1939

Guidance All Ages • 2h 4m

Co-written by Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan, 1939 follows a group of Indigenous students in Canada staging a performance of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well for the visit of King George VI. When they find parallels between themselves and the characters in the play, far from letting themselves be defined by colonial expectations, they set out to make Shakespeare’s bitter-sweet comedy defiantly their own. Captured live at Stratford Festival, 2022.

All's Well That Ends Well

Guidance 13+ • 2h 41m

Set against the backdrop of the First World War, this Stratford Festival production reimagines Shakespeare’s comedy of unrequited love. In a daring adaptation by Scott Wentworth, Helen will go to any lengths to win the acceptance of the man she loves. Filmed live at the Tom Patterson Theatre in September 2022, this version explores the moral ambiguities in Shakespeare’s classic tale of devotion.

Antony and Cleopatra

All Ages • 2h 32m

Shakespeare’s rendering of an epic love affair that shook the foundations of the ancient world comes to vivid life in this Stratford Festival production. Filmed live in 2015, Geraint Wyn Davies and Yanna McIntosh star as the powerful rulers whose insatiable love leads to the greatest of tragedies.

Coriolanus

Guidance All Ages • 2h 29m

Coriolanus traces the turbulent career of its eponymous hero, an arrogant Roman general who turns on the city after being exiled. Stratford Festival's distinctive production adapts Shakespeare's political allegory to explore modern democracy, particularly the connection between public opinion, freedom of speech and social media.

Death and the King's Horseman

Guidance 13+ • 2h 33m

Written by Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka and inspired by a true story, this masterpiece celebrates a community striving to uphold its culture in the face of colonial power. In British-occupied Nigeria, a Yoruba king, the Alafin, has died, and it is the duty of his horseman, Elesin, to accompany him into the afterlife. Elesin proudly anticipates his transition to the next world – but the sacred ritual is interrupted, resulting in unforeseen tragedy. Captured live at Stratford Festival, 2022.

Hamlet

Guidance 13+ • 2h 45m

This bold adaptation of Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy explores identity, family, and revenge through a modern lens. Directed by Peter Pasyk and starring Amaka Umeh, the first artist of African descent and liminal gender experience to portray Hamlet at the Stratford Festival, this production shines a light on contemporary issues of selfhood and morality. Captured live at the Festival Theatre in October 2022.

Hamlet

All Ages • 2h 46m

Shakespeare’s masterpiece unfolds in this acclaimed production from Stratford Festival, in which a ghostly visit proves to be the catalyst for a catastrophic and violent sequence of events.

Henry VIII

Guidance All Ages • 2h 15m

Stratford Festival presents Shakespeare’s Henry VIII, a searing drama about one of England’s most romantic yet brutal periods. When King Henry falls for Anne Boleyn, he must somehow divorce Queen Katherine. The consequences will be momentous for the country – and disastrous for the king’s adviser, Cardinal Wolsey, who is losing his grip on power. Captured live at Stratford Festival’s Studio Theatre in 2019.

King John

All Ages • 2h 32m

Filmed live at Stratford festival in 2015, Tom McCamus commands the stage as England’s hedonistic and mercurial king in Shakespeare's tale of tenuous rule and desperate measures. This vivid production also stars Patricia Collins as the wickedly ambitious Queen Eleanor.

King Lear

All Ages • 2h 36m

“How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!” Shakespeare’s epic tragedy is brought vividly to life in this Stratford Festival production, in which madness descends with brutal ferocity as kingdoms and families are irrevocably divided. Filmed live at the festival in 2015, Colm Feore stars as the ageing king while Sara Farb takes on the role of his banished daughter, Cordelia.

Love's Labour's Lost

All Ages • 2h 42m

Shakespeare’s comedy of comradery and courtship is given a new lease of life in this 2015 Stratford Festival production, in which four young men swear off women for three years, only to face unexpected consequences.

Macbeth

All Ages • 2h 18m

Shakespeare’s tale of a kingdom gained and lost unfolds in this Stratford Festival production, in which the Scottish throne changes hands with ever increasing violence. Filmed live in 2016, Ian Lake and Krystin Pellerin bring to life one of literature’s most infamous marriages, while Michael Blake takes on the adversarial role of Macduff.

Othello

Guidance 15+ • 2h 40m

Rumours feed irrational jealousy in Shakespeare’s gripping psychological drama, filmed at the Stratford Festival in 2019. Othello and Desdemona defy racial prejudice by marrying, but deadly malice lurks where they least expect it. Nigel Shawn Williams’ contemporary adaptation exposes the racism and misogyny at the heart of this tragic tale.

Romeo and Juliet

Guidance All Ages • 2h 33m

Shakespeare’s famous tragedy of two star-crossed lovers is brought to life in this captivating production by the Stratford Festival. Filmed live at the festival in 2018, Sara Farb and Antoine Yard star as the teenagers who defy the long-simmering hatred between their families in the name of love. *Contains mild violence and suicidal themes

Serving Elizabeth

All Ages • 1h 46m

In this ingenious contemporary drama, two parallel narratives seem only coincidentally connected, until a surprising twist reveals a deeper relationship between the two. Weaving between 1950s Kenya and the impending visit of Princess Elizabeth, and London, England in 2015, where a young Kenyan-born Canadian is interning on a TV series about the royal family, this production explores issues of colonialism, nationalism and the question of who gets to have a voice. Captured live at Stratford Festival, Ontario in 2021.

The Adventures of Pericles

All Ages • 2h 21m

A rare gem from Shakespeare's canon, The Adventures of Pericles is given a new lease of life by Stratford Festival. Set sail with the Bard's forgotten hero, as he suffers through shipwreck, loss, intrigue, fatherhood and much more on his epic journey. The versatile Evan Buliung takes on the eponymous role, transforming and evolving before our eyes, while Deborah Hay achieves triple-threat status by performing all three major women in Pericles' life.

The Merry Wives Of Windsor

All Ages • 2h 34m

In this rollicking Shakespeare comedy, two married women devise a hilarious plan to teach their would-be seducer the error of his ways, while their husbands draw their own conclusions. Captured live at Stratford Festival, Ontario, this riotously funny production of The Merry Wives of Windsor is reimagined in 1950s suburbia.

The Taming of the Shrew

All Ages • 2h 36m

Shakespeare’s comedy about courtship and conquest follows Katherina and Petruchio in a classic battle of the sexes. The fierce and the funny collide slickly in the hands of Stratford Festival, featuring Deborah Hay and Ben Carlson as the sparring couple in an award-winning performance.

The Tempest

Guidance All Ages • 2h 25m

Thought to be Shakespeare’s final play, The Tempest follows a deposed ruler marooned on a remote island, who uses magical arts to enact her revenge. Stratford Festival casts Martha Henry as the complex and flawed Prospero in this visually stunning production.

Timon of Athens

Guidance 12+ • 2h 10m

Shakespeare’s heartbreaking tale of a man whose compulsive generosity is taken for granted is reimagined in this Stratford Festival production. Filmed live at the festival in 2018, Joseph Ziegler stars as Timon, who is forced to make difficult decisions when he is abandoned before an upcoming attack on Athens.