Stratford Festival coming to a movie theatre near you

If you’d rather view Shakespeare from the comfort of the local Cineplex rather than in a cramped decades-old theatre, you’re in for a treat. The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is considering bringing next summer’s production of Twelfth Night to the big screen. Filmmaker Barry Avrich told the CBC he is “exploring the potential” of a filmed version of the production, which will star American Brian Dennehy (First Blood, Ratatouille), who drew crowds and good reviews in Stratford’s 2008 productions of Krapp’s Last Tape and Hughie.

This won’t be the first time Stratford’s shows have made the leap to the big screen: the critically acclaimed theatre festival has been recording its productions for film and television since 2008. Last season’s production of The Tempest starring Christopher Plummer was in theatres last month and will also air on Bravo next spring. True, watching the Bard on the big screen is no excuse for the real thing, but there’s something oddly luxurious about hearing lines like “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows” with a huge bag of buttery popcorn in your lap.
• Stratford could film Twelfth Night with Dennehy [CBC]