Stratford Festival has announced has announced the play bill for next year’s season, which will also be the final one for Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino.
The 2026 season will feature a variety of new and returning plays from different genres.
For Cimolino, it’s the the final chapter with the festival.
“In planning this season, I chose plays that are among my personal favourites and that hold great meaning for me,” said Antoni Cimolino.
“I would like to direct all of them myself, but I’m very happy to have so many wonderful directors joining me as I complete my tenure here at the Stratford Festival, a place that has been my artistic home for 40 years.”
The festival says Cimolino has been Artistic Director for 14 seasons, describing his farewell season as a “sweeping celebration of theatre, with plays united under the theme “This Rough Magic,” a reflection on the importance of theatre in our lives.”
Cimolino says that theme captures the heart of what theatre does best, which is creating illusions to show the truth.
For the Festival Theatre, Cimolino will be directing Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a play about legacy, letting go and enduring the power of art to heal and inspire.
Other Festival Theatre plays for next year include Guys and Dolls, a musical involving gamblers, showgirls and romance, the return of last season’s big hit Something Rotten!, and Waiting for Godot, a play about time, uncertainty and the human condition.
The Avon Theatre will see Death of a Salesman, The Hobbit, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
Tom Patterson Theatre will feature Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Othello, as well as the premiere of The Tao of the World.
A new play called The King James Bible Play will take place at the Studio Theatre. It focuses on the men behind translating the King James Bible, and a group of women reclaiming the narrative.
The festival adds with The Tao of the World and King James shows, it totals 31 new plays Cimolino has brought to the festival as Artistic Director.
Chair of the Board of Directors David Adams says under Cimolino, “the Stratford Festival has flourished artistically and institutionally, expanding its repertoire, deepening engagement and championing new voices alongside classical traditions.
“His tenure has been marked by international acclaim and a steadfast commitment to theatrical excellence.”
2026 season tickets are for sale for Festival members this November, and will open to the public in January.
The season runs from April 20 to November 1.
