Inspiring imagination helps feed the future While our business is built on crop inputs and insights, we know our communities grow from imagination and inspiration. Nutrien is proud to sponsor Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan. www.nutrien.com Photo credit: 2012 Tourism Saskatoon 2 SHAKESPEARE ONTHE SASKATCHEWAN A MESSAGE FROM THE ARTISTIC PRODUCER WILL BROOKS Welcome to Treaty 6 territory and the homeland of the Métis. Whether you have been in the audience of every single production of Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan in the last 34 years or this is your first time under these tents – welcome, from myself and the entire team. It is certainly an honour for me to get to work with this fantastic Shakespeare on the Sask family and to create a festival for such an amazing audience. One of the pleasures that we have this year is to expand to three shows! It may not be every year that we get to do this so I would highly encourage you take advantage of it. It means that we have the pleasure of two amazing new guest directors – huge shout outs to Kelli and Greg. It also means that we get to take some more adventurous risks with our adaptation of Titus and bring you something completely outside the box. You have surely caught wind of our exciting plans for the site redevelopment and will see much more on that as we get closer and closer to putting a shovel in the ground. Check out our renderings, consider supporting the campaign, and get ready for a whole new level of Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan with that same great festival atmosphere. I want to thank all of the previous staff and leadership that got Shakespeare on the Sask to this amazing health where we could embark on this, and thank you as well the board members, staff, and volunteers now and in the past who have put immense effort into making these site plans come to this point. The folks who enjoy the next 50 years of Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan and indeed the entire community will benefit from that hard work. As a director and designer, I must say that working on Titus A. puppet revenge has been of the most challenging and rewarding shows that I have ever had the fortune of working on. I am a believer in long artistic processes, innovative ways to combine Shakespeare’s brilliance and the modern world, and of artistic partnerships that allow for possibilities that no partner could achieve on their own. This show really epitomizes those things for me and is a poignant comment on our times. We have been working on this show for two years and the artistic leaders of it have been dreaming about it for decades in some cases. It was important for us as an organization to create this third offering as a place where we could take a risk and try to offer something truly unique. We have tried to be true to that and hope you take a risk with us and see where this goes. My deepest thanks go to Kristi and Crispi of Stumped Productions for being risk takers on this adventurous partnership with us and for the incredible amount of work, dedication, and heart that they put into making this happen. DIRECTORS NOTES – HAMLET KELLI FOX If it be now, ‘tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all. Shakespeare tests us all as artists. With his best efforts, with plays like Hamlet, all we can do is attempt to rise to the genius of the text before us. Scholar Harold Bloom has famously claimed that Hamlet himself, as a character, represents the “Invention of the Human” on the stage. But all the characters in this play are enormously complex and contain a multitude of possible interpretations. In coming to this play as a director I knew I did not want to choose a historical period that would force strained justifications. And I wanted to see if we could use the fact that we have gender parity on our casting, to explore the story from a fresh perspective. So, we have pushed the story 35 years into the future. The gender politics that are always there to be contended with are still there, but we have a different balance of power; which of course, just leaves us open to a different kind of power imbalance. Ophelia is stronger than we are used to seeing her, just enough to walk recklessly into danger by a different route. We have a Laertes whose claim for vengeance is based less in historic male honour, than in abiding familial devotion and a sense of betrayal. Our Polonius is a mother, whose concern for both of her children may supersede her own ambition. And, of course, Hamlet himself must be re-examined in such a society. We explore this territory not to attempt to improve on Shakespeare’s art, but to see what else it might reveal to us in a new context. DIRECTORS NOTES – THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR GREG OCHITWA The Merry Wives of Windsor is a play about daily life. Of all his plays, it stands out because Shakespeare decided to shine his magical light on the ‘middle class’. He undoubtedly had a masterful understanding, and way of presenting regal worlds filled with queens and kings, but Merry Wives shows that he was equally adept at holding up the mirror for a more regular and common kind of human. With this play in particular, it seems like Shakespeare crafted a story inspired by his community. Following his lead, we decided to do the same. Drawing inspiration from the text, the artists in the company, and the people in our community and province, this is The Merry Wives of our world today. It’s a funnily familiar world, filled full with friends, fights, lies, laughter, and love. It’s a world that’s been crafted by an all star team of huge hearted artists, with you specifically in mind. And, because of this amazing group of humans, it’s a world that I’ve been happily escaping to for the past few months. Tonight, it’s your turn to escape. Welcome to our Windsor. SHAKESPEARE ONTHE SASKATCHEWAN 3 A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD CHAIR RICK EWEN Welcome to the 34th year of Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan Festival! Be sure to enjoy all of our productions from the long-time favourite The Merry Wives of Windsor to the tragedy Hamlet, a particular favourite for our audiences, and this year promises to be no different. And don’t forget that we are presenting Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare’s first play. Just to make sure this special event is unforgettable, we have partnered with Stumped Productions, and the entire performance will be provided by puppets – 45 of them – the like of which you have never seen before! This is an incredible opportunity that most people will never have – a rare play and a unique delivery – don’t miss it! Last year, we reversed the position of our performance tent to its current location at the north end of our site and had excellent feedback. So, in light of that, we are very pleased to continue with this configuration. And speaking of the site – the last two years have seen a lot of behind the scenes work as we prepare to renovate the grounds. Over the decades, our Festival site has been developed on an as-needed basis, with infrastructure added to meet developing needs. We are planning to undertake a major overhaul, which will address many issues all at once – and prepare the site for the long term. We will be redeveloping on the existing site, with a concrete base and risers – and yes, still with a tent overhead; new artist change building, combination administration and bar building, fresh permanent slabs for our community stage and break-out tents; and proper utilities and infrastructure. We are partnering with the MVA on pathway and natural scaping plans, which will result in the site – long closed to the public except when the Festival is active – being open year-round. We are working with the City to ask them to upgrade the washrooms across from our site, and development of a long-needed drop-off area for our audience and other users of the Meewasin Trail and area attractions. And – there’s lots to talk about – we have received proposals on an innovative and spectacular site lighting scheme, which we hope will develop into a significant area attraction. We are all very thankful for the dedication and hard work of our staff, cast and crew, volunteers, board members and of course, our sponsors. Each plays a vital role in creating the unique experience that enchants audiences year after year. We could not possibly be successful without each and every one of their contributions. Above all, welcome and thanks to you, our audience and our supporters. In our 34th performance year, I am sure you will agree that Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan continues to be the summer’s marquis performance event in our city and our province. A MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR OF A MESSAGE FROM THE MINISTER OF SASKATOON PARKS, CULTURE AND SPORT Charlie Clark Gene Makowsky Mayor of Saskatoon Minister 4 SHAKESPEARE ONTHE SASKATCHEWAN SMTWT FS 2018 PERFORMANCESWGJULREADINGY 4 JULY 5 JULY 6 JULY 7 MWW - The Merry Wives of Windsor SCHEDULE HAMLET - Hamlet TITUS A. - Titus A. puppet revenge PREVIEW PREVIEW OPENING OPENING PWYC - Pay what you can atinee vening MWW HAMLET MWW HAMLET JULY 8 JULY 9 JULY 10 JULY 11 JULY 12 JULY 13 JULY 14 HAMLET SPECIAL PWYC/GWL Matinee DSI PRESENTS PRESENTATION SASK WRITERS GUILD READING TALKBACK Welcome to the Bazaar HAMLET HAMLET MEDIEVAL FEAST CRY HAVOC MWW PREVIEW OPENING TALKBACK MWW PWYC TITUS A.