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Even with the shrinking dollar, it's a bargain
of TheColumnists.com
I'm in my car at Niagara Falls in line on a bridge waiting to be questioned by a border patrol guard as I start a mini-vacation.
I'm crossing into Canada knowing full well that our northern neighbor isn't the traveler's bargain it once was. There is one notable exception--I'll get to it shortly--and that's what has drawn me.
In this land of 33 million, you used to get a hefty discount on almost everything you bought. That was due to the favorable money exchange.
Only three or four years ago when our dollar was strong and healthy, it got you $1.60 in Canadian money. Today, the dollar has wilted like stale lettuce. It's gotten so weak that Canada's currency matches ours in value--something that hasn't happened since 1976.
Now, one U.S. dollar gets you back one Canadian dollar--or even less. That's because for every dollar you spend, you have to cough up another 14 cents. The change goes to pay a 14 per cent sales tax the government puts on almost everything you buy, eat, or go to.
For many, the shrinking dollar together with the whopping sales tax--plus higher gas prices--adds up to one thing: Many Americans have put their Canadian vacations on hold.
There remains one bargain, one bright spot that keeps luring me Northward Ho. It's the Shaw Festival, the world's only theatre company dedicated to the dramas of George Bernard Shaw.
The plays of the self-educated, Irish dramatist--he wrote more than 60--remain unique. Though wordy, they bristle with brilliant ideas challenging the status quo and extolling individualism against the conformist demands of society.
Shaw, who educated himself at the British Museum, was a socialist, a freethinker, a pacifist, a defender of women's rights before its time, and a keen observer of life in the western world.
Among his observations, are these oft-quoted lines:
--"Those who can, do. Those who cannot, teach."
--"England and America are two countries divided by a common language."
--"Christianity might be a good thing if anyone tried it."
Shaw was the only person to win the Nobel Prize (1925) for literature--he accepted the honor but not the money-- and an Oscar (1938) for the movie version of his play "Pygmalion" (the basis of the musical "My Fair Lady").
This year, the Shaw Festival did his tour de force "Saint Joan" (for the third time) along with one of his lesser-known comedies "The Philanderer" (for the fourth time).
The Festival recruits virtually all its actors--some of whom have been with the company more than 30 years--from Canada.
You would be hard-pressed to find an acting
troupe as talented.
I'm not alone in thinking that. John Simon, the acerbic theatre
critic from New York, called the Festival "the best repertory
company in North America."
Located in the quaint town of Niagara-on-the-Lake some 20 miles north of the famous waterfall, the Festival attracts 300,000 people each year. From April to November, it stages 10 to 12 plays.
In fact, it is a theatre buff's dream. You can easily see half a dozen plays in three days. The Festival runs matinees (along with evening performances) on weekdays as well as weekends. There is also an occasional one-act play at lunchtime.
Even though the Festival bears Shaw's name, it performs works by other playwrights who wrote during his long lifespan (1856-1950). To reach out to a younger crowd, it has also opened its playbill to works by contemporary dramatists--with the caveat that they look back to the 94-year period of Shaw's life.
The Festival's other point of departure--one that makes it different from most other theatre companies--is that its goal has never been making a ton of money.
"Yes, it's great when we do," said Odette Yazbeck, the public relations director. "And it's hurtful when we don't. But our mandate is to present great theatre."
And so, Yazbeck says, the Festival doesn't often do the most trendy or commercial plays. Instead, it seeks lesser-known works that have stood the test of time because their relevance has lasted.
"We like to unearth forgotten treasures," said Yazbeck. "We dust them off, give them a fresh treatment, and show them anew to modern audiences."
Alongside classic Shavian plays like "Major Barbara," "Candida," and "Man and Superman," the Festival stages his minor works like "Overruled," "You Never Can Tell," and "Getting Married." The latter will be done in 2008 along with "Mrs. Warren's Profession," a play about love, sex, and morality that the Festival says remains controversial although it was written in 1892.
Even when the Festival puts on plays by
others, it looks for the offbeat. "If we do a musical by
(Stephen) Sondheim or (Leonard) Bernstein," Yazbeck said,
"we won't usually do something everyone is familiar with."
For instance, she said, when you think of Jerry Herman, you think
of "Hello Dolly," "Mame," or "La Cage
Aux Folles." Instead, the Festival this year did "Mack
and Mabel," a musical about the silent film era that got
only mixed notices when Herman wrote it 12 years ago. Although
it did not draw packed houses at the Festival, it got sparkling
reviews and played to standing ovations.
That is not to say the Festival is without problems. Final figures are not in, but officials expect the Festival will run slightly in the red this year-the second time this has happened in the past four years.
Ticket prices are a factor. The best seats sell for $95-going up to $105 in 2008--although the price of many orchestra and balcony locations ranges from $55 to $89. Then, there is the cost of an overnight stay. It can run as much as $350 a night at high-end hotels like the Prince of Wales, although bargains still can be found for around $100 at bed and breakfasts.
Also contributing to diminishing receipts are the facts that (1) 40 per cent of its audiences are Americans whose travel budget is squeezed by the sinking U. S. dollar; and (2) the Festival's over-all subscriber base is aging out. Most are well-educated, retired folks in their late 60s and 70s.
Whether these loyal seniors can be replaced remains an open question. The younger generation has not flocked to Shaw's cerebral plays.
The Festival is trying to change that trend. It is putting on workshops, readings, and lectures to attract students. To get more exposure, it is taking its best shows like "St. Joan" to urban centers like Chicago. And it is offering discounts to people under 30 and to children who come with adults.
Yazbeck, the p.r. director who has been with Shaw over 20 years, feels confident the Festival will win new audiences. "We have faced challenges before. We've met them. We will again."
She added: "Shaw speaks profoundly on fundamental issues that never leave us-war, poverty, marriage, man's desire to conquer the world. People are searching for answers today. And Shaw's insights remain profound and provocative and more relevant than ever before."
Back at the border bridge, I finally reach the guard. He asks for my passport. Although they are optional until January 1, 2008, I have taken mine along.
After he looks at it, he asks, "Where
are you going?" When I tell him, he returns the passport,
and smiles. And off I roll--onward to another adventure in the
fascinating world of George Bernard Shaw.
(For more information about the Shaw Festival, you can find its
website at
www.Shawfest.com)
©2007 by David Zinman. The Zinman
caricature is ©2001 by Jim Hummel. The photo of Tara Rosling
is by David Cooper and is used courtesy of the Shaw Festival.
This column first posted Oct. 5, 2007.
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