Shaw Fairground presents a joyous experience

Fairground at the Shaw Festival uses the unique talents of 14 ensemble members who come together for an immersive hour-long experience that takes place on the grounds of the Festival Theatre.

Director Molly Atkinson says it’s totally different from the similarly-titled outdoor production from 2021, and it began with a creative meeting between the entire group.

“We just kind of chatted about the things we thought were interesting,” says Atkinson, on the line from her Niagara-on-the-Lake home. “I talked about how I wanted it to be a real celebration of art, a celebration of being actors as artists. I wanted the audience to come and be joyful, and to get a feel for who these actors really are.”

Atkinson, who has directed the 2018, 2019 and 2021 productions of A Christmas Carol at Shaw, was elated to take the reins for Fairground. 

“It’s really nice to be able to have an outdoor performance,” she enthuses. “So much art can take place in that beautiful setting. There’s not the same pressure you have in regular theatre, but there are challenges you have to take into account.”

Those challenges include the noise from nearby cars, motorcycles and birds, as well as the presence of bugs, people walking through when they’re not supposed to be, and the record heat the month of July brought this summer. But seeing the audience up close and personal has made it all worthwhile. 

Fairground audiences will likely recognize many of those involved from 2022 Shaw productions such as Damn Yankees and Too True to be Good. But chances are they’ve never seen them like they do in Fairground, and they’ve never experienced some of the talents that they display in the outdoor setting. 

“There’s something different that you get to see from them,” explains Atkinson, “that you would probably never otherwise get a chance to see. They all jumped in and surprised me with some great ideas.”

Atkinson started that first meeting with a list of questions. If you had a million dollar budget, what would you do? What is something you’ve always wanted to perform but have never had a chance to? What would your five-year-old self want to do?

“What came out of that,” she says, “were some lovely, incredible ideas. Some of them were almost impossible to do. We were working with nearly a zero budget, but we found ways to get some things done. A lot of them really surprised me.”

In Fairground, Jenny Wright follows a passion of hers, dancing with hoops and silks. James Daly, who had planned to do a movement piece but hurt his shoulder in rehearsal, shifted to creating a performance that uses vocal looping techniques. Jay Turvey performs an original song that he wrote with Shaw music director Paul Sportelli.  

One actor sings a number in various different voices. One dances on a swing, while another recites poetry that they have written over the last couple of years. 

It all comes together on the grounds of the Festival Theatre, with the audience moving along from stop to stop with the performers. If it feels reminiscent of the old Shaw Fair and Fete, that’s no accident, as Atkinson had that in mind throughout the creative genesis of the program. 

“It has that real joyous sort of ‘fair’ feeling that we haven’t seen at the Shaw Festival for a few years now,” she says. 

In guiding the audience through the grounds, the 14 actors connect more deeply with their guests, sharing in the excitement about what lies ahead around the next corner. 

“We’re all sort of in it together,” says Atkinson of that connection, “enjoying each other and seeing each other in a different way. There’s an element of surprise, an element of magic in it.”

Atkinson adds that as Fairground was developing, the actors themselves became increasingly excited about the possibilities, about having a chance to flex their imagination in ways much different than the regular Shaw fare.

And the Shaw grounds itself inspired some of the performances. 

“We held some of those first meetings outside,” says Atkinson. “Our designer, Paige Prystupa, was amazing. We talked about ideas. We really wanted the gardens to speak for themselves. We came up with an idea about how we wanted to move people around them.”

She says another entire list of possibilities arose from the cast based on the surroundings, and Atkinson worked with Prystupa to turn them into reality. The performances that take place in what is referred to as Linden Alley, she adds, come alive with the perfect backdrop.

“My role was to guide them,” Atkinson says of the actors, “to be an outside eye for them, and to inspire them. It’s turned out to be a real celebration of art, a celebration of the actors and the audience together.”

The next performance of Fairground is on Thursday, Aug. 11. There are seven more performances between then and Sept. 21, all beginning at 11 a.m.

Visit https://www.shawfest.com/playbill/fairground/ for tickets and information.