Stratford: Its Heritage and Its Festival

Cynthia R. Comacchio is an associate professor of history at Wilfrid
Laurier University and the author of Nations Are Built of Babies: Saving
Ontario’s Mothers and Children.

This slim, lavishly illustrated book was put together by two archivists
from the Stratford–Perth Archives, using material from those and from
the Stratford Festival archives. With a witty introduction by Richard
Monette, former artistic director of the world-famous festival, the book
very capably outlines the town’s history in five chapters, ranging
from prehistory through to the present. As the authors acknowledge,
their work is “a selective overview,” but the details are well
selected.

We are reminded that despite the longstanding nature of its
Shakespearean connections—the Canada Company “set the stage for the
city’s identity” by naming it Stratford during the early 19th
century, when it was opening the Huron Tract—these were capitalized on
for the purposes of art and tourism only fairly recently in historical
terms. The festival was inaugurated in 1953, after the community raised
an astounding $42,000 in four days in order to launch the first season.
Today, the festival and its related tourism industry draw $125 million
annually into the community.

For a good century until that moment in 1953, however, Stratford was a
busy, prosperous industrial town dominated by railway shops and
furniture makers; the other side of its “arts haven” status is a
strong automotive industry that employs the majority of its residents.
Virtually every page of this brief history is enhanced by large, mostly
color photographs of local architecture, parks, streets, businesses,
and, of course, scenes from the festival itself, though these are
surprisingly very contemporary (historians will wish for older shots).
The final section features a walking tour, complete with photographs and
brief historical descriptions of each stop. There is also an appendix
chronicling the festival’s production history, with each director and
the date and title of each performance from its opening in 1953 until
1999. Stratford is a must for festival goers, but it is also a useful
introduction to the community’s fascinating history.