Inspired by the spirit of Bernard Shaw, the Shaw Festival creates unforgettable theatre encounters. Our charitable purpose is to advance the public's appreciation of the Arts, specifically Theatre, as a basic human need.
Our Values drive the culture of our theatre and the decisions that are made for productions and people. The Shaw Festival is guided by these principles.
10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-the-Lake
The largest theatre at the Shaw Festival, built and opened in 1976, is where the Administrative, and Production offices are located. All the many, many departments that encompass the Shaw Festival have their department offices here: Audience Services, Marketing, Information Technology, Education, Human Resources, Reception, Distribution, Facilities, Finance, Sales, Communications, as well as our Technical Directors, Stage Management, Audio, Lighting, Stage Crew, Design, Wardrobe, and Wigs.
The Shaw ‘s main Box Office and the Shawp, where one can purchase beautiful, bespoke souvenirs and keepsakes before or after a show, are right inside the main entrance. And the four main rehearsal halls where the different shows are rehearsed are in the Festival buildings as well. It is a busy hive of activity even during the early part of the year when there are no shows playing as each season is planned years in advance.
85 Queen Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake
The second largest theatre at the Shaw Festival, built in 1915, prior to being the Royal George was a vaudeville house, and so has a rich tradition of live performance. Here you’ll find Audience Services, Stage Crew, Wardrobe Running, Wigs Running, Audio, Lighting and Food & Beverage. A cozy downstairs lounge and cabaret space, with a full bar, also contains an archive of the Shaw Festival’s production history beginning in 1962. Hidden away at the back of the theatre is another secret garden, alongside a Gallery, a cottage-like event space and coaching studio, containing art, where conversation connection take place.
10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-the-Lake
Our most intimate space, opened in 2004 for public performances, with a seating capacity of 267, the Studio is a transformable black box, that allows for different configurations and design possibilities. Our Executive and Creative Management, Development and Green Room staff reside here. A playground for experimentation and radical, ground-breaking, new works, it often is the Festival’s most popular venue, with a full bar, in the Macdonald Heaslip lounge, which through the glass windows offers spectacular view of the Commons, and sits on the other side of the Baillie Courtyard, over a pond.
10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-the-Lake
Imported directly from Belgium, the Shaw’s Spiegeltent debuted in 2023. When one walks into the tent one is instantly transported to another time and place. Handcrafted in wood, canvas, and metal framing, adorned with mirrors and stained glass, this not strictly ‘traditional’, theatre space, called Magic Mirrors No5. pays homage to the unique design characteristics and ambiance that made Spiegeltents so popular in Europe. With velvet booth seating, cabaret style tables and chairs, and a full bar, the Spiegeltent is unlike any other theatre experience you will ever have. It quickly became the hit of the 2023 season, with sold out performances all season long.
10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-the-Lake
Onsite at our Festival Theatre is The Christopher Newton Green Room which provides an affordable, convenient and social dining experience for the staff of the Shaw Festival. Shaw staff can meet, socialize and purchase delicious food prepared by our own creative team in the kitchen.
Alternatively, Shaw staff are welcome to bring their own food to enjoy in the indoor and outdoor seating areas. Guests are always welcome when accompanied by a Shaw staff member.
3 Walker Road, Virgil
Walking into the Shaw Festival Props Shop is a child’s dream, full of magic and wonder of the upcoming season. Giant trees, large-scale puppet beasts, miniature teacups, and any number of strange and beautiful objects from a designer’s imagination are all built there, by the talented artisans and builders. Historically accurate recreations to dazzle the eyes of discerning patrons, and delight children and young people, when they watch the shows.
12 Walker Road, Virgil
A massive workshop, where the worlds of the Shaw Festivals plays are created. Scenic Art and The Scene Shop are run by the incredible engineering talents of the production department, where the magic of puzzling out how to, for example, shoot a flight of arrows across a stage or make objects levitate by themselves, happens. Ever mindful of waste the Shops plan years in advance to repurpose materials from year to year. Hydraulics, welding, construction, painting, etc. all take place here.
