The 25th season of the Stratford Festival coincides with the Silver Jubilee of England's Queen Elizabeth II, and Stratford, Ont., is proudly aware of it. The trumpets that herald curtain time at the Festival Theater sound a fanfare of brassy assurance, and the plays follow each other across the stage like a regal pageant. Canada built and has sustained a distinctive national theater, and that is fit cause for pride. Herewith, a sample of this summer's offerings:
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
This play is moonstruck, magical and mythic. This production hints at...