Toronto Celebrates Shakespeare in the Park…and Canada Day

It has been over a decade since we last visited the Canadian Stage Company’s “Dream in High Park.”  High Park has long  been a favourite summer location for Torontonians so the combination of a beautiful park setting and outdoor theatre at twilight was the ideal choice for our family’s Canada Day festivities this year.

Normally we take in the fireworks at the conservation park right in our community but after reading CanStage’s news release for this event I felt nostalgic for the days when I’d view performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with my roommates and friends from UofT some twenty-odd years ago.

I wasn’t the only one looking forward to this.  Even the teens and my parents were looking forward to some Shakespeare in the park (that’s a FIRST).

We took our cross generational “caravan” down to the park at about 4 p.m. so that we could participate in the Canada Day festivities planned by CanStage for the day. A quick tour of the back stage area provided some insight into how the actors prepare, get dressed and access their props for each show.

For the younger set a graffiti wall was installed to provide an outlet for those creative juices.

What I enjoyed most was the music provided by a wonderful group called The Roaring Girl Cabaret (www.theroaringgirlcabaret.com). I used my handy Flip camera to take a short video for you:

Finally, kudos to Dora award-winning actress Karen Robinson for a great performance as the fierce and protective sorceress Prospera in The Tempest. If you’re a fan of The Tempest and are a little confused note that in this version of The Tempest the Duke Prospero is not a Duke but instead the Duchess Prospera.

Staycation alert: I highly recommend taking friends and/or family to this wonderful outdoor event. Performances run Tuesday through Sunday at 8 p.m. (gates open at 6 p.m.) until September 6.  A suggested donation of $20 per person (children under 14 free) is requested at the gate.

For more information and for directions to Toronto’s High Park visit the CanStage site : www.canstage.com.