Shaw Festival Opens
With Wilde's An Ideal Husband

Through a curtain of humour, great ideas, struggles and relationships will be revealed and examined during the 49th season of the Shaw Festival.

The seasons begins with Oscar Wilde’s witty intrigue, An Ideal Husband — a play about blackmail, political corruption and scandal.

Four other productions will also open this week: the Canadian premiere of the Tom Murphy version of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard; the Kurt Weill, Ogden Nash, S.J. Perelman madcap musical, One Touch of Venus; the Mary Chase Pulitzer Prize-winning charmer Harvey; and the clever, cut-throat Clare Boothe Luce comedy, The Women.

The Shaw Festival’s Artistic Director, Jackie Maxwell, joins The Shaw’s Board of Governors Chair Janet McKelvey and the rest of the Company in celebrating the start of the season and says of this week’s events: “After weeks of exploring, building, rehearsing, previewing and honing, we proudly open the first five shows in our 2010 season — a truly rich showcase for our wonderfully talented company.”

The Shaw Festival’s 2010 season runs from April 1 to October 31 and will also feature The Doctor’s Dilemma, John Bull’s Other Island, Age of Arousal, Half an Hour and Serious Money.

For more information, visit www.shawfest.com.