The story
Stratford Festival in Stratford
The Stratford Festival opened in 1953 under a tent beside the Avon River, founded by Tom Patterson and directed by Tyrone Guthrie with Alec Guinness starring in the debut Richard III, and has grown into one of North America's largest classical repertory theatre companies. Its April-through-fall season now spans four venues, including the thrust-stage Festival Theatre, with Shakespeare alongside classic drama, contemporary plays and large musicals in rotating repertory.
The Stratford Festival opened in 1953 under a canvas tent on the banks of the Avon River, staged by local journalist Tom Patterson, who had spent years persuading skeptics that a small Ontario manufacturing town could host serious classical theatre, and directed by the British theatre figure Tyrone Guthrie, with Alec Guinness starring in the opening production of Richard III.