In my 1953 – Shatner Year in Review post, I gave a brief overview of the history of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and noted that it was an almost instant sensation in its first year. I also mentioned that Shatner was, according to him, approached to join the inaugural company but turned it down, thinking that the festival was a dubious prospect that would most likely fail. He was, of course, extremely wrong.
If the first year was a success beyond most people’s wildest dreams, the second season of the festival, in 1954, was even more blockbuster and truly cemented the Stratford Festival as one of the premiere theaters in North America and around the world. Artistic Director Tyrone Guthrie, in collaboration with Tanya Moiseiwitsch, continued to revolutionize Shakespearean theater (and theater in general) with the “thrust stage.” For the second season, capacity in the theater was increased greatly simply by moving the tent poles (yes, the theater was under a big tent) from the inside of the theater to the outside. The tickets sold almost doubled, from an astounding 68,599 in 1953 to 125,155 the following year. Another play was added, bringing the total number to three, and that added third play (Oedipus Rex) wasn’t even written by Shakespeare! The season doubled to 9 weeks, and by the second weekend they were basically sold out for the remaining 1954 run.
This, all before the internet made it incredibly simple for people to buy tickets to just about anything from just about anywhere. Seriously, think about it…to get tickets to a performance (or performances) of the Stratford Festival in 1954, one had to travel by car, bus or train to Stratford directly (which was not exactly a destination in and of itself) and wait in a line at the box office to purchase tickets. Then, you would return home (usually a journey of at least an hour) and then come back on the day or days that your purchased tickets were good for. The failing town of Stratford, propped up by the hope and money of its citizens in an effort to save their hometown, transformed literally almost overnight from a train hub and manufacturing depot into a thriving artistic tourist destination.
Shatner was invited once again to join the company, and this time he jumped at the chance.
The first play performed for Stratford’s 1954 season was Shakespeare’s comedy, Measure for Measure. Much like the previous year, a high-profile English actor made the trip to Canada to headline the festival. In the inaugural season, that actor was Alec Guinness. This time around it was James Mason, a movie star already who would later appear in films like A Star is Born, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and North by Northwest. In Measure for Measure, Mason played Angelo, an important and meaty role but not the starring one. The largest part he would perform at the festival would come later, in Oedipus Rex.
Measure for Measure ran the entire length of the festival, from June 28th to August 28th. Although Tyrone Guthrie remained the festival’s artistic director for its second year, the expansion of plays performed (from two to three) dictated that he would not be the director for all of the productions, and so it was that the festival’s opening play was directed by Cecil Clarke. And as for the young William Shatner? What role did he get?
When I first looked at the cast list, I saw that Shatner was playing the role of “Young Lord”, and that his name was at the bottom of the credits. This placement usually denotes a relatively minor role in the production, but not necessarily an unimportant one. I pulled out my copy of Measure for Measure to reacquaint myself with the play (yes, I own and have read all of Shakespeare’s plays…no, I didn’t remember at all what the hell Measure for Measure was about) and saw that the young lord has a name, Varrius, and that he is a “friend of the Duke”…the Duke being the main character in the play. This was more promising!
And then I skimmed through the thing and discovered that, although he is onstage quite a bit during the 5th and final act, Varrius has not a single goddamned line in the play. He’s like a high-profile extra, which is why he’s credited, but no speaking lines whatsoever. Ah well, it actually kind of makes sense. If your play has a character in it that is highly visible, but must only act with his face and mannerisms and not with his voice, you could do far worse than casting William F. Shatner in the role. There are no small parts in the theater, only small actors as the saying goes…and Shatner has never been a small actor. Well, in height maybe, but you know what I’m saying.
And anyway, Shatner would have a much larger role starting the very next night in the Tyrone Guthrie directed The Taming of the Shrew. And the festival, although it would be by no means immediate, would prove to have a profound and lasting impact on Shatner’s career.
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It’s time to detail all of the connections between Measure for Measure and other Shatner appearances!
Pretty much the entire company, with the exception of James Mason, would appear in both of the other 1954 Stratford Festival plays, as well as in subsequent Stratford productions with Shatner over the next few years. Indeed, many of them would also appear in the Tyrone Guthrie directed Broadway production of Tamburlaine the Great in early 1956, and the Guthrie directed film version of Oedipus Rex in 1957. Rather than list all of those actors here, and name each and every production they appeared with Shatner in, I’m going to cherry-pick some of the more interesting connections.
Fellow Canadian Lloyd Bochner, who played the lead role in Measure for Measure would go on to have a very prolific career, appearing in a number or films and television programs for next six decades or so. One of my favorite Bochner roles was in The Twilight Zone episode “To Serve Man.” It’s a cookbook, Lloyd!
He also appeared as “Cecil Colby” in the TV series Dynasty in the 1980’s. He is most famous in that role for having a heart attack while fucking Joan Collins, in one of the most hilarious scenes ever filmed.
Bochner performed at Stratford for at least the next two years, both with Shatner, and then would appear again with Bill in Tamburlaine the Great. Bochner also appeared in a 1960 TV movie made for the CBC titled Point of Departure. They would work together again when he appeared on a 1965 episode of Shatner’s first TV series For the People, titled “Seized, Confined and Detained…” Ten years later, he would work with Le Shat in “Jesse Who?”, an episode of Shatner’s only live-action “Lost Years” TV series, Barbary Coast. Finally, they would both appear in the sprawling Canadian film, Riel, in 1979.
Douglas Rain would also appear with Shatner in Tamburlaine the Great on Broadway, as well as in the 1957 film adaption of Oedipus Rex. In 1960, he would play “Cassius” alongside Shatner’s “Marc Antony” in the “Julius Caesar” episode of Festival. Rain is best know as the voice of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Like Rain, William Hutt also appeared with Shatner in Tamburlaine the Great on Broadway, as well as in the 1957 film adaption of Oedipus Rex. Additionally, he appeared in a 1955 episode of General Motors Theatre, “The Coming Out of Ellie Swan.”
Frances Hyland and Jonathan White and would also appear in the above mentioned “Julius Caesar.”
Toby Robins would next appear with Shatner in an episode of Scope, “Antiquity 1954” and then one month later in an episode of General Motors Theatre, “Never Say No.” Finally, he would appear with Shatner one last time, in 1955’s TV production The Big Dig.
Robert Christie worked with Shatner prior to Stratford in CBC Theatre’s “The Man Who Ran Away.” Later he would appear in Scope’s “The Verdict Was Treason” and in the film version of Oedipus Rex.
James Manser would soon appear with Shatner in “The Big Leap”, an episode of General Motors Theatre, as well as in the film version of Oedipus Rex.
William Needles worked again with Shatner the following year in an episode of General Motors Theatre, “Never Say No” and then again in 1955 on an episode of Scope, “The Verdict Was Treason.”
Eric House would also appear in “The Verdict Was Treason”, as well as in the 1960 TV Movie, Point of Departure.
Donald Harron would also appear in Riel.
Douglas Campbell would appear with Shatner in “Billy Budd”, a 1955 episode of General Motors Theatre as well as playing Oedipus in the 1957 film version of the play directed by Tyrone Guthrie.
Neil Vipond would also work with Shatner in the 1958-1960 Broadway play, The World of Suzie Wong.
Robert Goodier appeared with Shatner at Stratford for all three seasons The Shat was there, plus in the 1956 Broadway version of Tamburlaine the Great and the 1957 film version of Oedipus Rex. In addition, he was in an episode of Omnibus with Shatner in 1956, Moliere’s School for Wives.
Finally, Peter Mews would go on to become the host of the Canadian Howdy Doody Show. Shatner would also appear on that program, perhaps multiple times, but it is not clear if they actually ever worked together on it…more on this in a later post.
Further Studies
Here is a great contemporary article about the Stratford Festival, written in 1954 that has more information on much of what I mentioned above. There are a number of great anecdotes in there related to how the festival was founded and funded by the town, as well as some funny stories about people getting tickets. Highly recommended.
Some cool pictures of the festival (most with Shatner) can be found here.
More on history of the Stratford Festival, including Guthrie’s involvement and the thrust stage can be found here.
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