STRATFORD – The Bard and More Next Door
By Sandie Parrott
The Oakland Press, May 2007

Spring in Stratford begins with people lining the parade route for the annual Swan March taking place around the first of April where the swans proudly waddle from their winter house with pomp and circumstance and the Scottish Perth County Pipe Band. The only Honorary Keeper of the Swans in North America, Robert J. Miller recently died after volunteering to help care for the swans for over forty years.

Michigan has a connection with the beautiful city of Stratford, a Michigan CNR employee is said to have given the city their first swans in 1918. Now lovely Mute and Black Swans dot the Avon River, Cobs (male swans) swim their mating formation while females (Pens) watch admiringly. Catch a glimpse of some fluffy gray cygnets (baby swans) or ducklings along the river soon after, if you are lucky.

Speaking of lucky, Stratford’s history is filled with people that had a vision for keeping Stratford beautiful and growing it into a town where visitors flock (sorry) every year. These forward thinking individuals built gardens, stopped train tracks from ruining the beauty of the city and finally brought Shakespeare and other plays to Stratford.


Drama and Laughter
The best reason to visit Stratford is their well-known and loved plays running April to early November. Not into Shakespeare, don’t worry, their plays are a mix of dramas, musicals, comedies and experimental plays in four unique theatres ranging from the large Festival Theatre to the intimate Studio Theatre.

This year’s line up includes the peppy and heart warming Rogers and Hammerstein’s musical Oklahoma, starring Kyle Blair as Will Parker. Shakespeare’s heartrending dramas King Lear, starring Brian Bedford along with The Merchant of Venice with Graham Greene as Shylock and Othello starring Philip Akin take center stage along with his lighter The Comedy of Errors, with David Snelgrove and Bruce Dow. Other offerings are John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, The Blond, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead by Robert Hewett, all played by Lucy Peacock and The Odyssey by Derek Walcott.

There are savings on ticket prices this year. Certain shows have discounts for visiting in the spring or fall and children eighteen and under, but make sure the plays are suitable. Also, there are senior, student, under thirty and group savings available.

Millions of things to do
Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but not much. Here are some suggestions. Visit the gardens and parks, maybe take a picnic lunch. Like the English city they emulate, Stratford loves their gardens and it shows. In fact they were named “Prettiest City in the World” in 1997 by Nations in Bloom.

Take a stroll around the Festival Theatre (free tours in season) and visit the Arthur Meighan gardens in front and the formal Elizabethan Gardens on the south side complete with a statue of Shakespeare. If you have the time, take a guided tour of the Shakespeare Gardens near the Perth County Courthouse to discover the history and plantings, many from Shakespeare’s plays and see a bush grown from a cutting taken from Shakespeare’s home in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

Walk hand-in-hand along the Avon River on the north side to see the back yards of homes and B&B’s overflowing with plantings. Want more exercise; try the Avon Trail hike, free guided hikes on most Tuesdays and weekends.

Can’t decide what to do? Jump on a double-decker bus for a tour of the city. The tour lasts one hour and happens daily from June through September. According to Catherine Ruby-Rebelo there are real guides and they will answer questions, no headphones and there is a stop in one of the parks. “The most popular thing to do is sit on the upper deck as the tour goes around the river and through the parks…very pretty,” claims Ruby-Rebelo.

If you are a star wannabee there are festival courses, workshops, theatre talks and even a cattle call. Don your dancing shoes and leg warmers to join a mock cattle call (suitable for children) to find out what being in a musical is really like by learning a song and dance routine from Oklahoma!

Learn more about the theatre by going on a back stage tour. Find the trap doors; see the technical signals underground, cool props and hear funny stories about things that didn’t work properly. The Costume Warehouse Tour is an unbelievably huge collection of props, period furniture, shoes, wigs and clothing overseen by world-class designers, wardrobe staff and prop makers. This is the third largest Costume Warehouse in North America. New York theatres sometimes borrow items from them. The best is the end where you are encouraged to try on fabulous ornate royal outfits for a family photo. The heavy weight and thick fabrics of the costumes really puts the actor’s work in perspective.

Out of town
If antiques are your passion, drive to the little hamlet (sorry, couldn’t resist) of Shakespeare fifteen minutes east of Stratford. There are several shops grouped within walking distance. Want more, obtain a copy of the self-guided Shakespeare to the Shoreline Driving Tour, Antiques and Collectibles map and shop list of twenty-five recommended stores.

St. Jacob’s is a nearby city made for shopping and fun; don’t forget the plastic for the flea markets, farmer’s markets and shops. Chuck full of quilts, crafts, lace, handmade Mennonite food and craft items along with an outlet mall, Maple Syrup Museum, farm tours and a Model Railway.

St Mary’s also close by has wonderful limestone buildings, houses and shops because of a huge limestone quarry, now a popular swimming spot (lifeguards in season) filled with fresh spring water.

Dining Experience
Enjoying Stratford’s plays isn’t complete without a special lunch or dinner, before or after. It is a great tradition and Stratford has excellent options. Their top rated restaurants are Rundles (fixed price menu), The Church and Belfry (in an old church) and the Old Prune (with a courtyard garden). There is first-class variety in Stratford because they produce chefs from the Stratford Cooking School started by Eleanor Kane owner of The Old Prune with business partner Marion Isherwood and James Morris owner of Rundles. You almost can’t go wrong in the available dining options in every price range, décor and cuisine.

Unfortunately, there isn’t room for the millions of things to do in Stratford, so you will have to book a room in one of the cozy B&B’s, avant-garde apartments or small hotels and sign up for a couple of plays. Nobody, I mean absolutely no person would even think of attending only one play. It just isn’t done.

Gosh, but don’t forget music and concerts, Art in the Park, festivals, shopping, hiking trails, museums, shopping, art galleries, special lunches and dinners, shopping, seminars, architecture, tea rooms, English scones and lemon curd, boating, fishing…

Sandie Parrott is a freelance travel, garden and features writer and photographer, living in Clarkston and planning her next trip. Contact her at info@SandieParrott.com