It is a terrible irony: the Stratford Festival was started in 1953 to save the city of Stratford from economic disaster and now its closure in the face of this pandemic poses its own economic devastation for the region.”This year was to have been one of the festival’s most exciting, beginning with the opening of the redesigned Tom Patterson Theatre. – to deliver the news that the season, which was postponed last month, would not take place as planned.“It’s devastating – it’s just devastating,” Cimolino said in an interview. Accommodation List ... Antoni Cimolino C.M. We hope to have this fixed soon. LOGIN | SIGN UP | FOR MEMBERS | CART | GIFT CERTIFICATES; Toggle navigation. read presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution Antoni Cimolino CM is a Canadian actor and director. If you would like to write a letter to the editor, please forward it to Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. The Stratford Festival is an industry partner of the The 2020 season was to mark the opening of the new Tom Patterson Theatre Centre. Unparalleled esports and egaming content that speaks to key consumers about trends, news, lifestyle and happenings in the $150 billion market.Established as the news, lifestyle, and entertainment weekly in Vancouver for 50 years, the Georgia Straight is an integral part of the active urban West Coast lifestyle with over 1.081 million readers per week. Non-subscribers can read and sort comments but will not be able to engage with them in any way. expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Stratford Festival. "Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. ECentralSports targets the emerging premium “There’s just under 1,000 people that are employed at the festival in the course of a season, but there’s many thousands more that have jobs in related activities in Stratford.”Originally started in 1953 to revive the fortunes of the city of Stratford, Ont., the festival is estimated to drive $135-million in economic activity each year – with local hotels, restaurants and shops reliant on the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to see theatre from April to November.Three hundred and thirty artists were employed or set to be employed by the Stratford Festival this season – a number that does not include the many other artists who take part in residencies and workshops.The exact number of other staff and workers affected is still unclear – 340 of the staff laid off last month have been offered a return to employment with support from the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, but only to the beginning of June.With so much uncertain about the future, Stratford’s administration and its board have not ruled out the possibility of a special fall or holiday season should public health conditions allow. STRATFEST@HOME STRATFEST@HOME; VISIT VISIT. “There’s an important responsibility for the arts in the medium and longer term. “We look forward to the time when we can gather together again to, in the words of William Shakespeare, ‘live, and pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh.’”Glenn started writing for NOW’s theatre section in 1997. Antoni Cimolino CM is a Canadian actor and director. var select={root:".js-sub-pencil",control:".js-sub-pencil-control",open:"o-sub-pencil--open",closed:"o-sub-pencil--closed"},dom={},allowExpand=!0;function pencilInit(o){var e=arguments.length>1&&void 0!==arguments[1]&&arguments[1];select.root=o,dom.root=document.querySelector(select.root),dom.root&&(dom.control=document.querySelector(select.control),dom.control.addEventListener("click",onToggleClicked),setPanelState(e),window.addEventListener("scroll",onWindowScroll),dom.root.removeAttribute("hidden"))}function isPanelOpen(){return dom.root.classList.contains(select.open)}function setPanelState(o){dom.root.classList[o?"add":"remove"](select.open),dom.root.classList[o?