"The War of 1812", Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Stratford, ON

Gord and I went to Stratford today to see The War of 1812 at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

We go twice a year and take the train.  We both love the train and it's nice that we don't have to worry about dealing with traffic.  We left about 11am and got there just after 1pm.  We catch a train home about 9pm and get back to Toronto just after 11pm.

As we were walking towards downtown and the theatre, we noticed that Stratford has gargoyles.  Since we did the Doors Open:  Faces on Places Walking Tour last month, we have been looking up up up.

Here's the downtown ... it's cute.

Here's the Avon Theatre where Justin Bieber used to busk.

He has a star in front of the theatre now.

Here's Gord standing next to it.

The War of 1812 was playing at the Studio Theatre Annex.

When America declares war on Britain and her empire, a Native confederation led by the Shawnee chief Tecumseh defends its own territory by joining in the defence of Canada. After three years of bloodshed on land and lake, the Yankees have burned York, the Yorkees have burned Washington, and everyone has burned the Natives.

This was a VideoCaberet production.  I knew this was going to be in a smaller theatre.  The theatre has 72 seats, which made it very up-close and intimate.  I had expected the play to be dark and serious.  But it was the opposite ... it was funny and campy.   There were eight in the cast and they played different roles ... it was amazing how fast they changed costumes and characters.  There was no set ... basically they were in a small black box, wore colourful costumes and make-up and depended on lighting to set the mood.  I thought it was very well done.

After the play, we had a bite to eat at Molly Bloom's and then took a walk.

The city hall is cool.

Bieber fever lives!

It was such a nice day so we walked along the Avon River.

Gord is having a few words with William Shakespeare.

We always have one last drink or two at the Dominion House, which is across the street from the train station.

We sat on the a patio.  Surprisingly it was quiet ... must be because of the long weekend.

The train station is just behind the trees ... how's that for close?