Transforming The Shaw into a true Festival

At Shaw Festival, we believe that theatre is a basic human need – the need for all humans to experience watching a story unfold in community.

Furthermore, we believe in provoking conversations within our communities by unleashing the best artists and artisans of our generation on the plays of previous ones.

These rich and healthy intersections foster dynamic human interaction and create the type of lively experiences worthy of a true festival.

Experiences like these are our specialty, and we will continue to be a gathering place where we can all enjoy and learn from our differences as well as celebrating our common humanity.

The Next Generation

At the heart of the Shaw Festival is the ability to address a group, the ability to argue multiple sides of an argument, a willingness to be bold with language. These skills are missing in our educational system today.

Those who train the next generation of artists are struggling to grapple with plays that confront us, as a society, with attitudes or customs we may think we no longer share.

For us, this is not a problem, but an opportunity. The Shaw Festival must be a home for those who feel the same way.

Art, not precarity

What more could the Shaw Festival achieve if we brought together a group of artist ambassadors who are aligned with our vision? What would happen if we employed them full-time?

Shaw Festival will address these questions by creating what we are calling an “Embedded Ensemble”: artists who are employed full time so that when they are not on stage, they are bringing their skills and talents to support us in the company, with education, development, technology, filming, video and more.

With financial security, each artist can more freely embody the Shaw Festival’s vision and spend more time making art, more time helping us be the vanguard for a movement of real human encounters and less time auditioning for the next job.

As a charity, the Shaw Festival’s primary focus is to have a positive impact on the communities we serve, regardless of colour, creed, geography or economic circumstances.

Our cause is theatre, and the enrichment and connection that it brings into lives when it touches them.

We will lean into the passions and talents of the Embedded Ensemble to develop new programs that deliver levels of community engagement and audience development that are currently unprecedented at Shaw Festival.

Enhanced spaces that enable real human encounters

To reconnect the human spirit, we need spaces and places that are designed to create connection.

We are going to reimagine and rebuild the Royal George so that it becomes a theatre for the next century and the centre of a downtown Shaw experience: a carbon neutral, fully accessible, Rick Hansen Gold Certified performing arts centre.

We will retain its unique and much-loved character and align it with our current programming goals and philosophies to create a modern, fully accessible, and authentic jewel-box theatre, the likes of which doesn’t exist in North America today.

And in doing so, we will create a place where you come early and stay late, where there is always activity – not just around performance time – where you will want to linger, both with people you know and people you are just about to meet and where artists, audiences and the community will mingle – a new downtown hub to serve our mission.

The Shaw Artists’ Village

Shaw’s new Festival Campus will expand the footprint of Shaw’s popular Festival Theatre through the addition of the Shaw Artists’ Village next door, creating a Campus with a combination of outdoor and indoor spaces for performance, education, artist housing, theatre craft and personal development. 

The Artists’ Village will encompass five existing buildings that are in the process of being transformed into classrooms, performance spaces and studios, as well as a new wardrobe construction building and seasonal housing for Shaw artists and visiting school and university groups.

At the heart of the Artists’ Village will be the Burton Centre for Lifelong Creativity, a unique space dedicated to awakening the inner artist in all of us, regardless of age. It will house tailored programming and experiences to reconnect seniors, youth, businesses, tourists, teachers, physicians, artists, theatre lovers and local community members to their own creativity. Through this work, The Shaw aims to lead work that will reduce isolation for more than one million seniors per year by 2030.

All.Together.Now. FAQs

What is the All.Together.Now. Campaign?

The Shaw has embarked on a Campaign for Real Human Connection: a $150M campaign which will transform the Shaw into a centre for communication, creativity and connection, a unique space dedicated to deepening connection through the art we make and the people you share it with.

Thanks to an enhanced and expanded creative campus that includes the Festival Theatre, Shaw Artists’ Village, and a new Royal George Theatre, the Shaw will become a true festival destination that will support new programs and activities to engage with our community. The Shaw will continue to deliver exceptional classical theatre while supporting our ensemble of artists and training the next generation of theatre makers.

With accessibility and sustainability at the heart of this project, the Shaw will ensure that our community will be able to enjoy these spaces for the next 100 years or more.

Why is the Shaw Festival expanding with two different construction projects right now?

The Shaw Artists’ Village and the new Royal George building are a part of the same vision. We are building a unique creative campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake: a true festival destination of the sort that does not exist today and that brings together indoor and outdoor spaces for education, training, artist housing, performance and a new wardrobe workshop. This buzzing hub of artistic activity will enrich anyone’s life, awakening the spirit through live experience, whether as a spectator, participant, or student.

How can I support The Shaw’s All.Together.Now. campaign and movement for real human connection?

You can donate online at Shaw Festival Theatre (link to donate).

Or contact Director of Advancement Cindy Mewhinney at 905-941-0157 or [email protected] for more information on how to get involved.

Royal George Theatre FAQs

How long have plans for the new Royal George been underway?

We started the process of designing a new Royal George back in 2017, following concerns around its failing foundation and infrastructure, with the intent to try to rebuild in 2021. The pandemic really delayed that and exacerbated the infrastructure issues.

Now, after many years of planning with architects, consultants, and community members—including gathering the necessary studies and assessments—we are ready to move forward with a design that will support the transformative work at the Shaw and better serve the community of Niagara-on-the-Lake and our audiences more widely.

We have been in regular contact with town staff and council throughout the process, though final details have only recently come to ground. On April 1, the Provincial government announced their support of the project with $35M in funding and provided us with a three-year timeline to complete the project, which in turn allowed us to finalize plans with our donors and the Town.

Thanks to the acquisition of three adjacent properties in the late 1990s, 2017 and 2022, we now have the space to build a new Royal George that is fully accessible, code-compliant, and equipped for the future. While the theatre auditorium itself will retain its intimate, jewel-box charm and style, the expanded footprint allows for a proper lobby, integrated box office, accessible and increased washrooms, elevators, and safe and accessible circulation for wheelchairs, walkers and other mobility devices that are required of all modern buildings. But we want to do more than the minimum.

When will I get to see designs for the new Royal George Theatre?

We unveiled the first images of our new Royal George Theatre design on Saturday, May 24 at our opening weekend celebrations. We had finalized those images only days before and indeed really only knew what we could do once the province made their funding decision on April 1, 2025. Since then, we have refined the design based on community feedback and have submitted our heritage impact assessment report, re-zoning and site plan application. For more information – please visit shawfest.com/royalgeorge.

Why will the new Royal George Theatre be a larger building?

The new Royal George must be larger than the existing building by law, and by code. Accessibility needs of the current world would not allow the existing building to be built today. Because we only get to do this once, we want it to be the best building it can be, and we need to do it for the audiences and Queen Street of a hundred years from now.

1) Rebuilding the theatre requires a larger footprint to meet existing building and fire codes.

The current lobby is approximately 8 feet deep and has a fire code capacity of 13 people for a theatre designed to seat 335 patrons. Modern building and fire codes would not allow such a small lobby space today. A lobby needs to be able to marshal the whole group of attendees, and we are looking to increase from 335 to 350 seats. We are required to move the theatre further back to create a lobby that meets these building and evacuation codes. We are taking advantage of that larger main floor footprint to add more washrooms, better access to the theatre’s balcony level, and a multi-purpose community space.

2) The current theatre is deeply inaccessible to patrons and workers.

The only accessible washroom at the current theatre is in another building, down an alley. Wheelchairs have great difficulty entering the building, and mobility-challenged people have few seating options. In the winter, this is exacerbated. These are just a few of the many, many barriers we must resolve.

Currently, the stage and all backstage spaces are not accessible to people with reduced mobility. The new theatre will allow workers with mobility devices to access all areas of the building, including the gridiron of the fly tower (which allows us to take scenery completely out of view during a performance). This is why the fly tower height will need to be increased by approximately 5.5 feet from its current height. This additional 5.5 feet allows for a person to work standing rather than crouching and crawling around.

Given its increased distance from the street, the fly tower will not be visible to a passerby on Queen Street or from most of Victoria Street. We will be including a green wall and adding additional trees on the north side of the building and on Victoria Street that will also help obscure the tower.

The other facades on both Victoria Street and Queen Street will be similar in height to the houses around the Victoria Street side. A 3^rd floor for the technical working area is necessary for the theatre for working access of staff and as that also requires elevator access, we have allowed for some additional gathering space on the 3^rd floor so that we can use it for supporting our education, and performance activities. We have stepped this back from the street view so that it is hidden from the Queen Street view.

3) The current theatre does not contain a box office or rehearsal hall.

The current Royal George theatre’s lobby is so small that it cannot contain a box office. The blue building beside the theatre houses both the box office and the only accessible washroom. It shares this space with one of our costume construction shops. These spaces will be incorporated into the new building.

We are also adding a rehearsal space on the Victoria St. side that will allow passersby to see us in rehearsals. This additional space will also support our youth programming and other educational events. When not in use, the rehearsal hall can be made available for community events. We will not be hosting commercial events like weddings at the theatre.

What is being done to ensure the new Royal George Theatre maintains its charm and enriches the Queen Street and Victoria streetscape?

At the suggestion of the Town’s heritage consultant, we have moved toward the concept of a ghost façade where the current theatre façade stands; the front of the new Royal George will be a true echo of how it looks today.

A ghost façade is an architectural term for a way of preserving the building’s historical frontage while the rest of the structure behind it is replaced. In the Royal George Theatre design update, the original theatre’s façade and illuminated entrance marquee will be reinterpreted, maintaining the scale, window openings, molding and column details. The ghost façade will be freestanding and connect to the new theatre entry through a small outdoor courtyard, covered by a continuing canopy illuminated with marquee lights.

Victoria Street will feature pitched or “gabled” roofs and the Rehearsal Hall windows have been lowered to residential height with a bay window treatment to be more harmonious with the look of the neighbourhood. The scenic delivery bay will be obscured by a decorative, residential style, wrought iron fence complemented by brick pillars, hedges and plantings. Extensive ornamental planting and landscaping will further enhance the residential streetscape.

We are exploring ways to conserve elements and include historic details of the properties from the current Royal George and Victoria Street buildings to integrate into the new interior designs, as art installations or commemorative installations.

Isn’t the Royal George Theatre (and the other properties) a historical site?

No, the Royal George and all the other buildings on the new site are not designated historical buildings (although they are located on Queen Street in the NOTL Queen/Picton Heritage District).

Our beloved Royal George Theatre was built during the First World War as a temporary building to house lectures and entertainment for officers training here in Niagara. For speed, and to save money, it was built out of clay “speed” tile, only designed to last for about 25 years. The Shaw bought the building in 1981 and hid the original Spanish stucco design, completed the faux Georgian façade (designed by architect Peter John Stokes) started by the previous owners and installed the jewel box interiors of the lobby and auditorium as semi-permanent set pieces.

Who is the architect of the Shaw Artists’ Village and the Royal George Theatre?

Unity Design Studio (formerly Lett Architects) is the Shaw Festival architect of record having designed the original Festival Theatre, the Production Centre addition in 2005 and the ongoing stop-gap measures to shore up the Royal George Theatre. We are thrilled to have Unity Design Studio, led by Bill Lett Jr., design both the Shaw Artists’ Village and the new Royal George Theatre. We are also working with Theatre Consultants Collaborative (TCC), a group of theatre veterans who will help us create an inspiring performance space. Govan Brown will be supporting the project as the Construction Manager. Many of our senior staff have also been involved in or managed construction projects of this sort.

What is the construction timeline for the new Royal George Theatre?

After the final performance of A Christmas Carol on December 21, the theatre will be stripped of its seats and equipment, and we will move into demolition in early 2026.  From there, we anticipate a 30-month rebuild and look forward to welcoming our first guests back into the theatre in late 2028. Theatres are highly complex buildings – second only to hospitals – and require a lot of attention to acoustics, sightlines and technical elements.

What is the Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification?

The Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification (RHFAC) indicates a commitment to accessibility. Gold level accessibility recognizes buildings with a level of meaningful access beyond minimums required by building code and is based upon the holistic user experience of people with varying disabilities affecting their mobility, vision, and hearing.

A building that simply meets existing building code would only receive a rating of 43% on the RHFAC scale. These buildings are often mobility-centric and may fall short of the actual needs of people with various disabilities. To achieve gold level, a building must receive a rating of over 80% and is scored across 12 areas.

The new Royal George Theatre will ensure that every patron will be able to enjoy the theatre no matter their level of mobility. Typically, backstage areas are not accessible to wheelchair users or people with reduced mobility. The new Royal George will allow a worker who has mobility assistance requirements to access every part of our building, especially the ones that have historically not been available to them.

What will you do for programming while the Royal George is closed?

We will be producing shows in the Court House theatre, and we will be doing other ancillary programming during the summer months. The Court House theatre will be a reduced audience layout from our previous one, as that layout is no longer deemed safe by fire codes. The new Court House audience layout will be more accessible.

If I have questions, who can I contact?

To learn more, you can reach us at [email protected].