Studio Theatre | Stratford Festival — Attraction in Stratford

This is the smallest of the Stratford theatres. Around the corner from the Avon and its more familiar proscenium stage the Studio is a much smaller and more modern theatre. As a thrust stage with very steep seating the staging is most commonly called intimidate and with good reason. If you're in the first row you'll be close enough to touch the actors. Being that close around a thrust and that small a theatre means the audience is very visible, which can be a bit disconcerting. Also, as the theatre notes on its website, the steep seating is difficult to navigate if you have mobility issues.

That said, if you can try to get tickets to a Studio production. They're frequently the most interesting productions in town and the space itself is worth a visit. You feel like you're going somewhere special. From its barebone entry to the stage itself the ambience takes you out of your normal theatre visit into something different. I find the audience is much more appreciative, almost reverent, and quiet since you are constantly aware of how close you are to the actors. For instance the last production I went to, unfortunately, a woman's cellphone went off. She struggled and it went off again before she apologized, I knew this from the other side of the stage where I could see and hear her. In most productions at other theatres there's usually some person who doesn't think talking or rustling with packaging is distracting. You feel hidden away by the shape, size and darkness, almost anonymous. Without that it's a lot harder to not think about what you're doing, which changes the atmosphere and shapes how people watch...

A Tighter and intimate theater than any of the other Stratford stages. Be aware that unless you have front row seats that you enter from the bottom at the stage level and walk up to your seat. I find the seating in here more comfortable than the Tom Patterson with its modern movie Style seats that flip up if no one is occupying them. If you're taking the Stratford Express then get off at the stop for the Avon as the studio Theatre is attached. This is generally used for smaller...

I went to see their production of Much 'Ado About Nothing in August 2023. It was wonderful. I've seen quite a few plays at the festival over the years (including another production of this play) and this was the best play I have yet seen at the festival. We managed to get a very good deal on tickets (a promotion for seats in the balcony). We were able to get front row in the balcony, so the view was better than many of the seats in the orchestra for...