The sights and sounds of the holiday season have come to The Shaw and the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake!  The trees on Queen Street are bejewelled in multicoloured necklaces of light and strains of Christmas carols drift through the air.

We can’t help ourselves; we just love this time of the year! 

Once again, the Shaw Festival takes part in Niagara-on-the-Lake’s annual Christmas parade — one of Ontario’s most popular!  Just like Santa’s workshop, our Scenic Prop Shop has been working for weeks turning The Shaw’s Ford C Cab Truck, circa 1920, into a giant wind-up toy car.  Hopefully the weather outside tomorrow won’t be too frightful for the life size dolls, toy soldiers and other enchanting characters walking alongside our toy car spreading some holiday cheer. 

The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. That’s the essence of inhumanity. ~ Bernard Shaw 

In keeping with the spirit of the Season, The Shaw reaches out to its community.  We continue our tradition of adopting a family from Gillian’s Place, a woman’s shelter in the Niagara region, and provide gifts from their modest wish list.  As admission to our annual Shaw Christmas Party Lunch, Company members are asked to bring a non-perishable food items, which are then donated to Newark Neighbours, a Niagara-on-the-Lake charity that assists people in need by providing food, clothing and Christmas gifts for children. Our fund-raising efforts culminate on December 20 when members of our Ensemble present a dramatic musical reading and the words of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol will resonate through St Mark’s Anglican Church.  The evening benefits Bethlehem Projects of Niagara. 

Need a bit of a break from all the holiday shopping?  Had your fill of Christmas music and jolly man in red?  May I suggest taking in the Shaw’s annual Festival Film Series.   It kicked off last Saturday with Every Little Step and continues through to February.  The line-up features many notable films and documentaries presented at the 2008 and 2009 TIFF.  Up next is The Hurt Locker on December 12 and Coco Avant Chanel on the 19.  If you weren’t able to catch the screenings in Toronto, the Festival Film Series is a great way to see them.  The full Festival Film Series line-up can be seen here.  

Let the hot chocolate and egg-nog flow! Let the season of good tidings begin!

Don’t you just love this time of year?