Neil Barclay as Fatty Arbuckle and the Bathing Beauties in "Mack & Mabel."

(photo: David Cooper)

Those who have visited the nearby Shaw Festival, or traveled further afield to sample Shakespeare at the Stratford Festival, know the pleasures of taking a theater vacation. For those others, perhaps this is your summer to spend a day a weekend or longer at either of these Canadian festival stages…or both.

Established in 1961 under humble circumstances, the Shaw Festival was founded to celebrate the many full-length and short plays written by the Irishman in English exile, George Bernard Shaw, in his 60-year career. Within 10 years, the Shaw Festival had an international reputation and was well on its way to being the major economic force in quaint Niagara-on-the-Lake. The festival’s three stages are separated only by a short stroll through this picturesque village.

Its present mission is to produce plays by Shaw, his contemporaries and those that reflect the times of Shaw’s long life, from 1856 to 1950. The Shaw Festival presents popular musicals, thoughtful drama and, between these poles, brings stage life to underperformed classics of the modern stage.

While any one show can be a satisfying investment of your trip, catching two or more shows proves the talent of the company’s artists, the virtuosity of its performers and the value of the festival’s mission.

Tara Rosling as Joan in "Saint Joan."

(photo: David Cooper)

Festival Stage

St. Joan: Jeanne d’Arc, the peasant turned soldier turned political pawn, was made a saint in 1920, nearly 500 years after her execution. Her canonization made international news and prompted Shaw to write this drama, not as a religious biography but as a retort to government and power as transacted by the men surrounding Joan. As time goes by, each staging of the play and characterization of Joan is grittier than the previous. Artistic director Jackie Maxwell seems intent on this path.

Mack & Mabel: This score includes fixtures of other Jerry Herman musicals: heartfelt love songs (“Time Heals Everything” and “I Won’t Send You Roses”), peppy un-love songs (“Wherever He Aint”) and the “leading lady arrives” song (“When Mabel Comes Into a Room”). Production numbers are styled after silent films as backdrop to this story of movies’ star-crossed lovers Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand, pioneer artists in early Hollywood.

Hotel Pecadillo: Here is a new adaptation of the comedy written by famed farceur Georges Feydeau and his less well known collaborator Maurice Desvallierès. Otherwise known as Hotel Paradiso or A Little Hotel on the Side, Parisian bourgeoisie register in a hotel of dubious reputation. There, the unexpectedly run into their very own spouses. Of course everyone claims utter innocence despite appearing utterly guilty. The play has been adapted, updated and directed by Canadian playwright Morris Panych.

Maya O'Connel as Elizabeth in "The Circle"

(photo: David Cooper)

Royal George

The Circle: Somerset Maugham really is so completely underestimated, which makes rare appearances of his scripts in this area all the more valuable. Here his deft, savvy hand profiles love and loving amongst guests at a weekend party. The exhilarated younger guests romance in haste while the older guests live out their regrets, even after all these years, in the very house where their affairs began.

The Philanderer: Good old Shaw. A champion of woman and a friend to actresses everywhere. The great man looked with admiration upon Ibsen and sad heroines of his dramas. However, Shaw’s innovation was to make these women articulate, active and funny and set them loose amongst men and in polite society. Here we see modern women, of the 1890s vintage, intoxicating the world about them.

Summer And Smoke: Once again, Tennessee Williams presents us with a heroine torn between being humane and being human. Alma, the educated, spiritual minister’s daughter, is in love with the guy next door, who happens to be the town’s bad boy. This may be familiar territory for fans but in no other play does Williams so beautifully detail the conflicts, layer the dramatic tension so delicately and gives provides us with so unsettling an ending.

Court House Theatre

A Month In The Country: By Ivan Turgenyev, adapted by Brian Friel. What would summer be without a play about summer? As in numberless social comedies, a flock of mismatched people descends for season of rural bliss. The original, by Russian Turgenyev, bears somewhat melancholy witness as plans and romances go out of kilter, and can be a bitter glass of tea. However, as adapted by dramatist Friel, audiences can expect a spike with wry, Irish humor.

The Cassilis Engagement: It’s amusing to know that full family dysfunction existed in earlier centuries. Goldie Semple, one of the Shaw Festival’s best loved performers, stars as a mother undermining her son’s engagement in this comedy by St. John Hankin.

The Kiltartan Comedies: Nominally an Englishwoman, Lady Augusta Gregory loved all things and all people Irish. From her estate in Gort, she wrote short plays depicting small town life in Galway and Sligo counties. Spreading the News, one of the first plays produced by the Abbey, comically depicts the impact of gossip, and The Rising of the Moon shows an unexpected meeting between a policeman and a criminal.

Tristan: This premiere musical by Paul Sportelli and Jay Turvey. based upon the fiction of Thomas Mann, a contemporary of Shaw, depicts life at a Spartan-run spa in the Alps. In the disciplined environment, two patients have a brief encounter.

For tickets, schedules and travel suggestions, call 1-800-511-SHAW or visit shawfest.com.

Next week: Artvoice guide to the Stratford Festival 2007.