The Stratford Festival continued to work to overcome financial hurdles as attendance and revenue continue to recover in the post-pandemic landscape.
The Festival held its annual meeting on April 3, where financial setbacks were discussed. Earned revenue of $39.3 million was three per cent below 2024 figures, while contributed revenue dropped by 8.7 per cent. Even after cutting expenses by four per cent, the season ended with a $1.1 million deficit.
“As we look at attendance in the performing arts in this post-pandemic world, we do so with a knowledge of just how bad things can be,” said Executive Director Anita Gaffney. “When we marked the fifth anniversary of pandemic closures last month, we were forced to take our minds back to 2020 when, poised to present our largest season in our 70-year history, we instead shut down for more than a year."
“The challenge of winning back audiences has been felt around the globe, and we know it is a challenge we must surmount," she added. "What drives us to attract people into our theatres is not just the very real need for ticket revenue, but more importantly the difference we can make for people, people who over the past few difficult years may have forgotten what it is to commune with others around a brilliant piece of entertainment, to laugh, to cry, to think, to consider another viewpoint, to feel empathy or anger or sheer joy. And to do it together.”
Last year's lineup offered diverse productions, expanded digital programming, and educational opportunities for artists and students.
“The work of the Stratford Festival stretches far beyond the work seen on our stages,” said Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino. “Yet we are careful to ensure that everything we do has a positive impact on stage and for audiences. Even at this time, when finances are tight, we deeply understand the importance of developing the talent – and the theatregoers – who will ensure the Festival’s success as we look to our 100th anniversary and beyond. The support of our donors and of government is essential for this work, and we are extremely grateful to them.”
The 2024 season attracted 430,000 audience members, with an additional 19,500 attending events at The Meighen Forum and 46,000 more streaming productions via Stratfest@Home. The festival also supported eight young actors in the Birmingham Conservatory and six directors in the Langham Directors Workshop.
“It was a strong season, with enthusiastic response from patrons and media from across Canada and around the world,” said Gaffney. “We attracted 430,000 people, a tremendous accomplishment at a challenging time in theatrical history. We presented a playbill that celebrated classics, musicals and exceptional new work.”
The festival produced three new plays: Get That Hope by Andrea Scott, The Diviners based on the novel by Margaret Laurence, and Salesman in China by Leanna Brodie and Jovanni Sy. The latter, which blended Mandarin and English, received widespread acclaim and later had a second run at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
Musicals Something Rotten! and La Cage aux Folles were so popular that their runs were extended by three weeks, with Something Rotten! drawing more than 8,000 repeat attendees, including 75 patrons who saw it seven times or more. The season also featured a mix of classic and contemporary works, including Hedda Gabler, Who is Sylvia?, and Cymbeline.
Sales to school groups increased by 14 per cent, with 40,000 students attending performances of Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Wendy and Peter Pan, and Something Rotten!.
The Stratford Festival’s 2025 season opens on April 19 with Annie, followed by productions of Macbeth, Sense and Sensibility, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Anne of Green Gables, and more. For tickets and information, visit www.stratfordfestival.ca or call 1-800-567-1600.