Festive Festivals Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Avon River

Stratford, Ontario, and the Avon River, were both named named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England, by it's early inhabitants. The area was first settled around 1832 by immigrants from England, and it soon became an important railway center. Before the Festival was founded in 1953, Stratford was mostly famous for it's local furniture industry, and is the County Seat for Perth County.

The other three choices are all important rivers in southern Ontario.

Answer: 1953

Tom Patterson, a local newspaperman, conceived the idea of the Festival, as a way to boost the economy of Stratford, when the importance of the Rail Industry began to decline in the early fifties. He brought in Tyrone Guthrie to be the first Artistic Director, and the first productions were staged in a large tent in 1953.

The new Festival Theatre building was opened in 1957. One of the featured actors in that first season was Lawrence Olivier. Many stars such as Brian Bedford, Maggie Smith, Christopher Plummer, and Peter Ustinov, have performed at Stratford over the years, so attracting audiences to the Festival has never been a problem.

Answer: Tyrone Guthrie Theatre

The four theatres that the "Stratford Shakespeare Festival" operated in 2014 are the main "Festival Theatre", the "Avon Theatre", the "Tom Patterson Theatre", and the "Studio Theatre". The "Tom Patterson Theatre" is converted into a curling rink during the winter months.

The Festival has no current plans for expansion, however if the Festival does expand again, a "Tyrone Guthrie Theatre", named after their first Artistic Director, would seem to be a logical choice.

Answer: Molière

While the "Stratford Festival" has occasionally performed the works of George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Moliere, and Noel Coward, only Moliere wrote his plays in French. Born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in 1622, some of his better known plays are "Tartuffe", "The Misanthrope", "The Imaginary Invalid", "The School For Scandal", and "The Imaginary Invalid". Moliere died in 1673 at the age of 51 from tuberculosis.

In 1817 his body was transferred to the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

Answer: They are moved to an indoor winter location every November.

The birds are rounded up every November and are marched to their winter habitat. Seeing the long line of birds being marched through Stratford is a strange sight, but since the birds are always very well fed, they have no desire to fly off to a new location. Their wings have not been clipped like the wings of the Ravens at the "Tower of London" have been.

Answer: Bernies' Hideaway

There is no "Bernies' Hideaway" at the "Shaw Festival". The "Court House Theatre" was the Shaw's first theatre and it opened in 1962. As it's name suggests, the building was originally built to be the local Courthouse The "Festival Theatre", the "Royal George", and the "Studio" are the other three venues used by the "Shaw Festival" in the small picturesque town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Answer: Twelfth Night

"Twelfth Night" was written by Shakespeare and is often performed at the "Stratford Festival". "Major Barbara", "Saint Joan", and "Androcles and the Lion" were all written by Shaw. The "Shaw Festival" usually puts on at least two or three of the plays that Shaw wrote each season.

They also perform plays written by other playwrights from Shaw's time period, such as Eugene O'Neill, Oscar Wilde, and Noel Coward.

Answer: The Parkway has its own police force.

The 55 kilometre Niagara Parkway is a very beautiful and scenic road to drive on. At one time it was notorious for the speeding local youth at night, however the presence of its own local Police Force has made the road much safer for visitors to drive on.

Some of the tourist highlights on this road are Brock's Monument, the Welland Canal, the Whirlpool Cable Car, the Falls, the many small wineries and roadside shops selling produce from the local orchards. The Parkway is entirely within Canada and of course does have posted speed limits.

Answer: Mel Gibson

During the twentieth century Mr. Gibson has not performed at either the "Stratford Festival", or the "Shaw Festival", although it would be interesting to see him play the role of Hamlet someday. Christopher Plummer was born in Canada and has performed at both Theatres many times. Brian Bedford has a home in Stratford and often performs and directs there. Peter Ustinov performed in the role of King Lear at the "Stratford Festival" in 1980.

Answer: They are elected yearly by the membership.

Although both the Federal and Provincial governments do grant some money to both Festivals, both depend on donations from their corporate sponsors and the membership in order survive, since the sale of tickets does not cover all of their expenses. An annual membership to the Festival allows the donor a vote at the Annual Meetings when the Boards of Directors are elected.

The Boards then appoint an Artistic Director, usually for a set period of time, that can be renewed. The members also get some special privileges, one of the most important of which is the chance to order prime tickets before they go on sale to the general public.