The folks behind two of Canada’s biggest theatre festivals are set to face off this summer in a friendly, but spirited, battle on the field — and the home team hopes to emerge victorious.
The Shaw Festival will go head-to-head against the Stratford Festival on Monday in the 50th anniversary of the Shaw vs. Stratford cricket match.
The two teams alternate hosting every year, with Niagara-on-the-Lake set to welcome Statford on Aug. 26 at Veterans Memorial Park. The annual match is a tradition that began in 1974.
Last year’s match was held at Lower Queen’s Park in Stratford, with Stratford clinching the win.
The Shaw team, captained by actor Jeff Irving, is looking for redemption this year, as well as the chance to hoist the coveted Butch Blake trophy.
The trophy is named after the late actor Mervyn “Butch” Blake, the creator of the annual cricket match, who was with the Stratford Festival for more than 42 consecutive seasons.
The first year of the match, Tony van Bridge was the actor at Shaw who led the NOTL team against Stratford.
Martin Happer, an actor with the Shaw — currently starring in “One Man, Two Guvnors” and “Witness for the Prosecution” this season — is co-captaining with Irving.
“It really is such a unique and special event,” said Happer, who previously coached the Shaw team for six seasons.
“Canadian theatre is such a niche kind of thing, and the fact that you’ve got these two theatre festivals who get together to play a cricket match once a year and have done so for 50 years now is also so unique — and it’s a chance for us to celebrate.”
The teams are typically made up of members of the acting ensembles, stage managers, designers, management, technicians, crew, administrators, support staff and even board members.
“We have a challenge ahead of us,” Happer said, with the absence of two key players, artistic director Tim Carroll and board chair Ian Joseph. Still, he said, the team is feeling pretty good.
“We still have a good group of players. We’ve got some fresh faces. Every year, any team has a good shot.”
Cricket matches can be lengthy. Monday’s match is free to attend and will start at noon. It will run until 6 p.m. with one half-time break at 3 p.m.
