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 (SAV Village Hall)
4pm-5pm Keynote Address with Sharry Flett, open to the public (SAV Village Hall)
SATURDAY 7/25
9am-10am
Morning refreshments, Papers Session One (SAV Digital Lab)
Justine Zapin, “Heartbreak House and Back to Methuselah: Testing the Limits of Theatricality, Sanity, and Nationalism” (in-person)
Christopher Wixson, Orson Welles’s Heartbreak House (in-person)
10am-11am
Heartbreak House Talk with Ensemble and/or Creative (SAV Digital Lab)
11:15am-12:30pm
Papers Session Two (SAV Digital Lab)
Kay Li, “Heartbreak House and the Need for Ethical Governance: A Study of Shavian Irony by Agentic Artificial Intelligence” (in-person)
Farhat Bahar and Sanjit Mishra, “AI in Shaw and Shaw in AI” (in-person)
Gustavo Rodríguez Martín and Pilar Carretaro Caro, “No Means No: An Enquiry into Shaw’s Negative Language” (Zoom)
12:30pm-2pm
Lunch (SAV Village Hall); Kay Li book launch; SHAW journal update
2 pm-3:30pm
Shaw One-Act Play Reading, open to the public(?) or Shaw Volunteers(?) (SAV Digital Lab)
3:30pm-5pm Business meeting (SAV Digital Lab)
SUNDAY 7/26
9am-9:50am
Morning Refreshments, Papers Session Three (SAV Digital Lab)
Anne Wright on HH (Zoom)
David Staller on HH (Zoom)
10am-11am
Shaw Trivia with Neil Barclay and Shaw Ensemble TBA (SAV Digital Lab)
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 with Ensemble and/or Creative (Festival, Rehearsal Hall 2)
5:30pm
President’s reception (Location TBA for ISS Members)
*Locations & Times are subject to change.