ ☐ Optional - Monday Night Music - Monday, July 6, 2015 add $25 _________ ☐ Optional Show - “Sound of Music” add $107.35 _________

☐ WEEKDAY Seminar ............................................................................ $709 CDN _________ ☐ To add lunches with the group on Tuesday and Wednesday add $40 _________

☐ I require a hearing device for performances Free _________☐ I am a McMaster Alumnus/a deduct $50 _________ SUB-TOTAL = _________ DEPOSIT - _________ TOTAL = _________

☐ Enclosed is a cheque/Visa/Mastercard/American Express for $100 for my non-refundable deposit fee.☐ Enclosed is a cheque/Visa/Mastercard/American Express to cover my total Seminar fee.

Please make cheques payable to McMaster University and in Canadian funds.

Credit Information (if applicable)

☐ Visa ☐ MasterCard ☐ American ExpressCard #: _____________________________________ Expiry Date: ______________________

Signature of Card Holder: _________________________________________________________________

Additional Information

☐ I would like to sit with _____________________________________________________________☐ I have special dietary requirementsPlease Specify: ______________________________________________________________________

McMaster Contact Information

1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada ◆1-888-217-6003 ◆ alumni@mcmaster.ca

-

under section 39(2) and section 42 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act of Ontario (RSO 1990). Questions regarding the collection or use of personal information should be directed to the University Secretariat, Gilmour Hall, room 210, McMaster University.

Stratford SeminarsFax #: 905.524.1733

☐ Optional Show - “Diary of Anne Frank” add $99.44 _________

☐ Optional - Monday Night Music - Monday, July 6, 2015 add $25 _________

CVV: ______________________

Please note: $100 deposit to secure your registration is non-refundable. Online registrations must be paid in full. If you wish to make a $100 deposit with the balance due by June 1, 2015, please mail or fax form.

Cancellation Policy: Before June 1, 2015 refunds will be provided minus the $100 deposit. A�er June 1, 2015 no refunds will be provided.

☐ Special seating needs ______________________________________________________________

☐ Optional - Aisle Seat Fee. One per party. Limited number available. add $40.00 _________

☐ Optional - Aisle Seat Fee. One per party. Limited number available. add $20.00 _________

($5 per show)

($5 per show)