Stratford's Shakespeare Festival a success

The now annual nine-day event is being embraced by residents and performers alike

The strong connection that Stratford has with the famous English playwright and poet, William Shakespeare, continues to be further enhanced after the annual festival in his honour was held in the town in April.

Despite the grand finale of this year's festival, Baldrick’s Big Day Out, being affected by weather - "For the rain it raineth every day" (Twelfth Night, Act 5, Scene 1) - the other events were well received with numbers up on 2023. 

The festival is organised by the Stratford Shakespeare Trust and again received generous support from the Taranaki Electricity Trust.

SST Chair Dixon Lobb said that there were many highlights from the 2024 festival. "Ugly Shakespeare performed for more than 800 students at Taranaki schools during the festival," Dixon said.

A number of events were held in the King's Theatre. One of the great successes of this was The Pop-Up Globe Company who performed their version of Twelfth Night, on tour for the first time, with more than 400 people attending over the two nights. "Everyone enjoyed a brilliant show mixing music, drama, slapstick humour and amazing costumes. No wonder people were drawn from across the provinces and as far afield as
Wellington."