Inaide the Stratford Festival

uviSNO"Acting is handed on from actor to actor. It's the only wayto do it... from observing the people who came before

you. That is really the way theatre goes"

In OFFSTAGE ONSTAGE: Inside the Stratford Festival, Stratford cameras gobackstage during an entire season to capture the creative spirit at the heartof a treasured Canadian theatre company.

For five decades, the Festival's stage has been home to the world's great playsand performers. Award-winning director John N. Smith (The Boys of St. Vincent),given unprecedented access backstage, offers a fascinating look at thepersonalities and the production process behind live theatre performance.

Peek into William Hutt's dressing room as he does his vocal warm-ups beforeTwelfth Night. Watch Martha Henry command the stage in Who's Afraid ofVirginia Woolf? Observe an up-and-coming generation of young performers wholearn from the masters. Meet dozens of artists, craftspeople and technicianswho reveal their secrets, from shoemaking, sword fighting and sound effects tomakeup and mechanical monkeys.

Join us behind the scenes of Canada's premier classical theatre institution ...and discover the love for the stage that drives this artistic company.

Resource guide on reverse side,

DIRECTOR: John N. SmithPRODUCER: Gerry Flahive

83 minutes Order number: C9102 042

Closed captioned.A decoder is required.

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EDUCATOR'S GUIDE

The Stratford Festival of Canada

The dream for a national classical theatre began in a tent in 1953 and now theStratford Festival is one of the largest theatrical companies in the world. Eachseason the Festival presents over a dozen plays, from Shakespeare to contempo-rary classics to new works. It employs approximately one thousand actors, direc-tors, designers, stage managers, technicians, administrators and other staff.

This video is ideally suited forthose teachers and students at the secondary andpost-secondary level interested in theatre arts.

The Shakespeare Plays

• HENRY IV, PART 1; HENRY IV, PART2; HENRY THE FIFTH

Plot Synopses: Does Prince Hal have the makings of a noble king when he prefersto party with his friend Falstaff? Hal is eventually crowned King Henry V; herenounces his wild ways and becomes a noble and righteous king, uniting hiswartorn country and inspiring his troops to great victory.

In the video: Actor Jonathan Goad (as Hotspur) is rehearsing a scene, "The King iskind ..." (Henry IV, Part 1, Act. IV, Scene iii) with Janine Pearson, the voice coach.

Douglas Campbell (as Falstaff) applies his makeup.

Graham Abbey (as Henry V) is rehearsing the lines of "Saint Crispin's day" speech(Henry The Fifth, Act IV, Scene iii).

' TWELFTH NIGHT

Plot Synopsis: Duke Orsino is in love with Olivia, who falls in love with hismessenger Cesario, who is really Viola disguised as a man and who loves DukeOrsino. Get the picture? Completing this comedy are the other disorderlycharacters bringing fun and games.

In the video: Nicholas Van Burek (as Sebastian), Tara Rosling (as Cesario-Viola)and Michael Therriault (as Sir Andrew Aguecheek) in front of a student audiencedemonstrate fight scenes and comic timing.

• THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

Plot Synopsis: This play deals with racial prejudice, hatred, love and mercy.Bassanio marries Portia but must soon leave her to rescue his best friend,Antonio, who cannot pay his debt to Shylock, a Jewish merchant. Portia, disguisedas a man, poses as Antonio's lawyer and wins the case.

In the video: Peter Hutt (as Antonio), Lucy Peacock (as Portia, disguised asBalthasar) and Paul Soles (as Shylock) are in the courtroom scene where Portiasays Shylock must be merciful, "The quality of mercy is not strained..." (TheMerchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene i).

Directed byJOHN N. SMITH

ProducerGERRYFLAHIVE

Director ofPhotography

PIERRE LETARTE esc

Executive ProducerLOUISE LORE

Featuring fromThe Stratford

Festival ofCanada

Artistic DirectorRichard Monette

PerformersGraham Abbey

James BlendickDouglas CampbellPeter DonaldsonMichelle GirouxJonathan GoadMartha HenryWilliam HuttLucy PeacockRami Posner

Michael Therriault

Head of VoiceTraining

Janine Pearson

Stage ManagerLouise Currie

DirectorHENRY IV PART 1Scott Wentworth

Head of PropertiesFrank Holte

DirectorTHE SEAGULLDiana Leblanc

Suggested Activity

1. Take a speech from the list below and re-write it in modern laguage. Be aware ofthe multiple meanings of the same words when translating Shakespeare's text intocontemporary speech. Perform the two versions. Discuss which version providesgreater imagery, resonance, rhythm and power,

Henry IV, Part 1 (Hotspur, Act IV, Scene iii, lines 52-88)

Henry IV, Part2(Lady Percy, Act II, Scene iii, lines 9-45) (Hal, Act IV, Scene v,lines 138-176)

Henry The Fifth (King Henry, Act IV, Scene iii, lines 18-67)

Twelfth Night (Viola, Act II, Scene ii, lines 17-41)

7776 Merchant of Venice (Portia, Act IV, Scene i, lines 184-205)

2. Design and build a model set (or costume sketches) of one of these scenes.Set it in a time period other than Elizabethan and justify why it would work inanother era.

• THE SEAGULL, BY ANTON CHEKHOV

Plot Synopis: Arkadina, a famous actress, vacations at her country home with herlover Trigorin, a renowned writer. Arkadina's son, Konstantin, is a troubled writer,hopelessly in love with Nina, an aspiring young actress who falls for Trigorin.Laughter and tears abound as these artists struggle to find meaning in their lives.

In the video: Michael Therriault (as Konstantin) and Michelle Giroux (as Nina) arerehearsing a scene with the help of the director Diana Leblanc.

Suggested Activity

Choose one act from Chekhov's The Seagull ana create and/or design, and plan thesound effects, and soundscapes for each scene. Select music that helps to bridgescene changes or transitions and underscore some of the spoken text that will setthe mood or the tone of the dramatic scene. Mark the sound cues in your script.Have a technical rehearsal, or "cue-to-cue" which means the play is not run in fullbut the sound cues are played exactly on cue and sound levels are set.

• WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, BY EDWARD ALBEE

Plot Synopsis: George, a seemingly soft-spoken history professor, is married toloud, domineering Martha. The play explores a tormented marriage with wit,understanding and bitter pain.

In the video: Peter Donaldson (as George) is in his dressing room discussing theplay and how theatre is topical and immediate, "You feel...it's alive, that they arenot historical pieces, they are not dusty old things that should be left on the shelf,they are what's going on around us."

Suggested Activity

Read Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Prepare a prompt book for one of the acts.Place each page of the script on a blank piece of paper with a very wide margin onall sides to allow you to write down blocking (the movement/placement of eachcharacter throughout the scene), character notes, light cues and so on.

• INHERIT THE WIND, BY JEROME LAWRENCE AND ROBERT E. LEE

Plot Synopsis: Religious zeal and scientific principles clash in this courtroomdrama. On trial is a schoolteacher in a small Midwestern American town whois accused of teaching the theory of evolution.

In the video: The first rehearsal of the production is a "read-through" - theactors (such as William Hutt) and director (Richard Monette) and stagemanager (Louise Currie) sit at a table to read and discuss the script. See alsothe props department building the mechanical monkey.

Suggested Activity

Read from other courtroom scenes listed below and compare the ideas andarguments on themes of freedom of expression, observing the stylisticdifferences of each of these plays: Galileo (by Bertolt Brecht); The Crucible(by Arthur Miller); The Lark (by Jean Anouilh).

Glossary

The following is a list of some of the many different skills employed (from artistto technical) in the theatre.

Actor: interprets the character in the play and communicates the words andideas of the playwright.

Carpenter: interprets the set designer's drawings and builds the set for theproduction.

Choreographer: creates all dance movement and rehearses the actors in theproduction.

Costume Designer: creates and/or builds costumes for the actors in theproduction.

Director: interprets the play as a whole, instructs actors as to the type ofcharacters they are to portray, collaborates with designers and techniciansand coordinates the artistic vision.

Fight Director: creates and coordinates fight scenes, rehearsing actors in theproper and safe way to fight in stage combat.

Lighting Designer: creates a lighting design that complements the wholeartistic vision of the production.

Lighting Technician: hangs and focuses lights and operates the lightingequipment.

Musical Director: responsible for all the music in a production, rehearses themusicians and actors and conducts the orchestra if needed.

Production Manager: supervises and coordinates with the technical director,designers, wardrobe and props, keeping an eye on the budget, resources andequipment.

Properties: (props) is responsible for buying, building or borrowing stageproperties and set dressings.

Scenic Artist or Painter: artist is responsible to the set designer and overseesthe painting, decorating and furnishing of the set. The painter is responsiblefor painting backdrops and flats, furniture and set pieces.

Set Designer: creates a design of the production, first creating blueprints anda model of the set.

Sound Designer: interprets and creates the themes and ideas of the playthrough music or sound effects.

Sound Technician: runs the sound for the production, including all soundeffects and music (unless there is a live orchestra).

Stage Manager: runs the rehearsals, ensures everyone is on time and worksclosely with the director. During the performance s/he calls the light andsound cues and ensures that the director's vision is maintained.

Technical Director: manages and coordinates the sound and lightingtechnicians and set builders.

Voice Coach: provides a series of exercises for actors to free, develop andstrengthen the voice to its optimum level of expression and communication.

Wardrobe: includes head of wardrobe, cutters, dyers, seamstresses anddressers. They execute the designer's sketches, building and maintaining thecostumes for the actors.

Wigs and Makeup Artist: creates a design and applies the actor's wig andmakeup.

WebsitesStratford Festival www.stratfordfestival.caProvides information on its current plays, training and its theatre stores.

The Encyclopedia of Canadian Theatre www.canadiantheatre.comThis website is a quick resource for theatre and the arts in Canada.

Theatre Ontario www.theatreontario.orgProvides information on training, career opportunities, publications andresources.

TheatreBOOKS www.theatrebooks.comA Canadian bookstore for theatre, film, opera and dance books, offeringresources for teachers, students and professionals.

Related NFB films• Musical Magic: Gilbert and Sullivan in Stratford, 1984.•Acting Class, 1980.•The Players, 1974.• The Stratford Adventure, 1954.•Shylock, 1998.