Antoni Cimolino, Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival, will deliver the 2022 University of Waterloo Hagey Lecture on October 19, on the purpose—and necessity—of theatre.
The lecture
Why do children play act? Why, since the earliest democracy, have we gathered together to witness stories told? Is theatre primarily for entertainment? Or, as Hamlet claims, is the “purpose of playing” to “show virtue her feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure”?
After a lifetime taking part in the madness, mayhem, and hard work of creating theatre, I confess that why we do it and why humans gather to witness it remains a mystery to me. But I will say that it is a joyful mystery. And I suspect that our lives would be much poorer without role playing, make believe, and the willing suspension of disbelief.
Perhaps in this often harsh and surprising world, indulging in the madness that is theatre might just be necessary to our society, our personal growth, and ultimately to our sanity. And besides, it can be really fun.
The Hagey Lectures
The annual Hagey Lectures are jointly sponsored by the Faculty Association and the University of Waterloo. Established in 1970, the series honours the contribution of Dr. J. G. Hagey, one of the founders and the first President of the University of Waterloo (1957-1969). The lectures are intended to challenge, stimulate, and enrich not only the faculty, staff, and students of the University of Waterloo, but also all members of the community. Past speakers include Thomas King, Vandana Shiva, Atom Egoyan, Ursula Franklin, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and Margaret Atwood.
This year’s speaker
Cimolino has been Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival since 2013. A champion of the arts and culture, Cimolino served as the Founding Chair of Culture Days, a nation-wide celebration of arts and culture in Canada. He has initiated collaborations with several prestigious theatre companies, including Montreal’s Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, New York’s Lincoln Center and City Center, San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater, and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. He also spearheaded the Stratford Festival’s involvement in a joint project with CUSO International, Canada’s international volunteer co-operation agency, to establish a performing arts and educational centre in the city of Suchitoto, El Salvador.
Cimolino’s directing credits at Stratford include The Merry Wives of Windsor; The Tempest; Hamlet; The Grapes of Wrath; Coriolanus; Love’s Labour’s Lost, and Filumena. This season, he is directing Richard III and The Miser. Among his other accomplishments at Stratford, Cimolino was instrumental in establishing the Festival’s Endowment Foundation, which now stands at $81 million, as well as in the renovation of its Avon Theatre and the creation of its Studio Theatre.