A Festival and a Fiddler

It has become a tradition to give Kirk's sister, Nicole, tickets for the Stratford Festival for her birthday. This year she picked Fiddler on the Roof. And while I knew a few lines from a few songs from the play ["Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match"...."if I were a rich man"] I did not know much more about the play. I am not sure if knowing more about the play before going would have made a difference but we were both blown away by it!

I have seen quite a few plays at Stratford, recently I have been able to see at least two a year, but this quickly became my favourite! The play opens with a song, "Tradition", and after the first few bars I knew I was in for a treat. I am always impressed with the quality of the Stratford plays, there is a reason they are famous in North America, but I firmly believe that they outdid themselves with Fiddler on the Roof. While the songs and dancing were phenomenal, there was so much more than great songs. The story was so well done and you really felt like you were watching a family dealing with their struggles and triumphs. If you can, I strongly urge you to go see it! You will not be disappointed! 

As the play was at 8pm, we decided to go up late afternoon to do some window shopping and supper before heading over to the theatre. One of the highlights for me was seeing the swans. Whenever I think about Stratford, I think about the Festival Theatre and swans. 

This one was doing some crazy swimming techniques

Showing off

He did not like having his picture taken!

These geese were waddling around and honking so much we thought they were lost or drunk, or both