In his Critic’s Notebook, a terrific read, Jesse wrote that there is no way to escape the theater when in Stratford — in the best sort of way.

[Read: At the Stratford Festival, Sexual Power and Paranoia]

He also offered this broad take on Stratford’s venerable theater group:

Even if the individual productions are often B-plus efforts — rarely as good as the best versions you’ve ever seen but almost always among the better — the variety and cleverness of the programming more than make up for it. Under the artistic directorship of Antoni Cimolino, the mix of Shakespeare, classics, musicals and new work demonstrates the continuity of theater through the ages, as well as the continuity of injustice that makes it necessary.

While Stratford’s season now runs from the spring until well into the fall, it’s one of several theater companies, performing indoors and out, that are summer traditions across Canada. The Professional Association of Canadian Theatres counts 27 summer companies but Jeremy Stacey, the group’s interim executive director, said that its list is far from complete.