“This Rough Magic”
The Festival’s 2026 season will be the final year under the inspired leadership of Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino. The culmination of a 40-year career with the Festival, including 14 seasons as Artistic Director, Cimolino’s farewell season is a sweeping celebration of theatre, with plays united under the theme “This Rough Magic,” a reflection on the importance of theatre in our lives.
“In planning this season, I chose plays that are among my personal favourites and that hold great meaning for me,” says Cimolino. “I would like to direct all of them myself, but I’m very happy to have so many wonderful directors joining me as I complete my tenure here at the Stratford Festival, a place that has been my artistic home for 40 years.”
Taken from Prospero’s farewell in The Tempest, “The theme of ‘This Rough Magic’ captures the heart of what theatre does best: it conjures illusion to reveal truth,” says Cimolino. “On stage, we witness life in all its complexity, crafted through stories that are both timeless and deeply resonant.
“This season explores the power of performance itself: plays within plays, masques, deceptions, and acts of imagination that remind us that illusion is not just entertainment: it’s a tool for truth.”
The Hobbit
Adapted by Kim Selody
Based on The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Directed by Pablo Felices-Luna
At the Avon Theatre
“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players”
This year’s Schulich Children’s Play, The Hobbit, based on the book by J.R.R. Tolkien and adapted by Kim Selody, offers a playful yet profound theatrical experience for audiences of all ages. This fast-paced, imaginative adaptation distills Tolkien’s epic into a journey rich with illusion, transformation and creativity, capturing the heart of the original novel while celebrating the magic of live performance.
The Tempest
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Antoni Cimolino
At the Festival Theatre
“O brave new world,
That has such people in’t!”
In his final season as Artistic Director, Antoni Cimolino will direct The Tempest, Shakespeare’s tale of magic, transformation and reconciliation. As a final Shakespearean offering, The Tempest holds profound resonance for Cimolino. Like Prospero, he has conjured worlds from words and guided audiences through storms and wonders. The Tempest is not only a masterwork of theatrical imagination, it is a meditation on legacy, on letting go and on the enduring power of art to heal and inspire. It is, in every sense, a fitting farewell.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Graham Abbey
At the Tom Patterson Theatre
“The course of true love never did run smooth”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream delights in theatrical playfulness. In an enchanted forest, mischievous fairies and a troupe of hapless amateur actors collide in a tangle of love, illusion and transformation. This delicately woven fantasy, filled with glorious poetry, is one of Shakespeare’s best loved comedies.
Guys & Dolls
Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows
Based on a story and characters of Damon Runyon
Directed and Choreographed by Donna Feore
At the Festival Theatre
“If the size of your bundle you want to increase
He’ll arrange that you go broke in quiet and peace
In a hideout provided by Nathan
Where there are no neighbors to squawk.
It’s the oldest established permanent floating
Crap game in New York”
For Guys and Dolls, the beloved Broadway classic featuring gamblers, showgirls and unexpected romance, Donna Feore has a thrilling new production planned, with a promise to include some favourite moments from her 2017 production, one of the top-selling musicals in the Festival’s history.
Something Rotten
Book By Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell,
Music and Lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick
Conceived by Karey Kirkpatrick and Wayne Kirkpatrick
Directed & Choreographed by Donna Feore
At the Festival Theatre
“Pretend to be mad and talk a lot. Then — and this is the important bit — do nothing at all until you absolutely have to and then make sure everyone dies.”
Back by overwhelming popular demand is Something Rotten!, the runaway hit of the 2024 season. This riotous, irreverent musical comedy takes audiences on a wild ride through Elizabethan England, where two struggling playwrights hope to outshine Shakespeare by inventing an entirely new form: the musical. Packed with clever wordplay, show-stopping numbers, and winking nods to both Shakespeare’s canon and Broadway history, it’s a joyous celebration of theatre itself. Under Feore’s direction and choreography, the production dazzles audiences with its wit, energy and sheer inventiveness. At the Stratford Festival, Something Rotten! has found its ideal home, where fans of Shakespeare and musicals can revel in its clever wit and downright silliness.
The Importance of Being Earnest
Written by Oscar Wilde
Directed by Krista Jackson
At the Avon Theatre
“All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does, and that is his.”
The Importance of Being Earnest returns to the Avon Theatre with all its sparkling wit and satirical brilliance. Beneath a charming surface brimming with mistaken identities and social absurdities lies a deeper exploration of performance itself: how we present versions of ourselves to the world, and how those illusions shape our relationships and desires. In Wilde’s hands, deception becomes delight and playacting becomes revelation.
