Graham Abbey reflects on 25 years at the Stratford Festival

Graham Abbey proudly received his commemorative pin that honours his 25 years of work at the Stratford Festival. He spoke highly of the renowned theatre festival and of his hometown, Stratford.

Longtime Stratford Festival actor Graham Abbey recently celebrated a quarter-century’s worth of work with the festival.

Abbey received a commemorative pin for being part of the Stratford Festival for 25 years. The actor said he is honoured to receive the accolade among other members of the Stratford Festival who have been involved for between 30 to 60 years.

“It's humbling. It's kind of alarming, I suppose, and I think it's exciting,” Abbey said. “I'm certainly part of a really amazing group of artists and crew and others who were celebrated that evening. Lots of people put in many more years than me, but it's a testament to, I think, this town and that institution that people dedicate a significant part of their lives to making art there.”

Some of Abbey’s favourite memories of performing at the Stratford Festival include taking on the role of several Shakespearean characters including Romeo, Macbeth, Petruchio and Prince Hal four times in three productions. He also said the 1997 production of Death of a Salesman, in which he played Biff, is a fond memory.

“I love that play and it was a great production,” Abbey said. “It was thrilling to be on stage with Martha Henry and Al Waxman. I was just in awe the whole time."

Abbey grew up in Stratford and still runs into now-retired teachers who taught him in elementary school. He is raising a family of his own and coaching a girls’ volleyball team, something he called a “full-circle” moment as he played volleyball in high school.

Abbey also said that many passersby in Stratford will stop to talk to him and will go to the Festival just to see him perform. He enjoys mentoring the younger actors and said he worked with many talented performers over the years including Henry, Seanna McKenna, Colm Feore, Brian Bedford and Douglas Campbell.

“It's so cliche sometimes to talk about family, but the theatre world is and always has been a close-knit family,” he said. “I look at pictures of myself over the years in Stratford and I can see myself aging for sure, but I also have so many memories of amazing, amazing artists that I got to work with both on the directing side and on the acting side.”

Abbey will return to the Stratford Festival in 2025 as Banquo in Macbeth and Leontes in A Winter’s Tale.