Stratford Festival Watch Parties Resume This Thursday With THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR

The Stratford Festival's popular Thursday night free viewing parties resume this week with an entertaining variety of offerings, including new and legacy films and all new original content safely created during the pandemic - adding to the rich mine of theatrical content available on Stratfest@Home, the Festival's $10-a-month streaming service.

Three Shakespeare films will be featured in this latest round of viewing parties. They stream worldwide at 7 p.m. ET on www.youtube.com/stratfordfestival and remain available for free for 36 hours.

Thursday, January 21

The Merry Wives of Windsor, directed in 2019 by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino and featuring Sophia Walker and Brigit Wilson as the merry wives and Geraint Wyn Davies as Falstaff, with Graham Abbey as Mr. Ford, Michael Blake as Mr. Page and Lucy Peacock as Miss Quickly.

Thursday, February 4

Othello, directed in 2019 by Nigel Shawn Williams and featuring Michael Blake in the title role, with Laura Condlln as Emilia, Amelia Sargisson as Desdemona, Gordon S. Miller as Iago and Johnathan Sousa as Cassio.

Thursday, March 4

The Taming of the Shrew, directed in 1988 by Richard Monette and featuring Colm Feore as Petruchio and Goldie Semple as Katherina.

Ten weeks of original new content!

Other viewing parties in this round feature two newly created Stratford Festival series, Undiscovered Sonnets and Up Close and Musical - a double bill guaranteed to entertain and move you during these winter months.

Each Thursday from January 28 to April 15 (which the exception of the above noted days), host Rebecca Northan will introduce you to a new couple whose love story will be shared and celebrated in sonnets spontaneously created by a talented team of Sonneteers, Raoul Bhaneja, Ashley Botting, Ijeoma Emesowum, Bruce Horak, Kevin Kruchkywich, Ellis Lalonde and Lee Smart. Their prowess will wow you and the series will fill your heart with joy and laughter.

Then you'll enjoy a sumptuous cabaret performance by some of the Festival's greatest musical theatre performers, Robert Ball, Dan Chameroy, Cynthia Dale, Alexis Gordon, Chilina Kennedy, Robert Markus, Marcus Nance, Vanessa Sears and Kimberly-Ann Truong. Directed by Richard Ouzounian with musical director Franklin Brasz and associate director Thom Allison, these spectacular concerts come to you from the beautiful Festival Theatre, providing a heartwarming glimpse of the stage we are all missing so much.

Enjoy fabulous content on your own schedule with Stratfest@Home, the Festival's subscription service, available for just $10 a month.

The watch parties and free 36-hour streams of The Merry Wives of Windsor and Othello are the only way to stream these films outside of Canada until they are added to Stratfest@Home in the summer of 2022. The two films are available now to subscribers within Canada and for purchase on Blu-ray and DVD worldwide at www.stratfordfestival.ca/store.

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