“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
These are the words of William Shakespeare from his play As You Like It, which was written over 400 years ago. Judging by the attendance at this year’s annual Bard on the Beach festival, however, his work is no less relevant today.
Almost 101,000 fans of the Bard attended the festival’s 25th season. This is up almost 10% compared with the 91,000 patrons who attended the festival five years ago in 2009.
This year’s lineup included A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest and Cybeline.
The organization behind the festival said it received “rave reviews” from the media this year and held special events, including the “Bard-B-Q & Fireworks” night.
"We are blessed with so many loyal repeat patrons, while also attracting thousands of locals and tourists to Bard for the first time,” said the festival’s artistic director and founder Christopher Gaze.
“Together they fill our houses and this year they've given us a remarkable, record-breaking season.”
Gaze said there were over 260 volunteers this year who did over 19,000 hours of work, which was “a major increase” compared with last year.
The organization has recently come under fire for its proposal to remove part of the lawn at Vanier Park, the setting for the shows, and replace it with pavement or gravel.
-With files from Glen Korstrom@EmmaHampelBIV
