The Stratford Festival was born in 1953. Now everyone knows the name, but then no one knew if the idea would fly. The conditions in the theater were primitive at best. The only things certain to fly were the sparrows roosting in the rafters of the barn that was being turned into a theater. Rehearsals ended when it rained- the actors' voices couldn't compete with the sound of rain hitting the barn's metal roof. On the other hand, when it was sunny, the heat under that roof became unbearable. Only after several weeks of rehearsals were there even tents for the actors to live in.
Most of the actors knew each other from working together in Canadian radio, TV or theater. Some famous people were there- Alec Guinness, Irene Worth and Douglas Campbell. The legendary director, Tyrone Guthrie, was there, "all of six foot plus, stalk[ing] around in sagging black swimming trunks and, don't ask me why- a transparent plastic raincoat."
Sounds strange, awful, and wonderful. Look for this history of Stratford on the new non-fiction table. (L-theater)
Fifty Seasons at Stratford, by Robert Cushman (oversize HC, 2002, $4)
