Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON (May 26, 2025) – The Shaw Festival today unveiled a Movement for Real Human Connection, a $150 million mission that will transform The Shaw into a centre for communication, creativity and curiosity. A unique space dedicated to deepening connection through art, the new Shaw Festival will be a place where audiences, artists and communities can find each other and awaken their inner artist.
“The Shaw is in the vanguard of a movement for real human connection,” said Tim Carroll (TC), Artistic Director for the Shaw Festival. “Theatre is perfect to take the lead. To write a play, or to create the world in which it takes place, you need to release your imagination; to perform a play you need to have the courage and the technique to look someone in the eye and tell them the truth; and to watch a play you need the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and see how the world might look to them. These are the qualities our society needs, now more than ever.”
The Shaw Festival will achieve its bold vision through innovative programming focused on engaging experiences, training, artists and community outreach at its new creative campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
“We are committed to providing what people are increasingly telling us they crave: the chance to connect on a direct, human level,” said Tim Jennings, Executive Director of the Shaw Festival. “To reconnect the human spirit, the Shaw Festival needs spaces and places that bring people together physically, socially and emotionally. This movement and our mission to enrich and connect people’s lives through theatre, is what is driving our plan for the Shaw Festival’s expansion.”
The Festival Campus and the Burton Centre for Lifelong Creativity
Shaw’s new Campus will expand the footprint of Shaw’s popular Festival Theatre through the next-door addition of the Shaw Artists’ Village, creating a combination of outdoor and indoor spaces for performance, education, artist housing, theatre craft and personal development.
The Artists’ Village will renovate five existing buildings 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 everyone’s inner artist, 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.
Downtown Campus and the new Royal George Theatre
The centre of Shaw’s new Downtown Campus will be the new Royal George Theatre. As the 110-year-old theatre must close in December 2025 due to its failing infrastructure, it is being reimagined and rebuilt for the next century.
The new Theatre will be a world-class performance space and the first carbon neutral theatre in North America. Its unique and much-loved character will be preserved as a historically inspired, world-class jewel-box theatre. Offering modern, leading amenities, the new theatre will have Rick Hansen Foundation Gold Certification levels of accessibility allowing The Shaw to welcome both the public and a workforce with diverse needs.
All.Together.Now
The Shaw Festival’s All.Together.Now. campaign is raising $150 million to construct this creative campus and fund the artists, experiences, training and community outreach to bring this vision to life. The Shaw is uniting donors and community leaders who believe theatre is a powerful solution to create belonging and meaningful connection.
“The transformative support of our generous donors is playing a vital role in shaping The Shaw experience for generations to come,” said Ian M.H. Joseph, Board Chair of the Shaw Festival. “We are deeply grateful to the Government of Ontario for their contribution of $35 million to rebuild the Royal George Theatre, the Federal Government for their initial contribution of $15 million to support the Shaw Artists’ Village, our Lead Donors, Tim and Frances Price and the James A. Burton & Family Foundation, as well as the many Founding Campaign Donors who are empowering The Shaw’s bold vision.”
To learn more about Shaw’s All.Together.Now campaign visit www.shawfest.com/all.together.now.