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King John
By William Shakespeare
PRODUCTION NOTES
Trailer and B Roll are available at:
http://vimeopro.com/suedeproductions/stratford-festival-king-john
Password: review
Production Photos and Headshots:
www.stratfordfestival.ca/imagegallery
Running Time: 160 minutes
CREDIT BLOCK
MELBAR ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE STRATFORD FESTIVAL
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ANTONI CIMOLINO
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS BARRY AVRICH. ANITA GAFFNEY, MICHAEL A. LEVINE
PRESENT A BARRY AVRICH PRODUCTION
KING JOHN BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
STARRING TOM McCAMUS, SEANA McKENNA,
GRAHAM ABBEY, PATRICIA COLLINS
DESIGNER CAROLYN M. SMITH
LIGHTING DESIGNER KEVIN FRASER
COMPOSER CLAUDIO VENA
SOUND DESIGNER TODD CHARLTON
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS SUSAN EDWARDS ALANA KALIL
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY JOE INTERISANO
EDITOR GEORGE ROULSTON
DIRECTED FOR THE STAGE BY TIM CARROLL
PRODUCED AND DIRECTED FOR FILM BY BARRY AVRICH
SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS
Stratford Festival HD is sponsored by Sun Life Financial as part of their Making the Arts
More Accessible® program, with generous support from Laura Dinner & Richard Rooney,
the Jenkins Family Foundation, Ophelia & Mike Lazaridis, Sandra & Jim Pitblado, and
Robert & Jacqueline Sperandio.
DISTRIBUTION
Canadian distribution is through Cineplex Entertainment’s Front Row Centre Events, which
specializes in bringing world-class events and performances to the big screen. Cinema screenings
will be followed by a broadcast window on CBC-TV, Canada’s national public broadcaster.
Digital and on-demand release will follow.
U.S. and international distribution is through SpectiCast, the fastest growing event cinema
marketing and distribution company in the world.
OVERVIEW
King John
When the rule of a hedonistic and mercurial king is questioned, rebellion, assassination and
excommunication ensue, culminating in the chilling attempt to commit an atrocity against a
child, whose mother’s anguished grief cannot atone for her blinkered ambitions for her son.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see Shakespeare’s King John, with commanding
performances by Tom McCamus, Seana McKenna, Graham Abbey and Patricia Collins, directed
by Tim Carroll, whose recent Shakespeare productions took Broadway by storm.
The Story
King John of England is visited by an ambassador from King Philip II of France, who demands
that John relinquish his throne in favour of his young nephew Arthur, the son of John’s deceased
elder brother, Geoffrey, and Constance, the Duchess of Brittany. Defying this challenge to the
legitimacy of his rule, John declares war on France. Meanwhile, John is asked to resolve an
inheritance dispute between two brothers, Robert Faulconbridge and his sibling, Philip, whom
Robert believes to be the bastard son of John’s predecessor, King Richard I (commonly known
as “Coeur-de-lion” or “Lionheart”). John offers Philip, “the Bastard,” a knighthood if he will
give up his claim to the Faulconbridge estate and follow him instead to the wars in France – a
proposal that Philip readily accepts. Every war, however, takes unexpected turns, and as it turns
out, France is not the only enemy with whom John will have to contend.
Synopsis
Shortly after John’s accession to the English throne, an ambassador from King Philip of France
comes to his court to demand that John surrender his crown to his nephew, the young Prince
Arthur. John refuses and prepares to mount an expedition against France, appointing as one of its
leaders Philip Faulconbridge, the bastard son of the late Richard Coeur-de-Lion.
The French and English armies meet outside the walls of Angiers, whose citizens refuse to
recognize either John or Arthur as king. Eventually, a diplomatic solution is proposed: a
marriage between the French Dauphin, Lewis, and John’s niece, Blanche. This arrangement –
accepted by all parties except Arthur’s mother, Constance – falls apart, however, when Cardinal
Pandulph excommunicates John for opposing the Pope’s wishes and orders the French king to
break the truce. Arthur, captured in the ensuing battle, narrowly escapes execution, only to be
killed in an accidental fall.
The English barons, holding John responsible for Arthur’s death, take up the French cause but
transfer their allegiance back to John when they learn of the Dauphin’s intended perfidy toward
them. It is too late for John, however, who has been fatally poisoned. After his death, John’s son
ascends the throne as Henry III, and an honourable peace is negotiated between England and
France.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
Room for the Imagination
By Tim Carroll
After Romeo and Juliet in the Festival Theatre last year, staging King John in the Tom Patterson
Theatre feels like moving from the Globe Theatre to the Blackfriars. This shift, from open-air to
indoors, is exactly the one that Shakespeare and his company eventually made permanent, just in
time for the last few plays he was to write. But even before that, in fact right from the start of his
career, it was not uncommon for a play to open in an outdoor theatre and then to be taken
indoors, where a smaller audience would perhaps pay more attention and would certainly pay
more money. I have no idea whether either of those will be true of the TPT audience. But I know
from experience that a play in the Globe feels different from one in a hall like the Blackfriars.
When a performance was invited to play indoors, whether for the Queen at Hampton Court, the
law students at Middle Temple Hall, or the City Merchants at the Blackfriars, the nature of the
experience must have been profoundly different from that at the Globe: with more surfaces to
bounce the sound off, and less space to fill, any music you played could be more subtle and
atmospheric (you could even make its source mysterious by keeping the musicians out of sight);
the audience would be closer to the action and with less to distract them, which might affect your
speaking and playing; and the lighting could be controlled, if only in a very limited sense. In
some performances total darkness was achievable; in others daylight would come through the
window and augment the light of many candles, at least until evening fell.
When I think of one of the history plays – which were all written for outdoor theatres – being
performed indoors, I can’t help wondering how these changes must have affected the playing.
When I directed the Globe company in Richard II, we started in Middle Temple Hall and moved
into the Globe, and that certainly seemed to shift the focus, though not necessarily in ways I
would have predicted. Unless we also play outdoors at some point in the summer, we will not
have such an opportunity for comparison; but the game I am setting up here is inspired by the
idea of Shakespeare’s troupe bringing their King John, which may or may not have been a smash
hit at the Rose (we know nothing of its performance history, though it is certainly too early for
the 1599 Globe), to a hall for a performance that starts in the afternoon and finishes as night falls.
That is one aspect of the game. Another is to do with the way that Shakespeare and his
contemporaries would have gone about staging history. We know from the wardrobe inventories
of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men that they had no “medieval” clothes. It seems clear, in fact, that
no one did: if old clothes survived at all, they would be cut up and used for new fashions. So it
seems likely that the clothing would have been modern dress – i.e., Elizabethan. Old weapons,
on the other hand, did get handed down, and we know that Shakespeare’s company were not
bothered about mixing periods when it suited them; so they might have had, as we will, a
mixture of rapiers and broadswords on stage. Similarly, they would have had access to medieval
music, some of which was still around, both in manuscript and in oral tradition; and this is why
our music will shift between the sixteenth and thirteenth centuries, sometimes within a single
piece.
I have twice called what we are doing a “game.” I much prefer this word to anything more
sombre. I never use the word authentic because it implies a rather anxious straining to get it
“right.” The game I call “Original Practices” is one where I use whatever theatre-historical
evidence seems interesting and suggestive to create a space where the actors and the audience
can combine their imaginations. I have no idea if this is “how they would have done it”; I just
hope it creates a liberating environment for the play of Shakespeare’s incredible language.
NOTES ON CAPTURING THE LIVE PRODUCTION
King John was captured live on stage with a full audience at the Stratford Festival’s Tom
Patterson Theatre on September 26, 2014, using 10 high definition cameras and 128 tracks of
sound to create a lush, surround-sound experience. Additional “pick-up” shots of key
performance elements were captured on stage immediately following the performance.
The film version is faithful to the stage version of the production, but adds the intimacy of film
and a myriad of camera positions to bring the audience even closer to the action than in the
intimate Tom Patterson Theatre.
Involving the audience was a priority in the filmmaking process as the interplay between actor
and audience is critical in this production. It was essential to have an audience remain for the
pick-up shots that followed the full performance.
ABOUT THE STRATFORD FESTIVAL
The Stratford Festival has been setting the standard for classical theatre in North America for
more than 60 years. With the works of Shakespeare at its core, this acclaimed repertory theatre
presents a seven-month season of a dozen or more plays in four venues, along with a Forum of
events to enrich the play-going experience. Since its revolutionary first season in 1953, it has
welcomed more than 26 million theatregoers from around the world, people who flock to this
small Canadian town for one reason: an unparalleled quality of performance. Beginning in 2015,
under the leadership of Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino and Executive Director Anita Gaffney,
the Stratford Festival will make a select number of its Shakespearean masterpieces available
each year in spectacular HD, capturing the entire Shakespeare canon over the next 10 years and
bringing the work of this renowned company to audiences around the world.
“Stratford, where fans of classic drama come in large numbers to worship at its leading,
four-stage, North American shrine.” Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
“If you have been longing to encounter greatness in the theatre, it’s waiting for you at the
Stratford Festival.” Richard Ouzounian, Toronto Star
“I can’t think of another theatre company in the world currently offering such variety
stylistically – and all of it at the highest standard, too.… The company is feeling like an
international mecca for Shakespeare.” J. Kelly Nestruck, The Globe and Mail
“The depth of casting allows for revelatory performances even in minor roles.”
Charles Isherwood, The New York Times
“The Stratford Festival is like nirvana for theater fans.” Amy Alipio, National Geographic
Traveler
ABOUT STRATFORD FESTIVAL HD
In March 2014, the Stratford Festival’s Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino and Executive
Director Anita Gaffney announced an exciting and ambitious film and digital media project,
committing to produce films of three productions each season with the ultimate goal of filming
all of Shakespeare’s plays over the next decade.
“We’re forging new territory here in Canada by filming a series of productions and expanding
our digital footprint,” said Ms Gaffney. “In addition to distributing the films through cinemas,
TV and online, we also plan to use components from the films to inspire a suite of digital
products including applications, games and audio books. We hope that this expanded digital
presence will ultimately entice even more people to visit Stratford and take in the full Festival
experience.”
This massive initiative began in February 2015 with the release of King Lear, a production that
“unquestionably catapults Colm Feore into the ranks of the world’s greatest living actors”
(Toronto Star). The Stratford Festival’s critically acclaimed productions of King John and
Antony and Cleopatra will round out the first instalment of the Stratford Festival HD series that
will ultimately bring the complete works of William Shakespeare to audiences around the world.
“With these first three productions, we launch a project dear to my heart,” says Mr. Cimolino:
“to create a Canadian collection of the entire Shakespeare canon, which allows us to preserve the
performances of our greatest actors and share them with an audience far beyond our borders.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for the Festival to conquer not only geography but also time.
Over the years, Canada’s greatest theatre artists have done some of their finest work on our
stages, only to have that work vanish into thin air. It is shocking to me that William Hutt’s final
Prospero, for instance, lives on only as a distant, static archival recording that can barely even
hint at the magnificent power of that performance.”
Stratford Festival HD will extend the Festival’s reach and heighten its profile around the world.
It will also serve as a valuable educational resource, allowing students to see Canadian
productions of all of Shakespeare’s works, supplemented by online study guides that the Festival
will create for each production.
“Students need to see that Shakespeare doesn’t live in the daunting pages of a great thick book,”
says Mr. Cimolino, “but in the very same media they use to navigate and explore the world
around them.”
ABOUT THE CAST
Tom McCamus (King John)
Tom McCamus’s portrayal of King John was hailed by critics as both riveting and daring. One
of Canada’s most versatile actors, he has given Stratford audiences a string of powerful
performances, including Iachimo in Cymbeline, Jim Casey in The Grapes of Wrath, Le Vicomte
de Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons, Antonio in The Merchant of Venice, Vladimir in Waiting for
Godot, and the title role in Richard III.
His beautifully drawn comedic characters include Horace Vandergelder in The Matchmaker,
Captain Hook in Peter Pan, Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Antipholus of Ephesus in
The Comedy of Errors. As a musical performer, he has played the leading roles of Macheath in
The Threepenny Opera and King Arthur in Camelot.
He has been a key member of the Stratford Festival company for 14 seasons, stretching back to
1994, when he made his unforgettable debut as Edmund Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey into
Night.
14th season at Stratford (2014): King John in King John, March Hare in Alice Through the
Looking-Glass and Enobarbus in Antony and Cleopatra.
Previous Stratford (selected): Friar Laurence/Romeo and Juliet, Antonio/The Merchant of
Venice, Vandergelder/The Matchmaker, Iachimo/Cymbeline, Casey/The Grapes of Wrath,
Hook/Peter Pan, Valmont/Dangerous Liaisons, Vershinin/Three Sisters, Apemantus/Timon of
Athens, Richard III, Macheath/The Threepenny Opera, Vladimir/Waiting for Godot, Coriolanus,
King Arthur/Camelot, Edmund/Long Day’s Journey Into Night.
Elsewhere: Rhett Butler/Gone with the Wind (MTC); Hamlet, Divisadero (Necessary Angel);
Thom Pain (Tarragon).
Film: Cairo Time (Ruba Nada), The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan), Long Day’s Journey
(David Wellington), Possible Worlds (Robert Lepage).
Awards: Dora, best actor: Abundance (Theatre Plus); Genie, best actor: I Love a Man in
Uniform (David Wellington); Gemini and ACTRA, best actor: Waking Up Wally (Dean Bennett).
Et cetera: Tom lives on a farm in Warkworth with his wife, actress Chick Reid, and their three
dogs.
Seana McKenna (Constance)
Seana McKenna’s heart-breaking portrayal of Constance in King John is the latest in a string of
unforgettable performances. During her distinguished career, Ms McKenna has played almost all
of Shakespeare’s leading ladies. She has also reached outside the boundaries of gender identity
with her remarkable portrayal of Richard III in 2011.
She played the leading role of Queen Elizabeth in the Festival’s 2013 production of Mary Stuart,
a production so popular it was extended an unprecedented four times. Renowned for her
scorching portrayals of such tragic figures as Mother Courage, Klytemestra, Medea and Phèdre,
Ms McKenna is equally adept at comic pursuits, winning great praise for her Madame Arcati in
Blithe Spirit and Dolly Levi in The Matchmaker.
Most recently Ms McKenna was seen at San Francisco’s ACT, where she played the mother of
Jesus in Colm Tóibín’s solo play Testament.
23rd season at Stratford (2014): Constance in King John and Mother Courage in Mother
Courage and Her Children. Eighteen Shakespearean roles including Richard III (Stratford
Festival); Beatrice, Lady Macbeth (Manitoba Theatre Centre); Hermione (Kansas City Rep);
Cleopatra (Centaur); Rosalind (World Stage).
Previous Stratford: Mary Stuart, Blithe Spirit, The Matchmaker, Elektra, Dangerous Liaisons,
Medea, Phèdre, The Trojan Women, Private Lives, Present Laughter, Fallen Angels, The Glass
Menagerie, The Night of the Iguana, Good Mother, Shakespeare’s Will.
Elsewhere: Over 80 other productions, including Napoli! at San Francisco’s American
Conservatory Theater in February; 28 productions directed by husband Miles Potter.
Honours: Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, Doctor of Sacred Letters (Trinity
College), Honorary MFA in Acting (ACT). Three Dora Awards: Saint Joan (Theatre Plus),
Orpheus Descending (MTC/Mirvish), directing Valley Song (New Globe). Jessie Award: Wit
(Vancouver Playhouse/Canadian Stage). Genie Award: The Hanging Garden. Executive board
member of the Actors’ Fund of Canada.
Graham Abbey (Philip the Bastard)
15th season at Stratford (2014): Philip the Bastard in King John, Count Johan Oxenstierna in
Christina, The Girl King and understudy in Alice Through the Looking-Glass.
Previous Stratford: Iago (Othello), Posthumus (Cymbeline), Henry V, Macbeth, Romeo, Henry
VIII, Jaques, Prince Hal, D’Artagnan (Three Musketeers), Petruchio (Shrew), Aufidius
(Coriolanus), Berowne (Love’s Labour’s Lost), Algernon (Earnest), Hap Loman (Death of a
Salesman).
Elsewhere: Hamlet (Resurgence); Jeff Skilling (ENRON) (Theatre Calgary); Sam Byck
(Assassins) (Talk Is Free/Birdland); Charles (The School for Scandal), Valère (The Molière
Comedies) (Chicago Shakespeare).
TV: Series lead: The Border (CBC). Recurring roles: Degrassi, Murdoch Mysteries, Covert
Affairs, Republic of Doyle. Guest star: Flashpoint, Lost Girl, Rookie Blue, Warehouse 13, Bomb
Girls. Recent: Guest star, Remedy (Global).
Film: Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz, Casino Jack, 388 Arletta Avenue, Defendor, Stealing
Paradise, Secrets of Eden. Recent: Angel on My Tree, released this Christmas.
Radio: Series regular: Afghanada (CBC).
Awards: Dora Award, Monte Carlo Television Festival nomination.
Et cetera: Artistic Director, Groundling Theatre (Groundlingtheatre.com).
Patricia Collins (Queen Eleanor)
19th season at Stratford (2014): Queen Eleanor in King John, Farmer’s Wife in Mother
Courage and Her Children and Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg in Christina, The Girl King.
Previous Stratford: Measure for Measure, Mary Stuart, The Thrill, Anything Goes, Guys and
Dolls, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Delicate Balance, Gigi, Present Laughter, The Importance of
Being Earnest, Tartuffe, Medea, Richard II, Pride and Prejudice, The Prime of Miss Jean
Brodie, The Night of the Iguana, Juno and the Paycock, Equus, The Stillborn Lover, Hamlet, Les
Belles-Soeurs, Twelfth Night, King Lear, Separate Tables, She Stoops to Conquer, The Taming of
the Shrew, Bosoms and Neglect.
Elsewhere: The School for Scandal (Chicago Shakespeare); The Importance of Being Earnest,
Summer (Canadian Stage); Liaisons Dangereuses (Vancouver Playhouse); Blithe Spirit, Lion in
Winter (NAC); A Little Night Music (Grand/Canadian Stage); Wit (GCTC).
Film/TV: The Rez, The Adjuster, Speaking Parts, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Wojeck, Artichoke.
Awards: Doras, The Europeans (Necessary Angel), White Biting Dog (Tarragon); Critics’, Wit;
Gemini, Golden Handshake.
DIRECTORS AND PRODUCERS
Antoni Cimolino
Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival
Born in Sudbury, Ontario, Antoni Cimolino graduated in 1984 from the University of Windsor’s School
of Dramatic Art. He began his Stratford career in 1988 as an actor, playing such roles as Flute in A
Midsummer Night’s Dream (1989), Claudio in Measure for Measure (1992), Romeo in Romeo and Juliet
(1992) and Laertes in Hamlet (1994).
He began to direct for Stratford in the mid-1990s, winning acclaim for such productions as The Night of
the Iguana, with Seana McKenna (1998); Twelfth Night, with William Hutt (2001); Love’s Labour’s Lost,
with Brian Bedford (2003); King John, with Stephen Ouimette (2004); As You Like It, featuring original
music by Barenaked Ladies (2005); Coriolanus, with Colm Feore and Martha Henry (2006);
Bartholomew Fair, with Tom McCamus (2009); The Grapes of Wrath, with Janet Wright (2011); and
Cymbeline, with Geraint Wyn Davies (2012).
In 2013, his first season as Artistic Director, Mr. Cimolino introduced the Stratford Festival Forum, a
series of about 150 insightful events designed to enhance the play-going experience by illuminating the
themes of the plays and illustrating their relevance in today’s world. That same season he directed
Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, with Tom McCamus and Scott Wentworth, and Friedrich
Schiller’s Mary Stuart, with Lucy Peacock and Seana McKenna, a production that captured the public’s
imagination and was extended an unprecedented four times. His 2014 productions, both featuring Colm
Feore, were George Farquhar’s The Beaux’ Stratagem and Shakespeare’s King Lear, which became one
of the top-selling Shakespeares in the Festival’s history. In 2015 he will direct the Festival’s productions
of Hamlet and The Alchemist.
Among many other accomplishments in his previous roles as the Festival’s General Manager, General
Director and Executive Director, Mr. Cimolino oversaw the successful launch of a stability fund and a
$50-million endowment foundation, and also significantly improved the Festival’s infrastructure by
leading the design, consultation and funding process for four major construction projects between 2002
and 2008, including the extensive renovation of the Avon Theatre and the creation of the Studio Theatre.
In 2014, he and Executive Director Anita Gaffney announced an ambitious 10-year project to film
Festival productions of all Shakespeare’s plays, with the first three – King Lear, King John and Antony
and Cleopatra – to be released in early 2015.
A champion of the arts and culture, Mr. Cimolino also serves as the National Chair of Culture Days, a
nationwide 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, and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Examples
include the Festival’s 2006 production of Molière’s Don Juan, a co-production with Théâtre du Nouveau
Monde that was presented in both French and English during its Stratford season and later transferred to
Montreal, and 2004’s King Lear, which later transferred to New York, where it garnered two Tony
nominations.
Mr. Cimolino is passionate about enriching the lives of others through the education and practice of the
arts. His dedication to this cause led him to spearhead the Festival’s involvement in a joint project with
CUSO, Canada’s international volunteer co-operation agency, to establish a performing arts and
educational centre in the city of Suchitoto, El Salvador.
Now in his 28th season at the Festival, Mr. Cimolino is a respected artist and an influential leader in the
global theatrical community.
Anita Gaffney
Executive Director, Stratford Festival
Executive Producer
Anita Gaffney is Executive Director of the Stratford Festival, working alongside the Artistic
Director in setting the Festival’s strategic and operational direction. Ms Gaffney joined the
Festival in 1991 and over the past 21 years has held a variety of positions, including Director of
Marketing during the theatre’s years of peak attendance. She designed the Festival’s customer
relationship marketing system, which remains in use today and has been emulated by arts
organizations around the world.
Ms Gaffney is highly regarded for her skills in government relations, finance, change
management and strategic planning, honed during her years as the Festival’s Administrative
Director. Her efforts to expand the reach of the Festival into the digital world include
spearheading the Stratford Festival HD project as well as supporting the production of previous
films, Caesar and Cleopatra, The Tempest and Twelfth Night and the launch of several mobile
applications.
She has an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University and has
continued her executive education through Harvard Business School.
Tim Carroll
Director of the stage production of King John
Third season at Stratford (2014): Director of King John.
Previous Stratford: Peter Pan, Romeo and Juliet.
Elsewhere: Shakespeare’s Globe: Richard II, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Two Noble
Kinsmen, The Tempest, The Golden Ass. Twelfth Night and Richard III (also West End and
Broadway). RSC: The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Artistic Director, Kent
Opera: Orfeo, Il re pastore, Acis and Galatea, Albert Herring. Other opera: Britten’s Canticles
(Barcelona) and The Turn of the Screw (Oviedo). Other theatre: Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem
Cards, The Duchess of Malfi, Victory (Barka Theatre, Budapest); All’s Well That Ends Well
(National Theatre, Romania); Amadeus (National Theatre, Portugal); Peer Gynt (Guthrie,
Minneapolis); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sydney Opera House); King Lear (National
Theatre, Norway). Founder member of The Factory (London), directing three theatre
experiments: Hamlet, The Seagull, The Odyssey. thefactory.wikifoundry.com.
Barry Avrich
Film Director/Producer/Executive Producer
Barry Avrich is a veteran director and producer of many critically acclaimed documentary films,
television specials and filmed theatrical adaptations. Avrich’s high-profile films have included
The Last Mogul (HB0), Showstopper (TMN), Filthy Gorgeous (EPIX), Quality Balls (Showtime)
and The Tempest (eone). In 2015, the Avrich productions of King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra,
King John and a television special for HBO called Women Who Act will be released. Avrich has
served as a director for high-profile arts organizations such as TIFF, Hot Docs, Stratford Festival
and The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. In 2007, Avrich built The Hollywood
Theatre, the world's first movie theatre in a hospital for sick children. In 2015, Avrich will
publish his memoir Moguls, Monsters and Madmen.
Michael A. Levine
Executive Producer
Michael A. Levine, a former partner of Goodmans LLP, is Chairman of Westwood Creative
Artists (Canada’s largest literary agency, representing over 400 authors), Chairman of
Bravo!FACT, a Director of the National Screen Institute and Executive Producer of various
fiction and non-fiction films and television properties, many of which tell Canadian stories,
including: The Book of Negroes, The Terry Fox Story, Republic of Doyle, Sir John A Macdonald,
The Land That Devours Ships, The Struggle for Democracy, The Danger Tree, The Heritage
Minutes for The CRB Foundation and Historica, A Soldier’s Peace with Major-General Lewis
MacKenzie, Peter C. Newman’s Canadian Revolution, Canadians: Biographies of a Nation, Sir
Wilfred Laurier, Titans, Mordecai Richler: A Celebration, Mordecai Richler’s St. Urbain’s
Horseman, and various Stratford Festival productions.
TAIL CREDITS
King John
By William Shakespeare
Cast
King John ................................................................................Tom McCamus
Queen Eleanor, mother to King John .....................................Patricia Collins
Prince Henry, son to the King.................................................Andrew Lawrie
Blanche of Spain, niece to King John ......................................Jennifer Mogbock
The Earl of Pembroke.............................................................Brad Rudy
The Earl of Salisbury ...............................................................Stephen Russell
The Lord Bigot ........................................................................Sean Arbuckle
Hubert, a citizen of Angiers....................................................Wayne Best
Robert Faulconbridge, son to Sir Robert Faulconbridge ........Daniel Briere
Philip, the Bastard ..................................................................Graham Abbey
Lady Faulconbridge, widow to Sir Robert Faulconbridge ......Brigit Wilson
James Gurney, servant to Lady Faulconbridge ......................Ryan Field
Peter of Pomfret, a prophet...................................................Peter Hutt
English Herald ........................................................................Andrew Robinson
English Soldier ........................................................................Rylan Wilkie
Executioners...........................................................................Jamie Mac, Anthony Malarky
Philip, King of France..............................................................Peter Hutt
Lewis, the Dauphin .................................................................Antoine Yared
Arthur, Duke of Brittany, nephew to the King .......................Noah Jalava
Constance, mother to Arthur .................................................Seana McKenna
Duke of Austria ......................................................................Sean Arbuckle
Melun, a French lord ..............................................................E.B. Smith
Chatillon, ambassador from France .......................................E.B. Smith
French Herald .........................................................................André Morin
French Soldier ........................................................................Karack Osborn
Austrian Soldiers ....................................................................Jamie Mac, Anthony Malarky
Citizens of Angiers ..................................................................Jeremy Harttrup, Deirdre GillardRowlings, Carmen Grant
Cardinal Pandulph, the Pope’s legate ....................................Brian Tree
Creative Team
Director ..................................................................................Tim Carroll
Designer .................................................................................Carolyn M. Smith
Lighting Designer ...................................................................Kevin Fraser
Composer ...............................................................................Claudio Vena
Sound Designer ......................................................................Todd Charlton
Fight Director .........................................................................John Stead
Movement Director ...............................................................Shona Morris
Associate Fight Director .........................................................Geoff Scovell
Assistant Director ...................................................................Kevin Bennett
Assistant Set and Costume Designer .....................................Alyssa Westman
Assistant Lighting Designer ....................................................George Quan
Fight Captain ..........................................................................Wayne Best
Stage Manager .......................................................................Bona Duncan
Assistant Stage Managers ......................................................Bruno Gonsalves, Renate Hanson
Production Assistant ..............................................................Ian Michael Costello
Production Stage Managers...................................................Margaret Palmer, Janine Ralph
Technical Director ..................................................................Sean Hirtle
Assistant Technical Director……………………………………………….David Campbell
Original Music Recorded by ...................................................Claudio Vena (Violin, Viola, Guitar,
Lute, Percussion, Keyboards)
Director of Music ...................................................................Franklin Brasz
Music Administrator ..............................................................Marilyn Dallman
Administrative Assistant ........................................................Don Sweete
Stage Carpenter .....................................................................Paul Gorman
Alternate ................................................................................Dan Bingeman
Master Electrician ..................................................................Timothy Hanson
Property Master .....................................................................Alan Hughes
Alternate ................................................................................Melba Bingeman
Head of Sound ........................................................................Jim Stewart
Crew…………………………………………………………………………………..Rory Feore, Anthony Gentile, Trevor
Gould, Keith Handegord, Alexander
Hoch, Laura Johnson, Allan Laidman,
William Malmo, Andrew Mawdsley,
Greg Morris, Kathleen Orlando,
Melissa Renaud, John Roth, Mark
Smith, Joe Tracey, Christopher Wylie
Wardrobe Mistress ................................................................Helen Basson
Wardrobe Attendants ............................................................Heather Diamond, Sheila Filshie,
Cvetka Fujs, Tracy HoustonMcIntyre, Jane Mallory
Swing ......................................................................................Luci Pottle
Head of Wigs and Makeup…………………………………………………Gerald Altenburg
Wigs and Makeup Show Head ...............................................Angela Moncur
Wigs and Makeup Crew .........................................................Tracy Frayne, Lorna Henderson,
Barb Newbery, Alana Scheel
Children’s Supervisor .............................................................Deborah Howes
This production is dedicated to the memory of Suzanne Turnbull.
Production Team
Directors of Production..........................................................John Tiggeloven, Douglas Lemcke
Technical Director – Scenic Construction ..............................Andrew Mestern
Wardrobe Manager ...............................................................Anne Moore
Production Administrator ......................................................Cheryl Bender
Design Coordinator ................................................................Alix Dolgoy
Scene Shop Manager .............................................................Robbin Cheesman
Technical Management Assistant ..........................................Michael Besworth
Administrative Assistant ........................................................Cindy Jordan
Electronics Technologist ........................................................Chris Wheeler
Transportation .......................................................................Charlie Fox, Ian A. Fraser, Michael
Taylor, James Thistle
Head of Properties .................................................................Dona Hrabluk
Lead Builder ...........................................................................Jennifer Macdonald
Assisted by .............................................................................Eric Ball, Ken Dubblestyne, Ksenia
Ivanova, Michelle Jamieson, Kathryn
Kerr, Shirley Lee, Brian McLeod,
Dylan Mundy, Heather Ruthig, Lisa
Summers
Properties Apprentice ............................................................Matt Leckie
Properties Buyer ....................................................................Tracy Fulton
Assistant Properties Buyer .....................................................Jaclyn Zaltz
Head Scenic Artist ..................................................................Christopher Klein
Assistant Head Scenic Artist...................................................Daniel McManus
Assisted by .............................................................................Kevin Kemp, Amparo Villalobos,
Michael Wharran, Blair Yeomans
Head Carpenters ....................................................................Neil R. Cheney, Ryan Flanagan
Head of Automation ..............................................................Ian Phillips
Lead Hands .............................................................................Mark Card, Cliff Tipping
Assisted by .............................................................................Simon Aldridge, David Bedford, Ryan
Flanagan, Gary Geiger, William
Malmo, Stephen Morgan, Wayne
Nero, John Roth, Mark Smith, Geoff
Taylor, Joe Tracey
Head of Wardrobe .................................................................Bradley Dalcourt
Assistant Head of Wardrobe ..................................................Elizabeth Copeman
Seasonal Wardrobe Supervisor..............................................Linda Sparks
Cutters ....................................................................................Johanna Billings, Terri Dans, Carol A.
Miller, Lela Stairs Murphy, Jennie
Wonnacott
First Hands .............................................................................Joanne Davies, Krista Nauman,
Patricia Taylor
Sewers ....................................................................................Suzy Arnold, Denise Bott, Caroline
Broadley, Cindy Brown, Victoria
Bruer, Marlee Bygate, Evelyn
Gascho, Karen Hancock, Patricia
Hawkins-Russell, Kiyomi Hidaka,
Anna Lach, Paulette Laporte, Katelyn
Low, Lisa Menzel, Karen Merriam,
Magdalene Raycraft, Joan Scheerer,
Georgina Schinkel, Sylvia Widmer,
Lindsey Winter, Joanne Zegers,
Rebecca Zimmerman
Bijoux/Decoration ..................................................................Rebecca Dillow
Assisted by .............................................................................Liane Guttadauria, Tami MacDonald,
Kathi Posliff
Boots and Shoes .....................................................................Connie Puetz
Assisted by .............................................................................Karen Beames, Sarah Cook, Michael
Karn, Chantelle Laliberte
Costume Painting ...................................................................Lisa Hughes
Dyeing ....................................................................................Linda Pinhay
Assisted by .............................................................................Sylvia Minarcin
Millinery .................................................................................Helen Flower
Assisted by .............................................................................Isabel Bloor, Katarzyna Maxine,
Monica Viani
Wardrobe Buyer.....................................................................Michelle Barnier
Interim Wardrobe Buyer ........................................................Caitlin Luxford
Assistant Wardrobe Buyer .....................................................Penelope Schledewitz
Wardrobe Apprentice ............................................................Grace Kessel
Warehouse Supervisor ...........................................................Madonna Decker
Warehouse Assistant .............................................................Valerie Lariviere
Wigs and Makeup Construction Crew ...................................Erica Croft-Fraser, Jessica Elsbrie,
Tracy Frayne, Angela Moncur, Sherri
Neeb, Alana Scheel
This recording was made possible with the generous support of Canadian Actors’ Equity
Association.
Stratford Festival artists are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association and ACTRA – the
Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists.
Stratford Festival stage crew, scenic carpenters, drivers, wigs and makeup attendants, facilities
staff and audience development representatives are members of Local 357 of the International
Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Wardrobe attendants are members of IATSE
Local 924. Scenic artists are members of IATSE Local 828.
The musicians, musical directors, conductors and orchestra contractors engaged by the
Stratford Festival are members of the Toronto Musicians’ Association, Local 149, of the
American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada.
For the Stratford Festival
Artistic Director ......................................................................Antoni Cimolino
Executive Director ..................................................................Anita Gaffney
Producer .................................................................................David Auster
Creative Planning Director .....................................................Jason Miller
Casting Director .....................................................................Beth Russell
Director of New Plays ............................................................Bob White
Associate Producer ................................................................Bonnie Green
Company Manager.................................................................Rosie Driscoll
Executive Assistant to the Artistic Director ...........................Joy Wishart
Executive Assistant to the Executive Director .......................Marion Burr
Assistant to the Producer ......................................................Susan Lemenchick
Casting Assistant ....................................................................Jennifer Emery
Special Projects Coordinator..................................................Elizabeth Sheffield
Head of Voice and Coaching ..................................................Janine Pearson
Director of Advancement.......................................................Rachel Smith-Spencer
Archives Director....................................................................Liza Giffen
Director of Audience Development .......................................Sarah Hamza
Director of Communications ..................................................David Prosser
Director of Education .............................................................Andrea Gammon
Director of Finance.................................................................Darryl Huras
Director of Human Resources ................................................Shelley Stevenson
Director of Marketing and Digital Media ...............................Calvin Wood
Publicity Director ...................................................................Ann Swerdfager