Ontario: Stratford, The Stratford Festival Offers Family Theatre Experience. Sharing theatre with your children can be not just enjoyable but memorable and Stratford Festival makes the sharing easy providing not just live theatre, but action and interaction with oodles of creativity as part of the unique activities for the young theatre lover and his or her family.

As an added bonus, all young people who attend the theatre as part of the Family Experience programme will also receive a newsletter called Shakesperience, mailed twice annually. It is a clever, educational and filled with trivia, contests and information on the acting company and the season playbill.

Plenty to do. While the play’s the thing in Stratford, Ontario, visitors also enjoy a host of other great activities.  Visit the Stratford-Perth Museum or Gallery Stratford, both near the Festival Theatre. Downtown, there’s Stratford’s Gallery Indigena, which showcases aboriginal artwork, Family and Company, an award-winning toy store, Rheo Thompson made-in-Stratford chocolates and a great selection of gift, clothing and bookstores.

A bonus for the youngest. Also in the area, The Waterloo Regional Children’s Museum provides youngsters with adventures in art and technology. The experience starts out right with entry via child or adult-sized doors. Spheres marking a gigantic yellow wall along with steel beams, wooden floors and the original elevators once used by Goudies Department Store. Four floors of exhibits and activities created to entertain and educate and thrill visitors during their stay. (10 King Street West Kitchener, Ontario Canada N2G 1A3. 1(519) 749-9387 or www.thechildrensmuseum.ca )

Reaching out to teenagers. Not just for the youngest in the audience, Stratford Festival has a variety of exceptional encounters for teens. What is the toughest audience a Stratford actor can face? According to Festival veteran Keith Dinicol, it's probably a high school matinée. "You can't lie to them," he says. "Anytime you do something they don't buy, they let you know. But you know that if you can convince them, you can convince anyone."

Mr. Dinicol is one of many actors who give their time to support the Festival's outstanding educational programmes. He has helped out with workshops for high school, university and college students and the Shakespeare on Wheels and Teaching Shakespeare programmes, and is a regular on the pre-show chats for high school students. For him, working with young people is a way to re-awaken his own playfulness. Says Mr. Dinicol: "There has to be a great sense of joy in what we do. They remind us of that."

Pat Quigley, the Festival's Education Manager, says the Festival's education programmes are designed to give context, deepen appreciation, develop new skills and support school curricula. By introducing young people to classical theatre at an early age, they may also help to build future audiences. The wildly popular Shakespeare School is a summer theatre camp for ages 13 to 18. Students stay in residence, take classes in text, voice and movement, and attend Festival performances.

Throughout each season there are a variety of special ticket prices for students as well as families. The Family Experience tickets save as much as 71% off the regular ticket prices. The first thing to do once in town is to go to either Festival or Avon Theatre box office to pick up the Family Experience Package.  Each kit includes a special house program and additional behind the scenes facts.

Location on the planet. Stratford is located about three hours from Detroit and about  an hour from Toronto. The Family Experience discount applies to all performances, all season long. Stratford Family Experience, 55 Queen Street, P.O. Box 520, Stratford, Ontario N5A 6V2 or Box Office 1-800-567-1600 or www.stratfordfestival.ca
 
Stratford eating places. Restaurants range from the funky York Street Kitchen to the sublime Rundles, which is ranked as one of the top restaurants in Canada. Try terrific pizza at Pazzo, stop in for a drink at Down The Street (where the Festival actors often hang out), or enjoy the fine cuisine of Bijou, The Church or The Old Prune. Many restaurants offer takeout fare for impromptu picnics by the Avon River and there are choices to suit every taste and budget.

Editor's note: When in Stratford with children there is a toy store that demands attention. They have the reputation for having a friendly staff and an exceptional selection of toys. It makes me say oh to be a kid again. Stratford Festival conducts a series of Shakespeare Schools for young people ages 13 to 18.This popular option for young thespians fills up early in the calendar year. Ontario has both music and theatre for families. Music festivals, some of the best are Canadian, always have venues for children. A vacation in Canada is easy on the vacation purse because the exchange rate continues to be in the favor of the US dollar and no, everything does not cost more. For a sneak preview go to www.familyandcompany.com
 
For fun, kid-friendly Stratford Hotels check out Uptake.com. They search 5000 travel sites...so you don't have to!

 

Content by FTF images by Stratford Festival. Copyright 2008.