A Storm Unleashed: THE TEMPEST at the Stratford Festival
- 3 days ago
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A theatrical event of rare scale and emotional resonance has arrived. The Tempest, directed by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino in his final Shakespeare production before concluding his tenure at the end of the 2026 season, is now on stage at the Stratford Festival, captivating audiences with its breathtaking scope, ethereal design and profound humanity.
Led by Geraint Wyn Davies as Prospero, this powerful tale of magic, love and forgiveness unfolds on an enchanted island where a deposed duke conjures a storm at sea, using magic to draw his betrayers within reach at last. What begins as a reckoning gradually transforms into something more tender and unexpected, as old grievances give way to reconciliation and a new generation discovers love unburdened by the past.
Through romance, illusion and mischief, long-buried truths rise to the surface and hearts are irrevocably changed. Vengeance softens into compassion, and the possibility of freedom reveals itself not through control, but through the courage to relinquish it.
“A thirst for liberty, to control one’s own life, is shared by many of the characters in The Tempest,” says Cimolino. “Yet Prospero finds the possibility of freedom not through his overwhelming power to control others, but by taking the risk of releasing that control through discovering compassion. "
"The theatre itself is a place of control. In staging a play, every element is carefully managed to make an audience’s feelings be stirred by a fiction.”
The Tempest also features Ben Carlson as Stephano, David Collins as Alonso, Ashley Dingwell as Miranda, Jonathan Goad as Caliban, Josue Laboucane as Trinculo, Gordon S. Miller as Antonio, Marissa Orjalo as Ariel, Fiona Reid as Gonzala, Dakota Jamal Wellman as Ferdinand, and Micah Woods as Sebastian, with Jacqueline Burtney, Paul Dunn, Jakob Ehman, Katarina Fiallos, Michelle Giroux, Jenna-Lee Hyde, John Kirkpatrick, Allison Lynch, Jamie Mac as Boatswain, Rose Napoli, Landon Nesbitt as Adrian, Maher Sinno ماهر سنّو, Shannon Taylor (Rehearsal Understudy), Emilio Vieira and Michael Wamara as Francisco.
Cimolino is joined by Set and Costume Designer Julie Fox, Lighting Designer Imogen Wilson, Composer Berthold Carrière, Sound Designer Ranil Sonnadara and Movement Director Adrienne Gould.
The Tempest officially opens on May 25 and runs until October 24 at the Festival Theatre. Tickets are available at stratfordfestival.ca or by calling 1.800.567.1600.
The 2026 season also features Guys and Dolls, Something Rotten!, Waiting for Godot, Death of a Salesman, The Hobbit, The Importance of Being Earnest, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, The Tao of the World and The King James Bible Play.
For more information, visit stratfordfestival.ca.
