The Summer Symposium at the Shaw Festival will take place July 24-26 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada.
Participants are advised that:
- Registration for the symposium is free for ISS members but you do need to officially register by calling the Shaw Festival Box Office as soon as possible (1-800-511-7429) in order to attend the sessions.
- Financial support is available for graduate students and unfunded scholars presenting at the symposium. See our Scholarships page for more information. Note that you must be a member in good standing of the ISS to be eligible for funding.
- Symposium participants are responsible to buy their own tickets for the Sunday matinee of Heartbreak House.
- Anyone looking for a more affordable accommodation option should consider the residence at Niagara College’s Niagara-on-the-Lake (Daniel J. Patterson) campus. The residence is a 20-minute drive from the Shaw Festival, but we can arrange transportation if necessary. The ISS is currently holding several rooms at the residence, so feel free to contact Dorothy Hadfield (president@shawsociety.org) if you aren’t able to find vacancy for the symposium weekend
- The Shaw Festival is opening their Artists Village for short-term accommodations in time for the symposium. The Village is located on the property right beside the Festival Theatre. Most rooms feature 2 beds, a mini-fridge and a private bathroom, with microwaves and kettles available in the common area. Members interested in booking can send an email to education@shawfest.com with the subject line “Symposium Short Term 2026 – Name Name.”
Below is the tentative schedule and the webpage for the Symposium on the Shaw Festival’s official website.
INTERNATIONAL SHAW SOCIETY AND THE SHAW FESTIVAL
ANNUAL SHAW SYMPOSIUM | JULY 24, 25, 26 2026
FRIDAY 7/24
2:30-4pm Registration and Wine and Cheese Reception
4pm-5pm Keynote talk: In Conversation with ensemble member Sharry Flett
5pm Dinner on your own
SATURDAY 7/25
9am-10am Morning refreshments, Papers Session One
- Justine Zapin, “Heartbreak House and Back to Methuselah: Testing the Limits of Theatricality, Sanity, and Nationalism”
- Christopher Wixson, Orson Welles’s Heartbreak House
10am-11am Heartbreak House Talk with Ensemble and/or Creative artists
11am-12:30pm Papers Session Two
- Kay Li, “Heartbreak House and the Need for Ethical Governance: A Study of Shavian Irony by AI”
- Anne Wright
- David Staller
12:30pm-1:30pm Lunch provided; Book fair and Launch: Kay Li, SHAW journal special issue
1:30pm-3pm Shaw One-Act Play Reading
3pm-5pm ISS Business meeting
5pm Dinner on own
SUNDAY 7/26
9am-10am Morning Refreshments, Papers Session Three
- Julie Sparks, “From the Somme to the West End: Two Comic Playwrights Attack the Junkers”
- Gustavo Rodríguez Martín and Pilar Carretero Caro, “No Means No: An Enquiry into Shaw’s Negative Language”
10am-11am Shaw Trivia, hosted by Neil Barclay / Shaw Ensemble
11am-12pm Shaw’s Birthday Bash (Festival, East Lawn Tent)
12pm-1pm Boxed Picnic Lunch (Festival, Member’s Terrace)
1pm-4pm Heartbreak House (Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre)
4:30-5pm Post Show Chat / Discussion on Heartbreak House
5:30pm President’s reception
*Locations & Times are subject to change.