Stratford Theater Festival

[Anonymous]

DH and I are considering a weekend getaway to Toronto and the festival in July while our child is at camp. Does anyone have tips? It looks like they have a shuttle to make things easy but then we miss a lot of time in Toronto.

Happy to receive recommendations for Stratford and Toronto. Restaurants, attractions, hotels. We have a small budget for this. It’s been a looong time since we’ve had a trip that’s just the two of us. We love theater and traveling.

[Anonymous]

Bump

[Anonymous]

I don't know that I have tons of useful advice. Maybe one thing: if you're planning on staying in Stratford, book accommodations early. Last summer we planned a trip to Stratford (combining with Toronto) only a few weeks out, and all the central/downtown hotels were booked. We ended up at a motor lodge a few miles out of town. It was fine, but we would've preferred something more central.

We saw two plays, Salesman in China and Cymbeline. The productions were top notch. I would gladly go again if there are shows I want to see.

(We live in the Detroit area, and Stratford and Toronto are easy drives for us.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know that I have tons of useful advice. Maybe one thing: if you're planning on staying in Stratford, book accommodations early. Last summer we planned a trip to Stratford (combining with Toronto) only a few weeks out, and all the central/downtown hotels were booked. We ended up at a motor lodge a few miles out of town. It was fine, but we would've preferred something more central.

We saw two plays, Salesman in China and Cymbeline. The productions were top notch. I would gladly go again if there are shows I want to see.

(We live in the Detroit area, and Stratford and Toronto are easy drives for us.)

I am the wife of PP. One of the reasons we had trouble booking was because we were booking for 4 in one room. OP, you should have more choices of rooms. But it is a pricy town in-season.

I saw some backstage tours that looked interesting in the catalog (prop warehouse, etc.). Look for those talks and extra tours.

We liked our dinner at Bentleys. Pub food because we were with teens. Nothing unusual but I remembered it exceeded my expectations.

The Bata Shoe Museum and the art museums in Toronto are very nice.

We also liked this Toronto local tour guide's walking tour. It's a bit hyped on his site, but still worth meeting someone very knowledgeable about his city.

https://brucebelltours.ca/

Toronto can have good theater but there wasn't much running the exact weekend we were there.

[Anonymous]

If you’re looking for something a closer to home (and certainly less expensive), the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) in Shepherdstown, WV is excellent.

[Anonymous]

Stratford is lovely, but you may also want to look at Shaw, which is in Niagara. There’s a lot more to do there!

[Anonymous]

Stratford is very nice but pricey for both theater tickets and lodging. If you’re only in Toronto for a few days and on a modest budget I’m not sure I’d lose one or more days to the Fesrival unless there are plays on you especially want to see.

[Anonymous]

You could consider a musical in Toronto if that's your thing.

[Anonymous]

First PP's wife again.

I think it can make sense and save money to stay outside of Stratford. But it would be like 45 mins away.

So for example, to go to a 2 PM matinee, stay in a highway hotel 45 mins away. Get up at 8, have breakfast, drive to Stratford, walk around town/shop/pick out a lunch place. Have a leisurely lunch then go to the theater. See a matinee. Get out, go to dinner. Then go to an evening show. Then drive back to your hotel.

That could save you $200 to $300 across two nights of hotel.

Also I'm remembering now that by Googling, I found a discount link/code that went through a regional charity's site. It only worked on select tickets/shows. I think it was maybe the local United Way.

We considered the Shaw Festival but didn't have enough time to fit in Stratford, Toronto, and Shaw. Juggling 4 people made things more complex and increased the costs to the point where each decision was more costly.

If you'd like more ideas, add your route and dates. There might be theater on the way.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much! We are looking at July 11-14 and would want to stay in town in Stratford because we are flying and not planning to rent a car.

[Anonymous]

My recc is to see if you can find Slings and Arrows streaming somewhere

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much! We are looking at July 11-14 and would want to stay in town in Stratford because we are flying and not planning to rent a car.

Hi! PP the wife here. I looked at some details for you.

You want to review the shows that are available to you. Given your dates, and the cost and hassle of transport and relocating hotels, I suggest you not book a hotel in Stratford.

I suggest you keep your hotel in Toronto and daytrip to Stratford using the shuttle bus and do two shows on Saturday the 12th.

My suggestions would be:

Anne of Green Gables at 2 PM
Forgiveness at 8 PM

If you prefer Shakespeare, then:

Winter's Tale at 2 PM
Macbeth at 8 Pm

If you look at the show layout, you'll see that the other days won't work very well for your trip.

We did two shows in one day and had fun.

You might want to check on picnic lunches being sold with the theater tickets. I think they have that and it would help you get your lunch quickly before the 2 PM show. Downtown is small but walking to the theater could take 20 minutes or so.

The Toronto bus leaves at 10 AM, gets in at 12 noon. Returns to Toronto at 11 PM and gets in at 1 AM so you might need a taxi to your hotel.

Stratford is a cute little town but if you're a theater buff, it's not a great loss to miss seeing the town. If you stroll it during the dinner break, you'll get a sense.

I think it might be hard to have fun doing other combinations of getting to Stratford and blending with Toronto.

You could possibly take one-way transport from the Toronto Airport direct to Stratford on Friday for $169 for 2 (see Festival website). Then see a 2 PM play Friday and a 2 PM play on Saturday. Then grab your luggage and take the 5 PM bus to Toronto. Sounds hard and worse choice of plays.

Tell me what you think of the Saturday all day idea?

[Anonymous]

I didn’t realize we couldn’t a late bus back! I thought we had to stay for the next day. I will factor this in. Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My recc is to see if you can find Slings and Arrows streaming somewhere

Absolutely. We watched it years ago on dvd and are going to watch it again. It’s part of what inspired the trip!

[Anonymous]

PP again to share the discount link that worked for us. As I recall, you had to gateway in from the charity page.

https://perthhuron.unitedway.ca/stratford-festival/

I think the discount worked for only one of our performances (we had two kids with us, and kids were also a discount category).

But somehow we managed to save a noticeable amount of money through this vehicle.

I'd be interested in hearing about your trip, if you have a chance. "Forgiveness" looks good, even if heavy subject matter. I'd have high hopes for that because Death of a Salesman in China was well done last year. I find contemporary dramas often don't hit the mark with me.

I was excited to see Cymbeline last summer. It's rarely performed. Winter's Tale is also a rarity.

When in Canada, Anne of Green Gables > Annie.

Unfortunate that Dangerous Liaisons is not playing during your dates.

You could see Beetlejuice on Friday night in Toronto.

Then on Sunday, do the Bruce Bell walking tour of Toronto at 10 AM, then have lunch, then go to a museum or other attraction.

Monday....depends on your return trip and what's open...