Last summer, Des McAnuff announced he'd be leaving as artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival after the 2013 season. A board search committee will start interviewing possible successors soon and make a decision later this year. Who other than general director Antoni Cimolino may be in the running?
Peter Hinton
Hinton announced he was leaving as artistic director of the National Arts Centre's English Theatre in October. Coincidence? He told the Ottawa Citizen he was not going to another theatre, but, regarding Stratford, his spokesman told The Globe he "isn't thinking that far ahead." (His King Lear this spring would be a good audition piece.)
Chris Abraham
After two stand-out revivals of Canadian classics, Abraham makes his debut on the Festival Theatre thrust stage this year with Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker. There are those who say he's being groomed, but he still hasn't got a Shakespeare assignment.
Jennifer Tarver
A Stratford fixture now, Tarver most recently wowed with Harold Pinter's The Homecoming. It's unclear, however, if she has any interest in running a giant theatrical institution.
Richard Rose
The head honcho at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre was a Stratford regular before the current regime and was interviewed last time around. He could pull a John Hirsch and return to run it.
Marti Maraden or Don Shipley
The board thought well enough of these two to offer them jobs as artistic director last time. But is there too much bad blood?
Morris Panych
The playwright had directed at all three of Ontario's classical companies – Stratford, the Shaw Festival, Soulpepper – and has entertained thoughts of running a big company before.
Gregory Doran, Rupert Goold or David Farr
These three are the associate directors at the Royal Shakespeare Company, which is also currently seeking a new head. Might they apply for the Canadian job, too? Would Canadians protest?
J. Kelly Nestruck