The Shaw's Spiegeltent Returns for One Last Summer
The Spiegeltent’s 2025 season kicked off on May 18 with Dear Liar, a dramatization of Shaw’s correspondence with his muse, Stella Tanner (a.k.a. Mrs. Patrick Campbell).
By: Chloe Rabinowitz May. 20, 2025
The Spiegeltent will return to the Shaw Festival grounds for one last summer. Brought over from Belgium by The Shaw in 2023, the Spiegeltent has since become the Festival’s home for distinctive and one-of-a-kind entertainment. This season marks the final year to catch all-new productions specially curated for Shaw Festival audiences.
The Spiegeltent’s 2025 season kicked off on May 18 with Dear Liar, a dramatization of Shaw’s correspondence with his muse, Stella Tanner (a.k.a. Mrs. Patrick Campbell). A witty and moving two-hander, the show follows their enduring relationship through the letters they wrote one another over the course of their lives, seasoned with scenes Shaw wrote especially for his Stella. Concert performances featuring members of The Shaw’s acting ensemble, performing Parisian classics in La Vie en Rose as well as the unforgettable jazz and blues standards of Ella and Louis, will thrill music lovers. Fans of improv comedy and fantasy role-playing will enjoy a new incarnation of The Roll of Shaw: Through the Wardrobe. Lastly, May I Have the Pleasure? celebrates the wonderful world of social dancing.
The Spiegeltent playbill for 2025:
Dear Liar
May 18 – September 27
By Jerome Kilty
Adapted from the correspondence between Bernard Shaw and Mrs. Patrick Campbell
Co-created and performed by Marla McLean and Graeme Somerville
Stage Managed by Amy Jewell
Of all Shaw’s muses, none so enchanted – or perhaps infuriated – him quite like Stella Tanner, better known to theatregoers as the actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell. Explore the soaring highs and heartbreaking lows of their complicated relationship through a lifetime of correspondence performed by Shaw Festival veterans Marla McLean and Graeme Somerville.
The Roll of Shaw - Through the Wardrobe
June 5 – September 25
Created by and featuring Travis Seetoo
Stage Managed by Sang-Sang Lee and Apprentice Stage Manager Georgia Holland
C.S. Lewis meets Dungeons & Dragons meets live improv in a unique performance designed to bring the magic of roleplaying to life. Roll the dice and travel through the wardrobe to be a part of this one-of-a-kind adventure where the audience helps save the magical land of Narnia.
La Vie en Rose
June 6 – September 25
Directed by Jay Turvey
Music directed by Paul Sportelli
Choreographed by Matt Alfano*
Performed by Matt Alfano*, Alexander Batycki**, Celeste Catena**, Patty Jamieson, Cheryl Mullings, Éamon Stocks***, Taurian Teelucksingh and Jay Turvey
Stage Managed by Allan Teichman and Apprentice Stage Manager Jamie Anderson
Take a trip to the City of Lights and immerse yourself in the beautiful music and wildly romantic atmosphere of an intimate cabaret-style setting. Enjoy a glass of vin rouge and take in songs made popular by the legendary Edith Piaf, Josephine Baker and Maurice Chevalier like “C’est si bon”, “Non, je ne regrette rien”, “Hymne à l’amour” and of course the title song: “La Vie en rose.”
May I Have the Pleasure?
June 18 – September 26
Created by Alexis Milligan
Performed by Jason Cadieux, Sharry Flett, Taran Kim** and Allison McCaughey
Stage Managed by Sang-Sang Lee
Join members of the Shaw Ensemble as they celebrate the history of social dancing and guide audiences through 5,000 years of humanity’s love of jigs, waltzes and everything in between.
Ella and Louis
July 20 – September 28
Directed by Kimberley Rampersad
Performed by Alana Bridgewater and Jeremiah Sparks
Stage Managed by Lisa Russell
Musical legends Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong are brought to life by Alana Bridgewater and Jeremiah Sparks in this unforgettable concert celebration of classic jazz and blues standards.
Ella and Louis is sponsored by Critelli’s Fine Furniture.
Coffee Concerts, Speakeasies, What’s In Your Songbook and the special presentation of Talk is Free Theatre's adaptation of Aristophanes's The Frogs will also take place in the Spiegeltent.
Speakeasies are sponsored by Spirit in Niagara – Small Batch Distillers.
Spiegeltent programming is sponsored by the Tim & Frances Price Risk Fund and the Andy Pringle Creative Reserve.
About The Frogs
The Shaw Festival presents The Frogs
Adapted from Aristophanes by Burt Shevelove and Nathan Lane
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Produced by Talk is Free Theatre
All performances are recommended for audience members 12+.
* 2025 Christopher Newton Intern, Matt Alfano, is generously supported by Marilyn & Charles Baillie
** Emerging Artists are supported by the RBC Foundation
*** The Baillie Cohort is generously sponsored by the Baillie Family Fund for Education
New for the 2025 season: all performances now begin one hour earlier. Matinee performances start at 1 p.m. and evening shows start at 7 p.m.
The Shaw Festival’s 2025 season runs through to December 21, with a playbill featuring
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Anything Goes, Wait Until Dark, Tons of Money, Major Barbara, Murder-on-the-Lake, Gnit, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas and A Christmas Carol. This season’s Spiegeltent lineup includes Dear Liar, La Vie En Rose, Ella and Louis, May I Have The Pleasure?, The Roll of Shaw – Through the Wardrobe, The Frogs, Coffee Concerts, Speakeasies, What’s In Your Songbook and Gospel Choir.
Direct bus service from Downtown Toronto and Burlington to Niagara-on-the-Lake is available on the Toronto-Niagara Shaw Express. Luxury buses are standard size wheelchair accessible, offer free Wi-Fi and have an on-board host. $39 return per person. Ticket to a 2025 performance is required. Please pre-arrange with the Box Office. Schedule is subject to change. Please confirm dates and times with the Shaw Festival Box Office.
Comments
 | |||
Best Revival of a Play - Live Standings | |||
| |||
| Vote Now! |
Videos