Shaw Festival Box Office Now Open for 2010 Season

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, January 11, 2010 . . . The Shaw Festival Box Office is accepting online, mail and fax orders from the general public for the 2010 season starting today.  Commencing January 16, the Box Office will be open for phone and in-person orders. 

The Shaw Festival’Äôs 2010 season resonates with the wit, social commentary and relevance for which Bernard Shaw himself was well known and features two plays by the Festival’Äôs namesake: The Doctor’Äôs Dilemma, Shaw’Äôs relevantly comedic exploration of the medical establishment, directed by Morris Panych; and John Bull’Äôs Other Island, Shaw’Äôs exploration of the culture of misunderstandings and misconceptions, directed by Artistic Director Emeritus Christopher Newton.  

Artistic Director Jackie Maxwell directs An Ideal Husband, Shaw’Äôs favourite Oscar Wilde work, featuring Shaw Festival favourites Patrick Galligan and Steven Sutcliffe.  Mr. Galligan will also be performing in The Doctor’Äôs Dilemma, while Mr. Sutcliffe will also be featured in Eda Holmes’Äôs production of Caryl Churchill’Äôs Serious Money.  Ms. Maxwell will also direct Linda Griffiths’Äô Age of Arousal.

Deborah Hay, who garnered rave reviews as Billie Dawn in the 2009 runaway hit Born Yesterday, returns as Sylvia Fowler in Alisa Palmer’Äôs production of Clare Boothe Luce’Äôs The Women and as the whip smart Molly Grant in the S.J. Perelman, Ogden Nash and Kurt Weill musical One Touch of Venus, directed by Eda Holmes. 

Shaw Festival notables Benedict Campbell, Jim Mezon and Corrine Koslo will be featured in John Bull’Äôs Other Island.  Mr. Mezon and Mr. Campbell will also be performing in Tom Murphy’Äôs adaptation of Anton Chekhov’Äôs The Cherry Orchard, directed by Jason Byrne; while Ms. Koslo will take on the role as society-conscious Veta Simmons in the Joseph Ziegler production of Mary Chase’Äôs Harvey.

The Shaw welcomes back Norman Browning, Diana Donnelly, Kelli Fox, Jonathan Gould, Catherine McGregor, Moya O’ÄôConnell, Jennifer Phipps and Severn Thompson to its stages this season. 

The Shaw Festival also offers a reading series of contemporary Shavian writers and a variety of enrichment activities that include workshops and seminars.  Affordable overnight and day packages are also available making a trip to The Shaw an enjoyable and hassle-free experience.

Ticket information and brochures can be obtained through the Shaw Festival Box Office:

¬…       Toll free in North America: 1-800-511-7429

¬…       Local: (905) 468-2172

¬…       Fax: (905) 468-3804

¬…       Internet: www.shawfest.com

¬…       Mail: Shaw Festival, Box 774, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON  L0S 1J0

The Festival Theatre Box Office and Bernard’Äôs, the Shaw Festival Shop, are located at 10 Queen’Äôs Parade in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  To best serve our patrons, the Box Office will be open Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from January 11 to January 24. Beginning January 25, Box Office hours will be Monday to Friday 9 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The Shaw’Äôs 2010 season begins April 1 and features An Ideal Husband, The Women, The Doctor’Äôs Dilemma, The Cherry Orchard, John Bull’Äôs Other Island, Age of Arousal, Harvey, One Touch of Venus, Half An Hour and Serious Money.