2026 Season

This is my final season as Artistic Director, and so Anita Gaffney, our Executive Director, has graciously given me this space to welcome you, while also sending you her very best wishes for a fantastic year.

The start of a Stratford Festival season has been part of my life for 39 years, and I come to this one with so many feelings – gratitude, excitement and a poignant awareness that this will be a year filled with “last times.”

For this final season, I selected the theme “This Rough Magic” because it speaks to the art of theatre, reminding us that, like Prospero’s art, it is conjured from imagination and sustained by craft. 

Being able to practice that craft in an environment like the Stratford Festival, where we work alongside so many kindred spirts and with sufficient resources, is rare and wonderful. As I recall the many remarkably talented people I have collaborated with over the years, I feel enormously fortunate. I urge you to look around you and hold these people and this experience close.

Whether you are stepping onto our stages for the first time or returning to familiar ground, know that you are part of something extraordinary.

A season is a journey, best likened to a marathon: sometimes exhilarating, sometimes gruelling, but always transformative. Pacing is important. We have developed processes to provide you with the resources and support you need to succeed. This handbook is here to guide you, and we are here to help.

Thank you for bringing your artistry to this milestone year. I’m so happy to spend it with you.

Antoni