Kathleen Gallagher, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Distinguished Professor at the University of Toronto, and Karen Gilodo, Associate Artistic Director at Young People’s Theatre, engage in a conversation moderated by Lois Adamson, Director of Education at the Stratford Festival. They discuss the urgent need to prioritize arts education and the lasting benefits of arts-based learning for students and communities.

Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

In this episode, join internationally acclaimed physician andauthor Dr. Jen Gunter in conversation with Festival artist Maev Beaty for a frank and empowering discussion about women’s health and bodies. Known as “Twitter’s resident gynecologist” and “the Internet’s OB/GYN,” the Winnipeg-born author of The Menopause Manifesto, The Vagina Bible and Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation brings her signature candour and science-based insights to the Forum for a conversation about reclaiming women’s health from stigma andmisinformation.

Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

In this episode, join world-renowned voice coach and author Patsy Rodenburg in conversation with the Stratford Festival’s former Head of Voice, Janine Pearson, as they explore Rodenburg’s groundbreaking work on women’s empowerment through voice. Drawing on her influential books The Right to Speak, Speaking Shakespeare and The Second Circle, as well as her latest work The Woman’s Voice, Rodenburg discusses how women can reclaim their voices and define the art of accessing the power within to speak with authenticity and authority.Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

In this episode, former associate artistic director at Artists Repertory Theatre Jon Kretzu; emeritus research scientist and former resident bear biologist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Dr. Martyn Obbard; and this season’s Leontes Graham Abbey, as moderator, explore Shakespeare’s famous stage direction, “Exit, pursued by a bear.” Together they consider what bears would have meant to Elizabethan audiences at a time when the animals were extinct in Britain and much of Europe, and discuss the broader context of animal metaphors throughout Shakespeare’s plays.
Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

In this episode, join renowned Shakespeare scholar, general editor of The Norton Shakespeare and Harvard University Professor Stephen Greenblatt in conversation with Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino, commemorating Greenblatt’s new book, Second Chances: Shakespeare and Freud. Together, they discuss how “Shakespeare was the supreme virtuoso of the second chance and Freud was its supreme interpreter.”

Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

In this episode, join screenwriter, director and translator of Dangerous Liaisons, Sir Christopher Hampton; Harvard University literature professor Deidre Lynch; and Canadian author Amal El-Mohtar, as they explore the history of letter writing and its influence on literature and society. From the rise of technology that reshaped personal connections to the development of the epistolary novel, the panel offers a titillating and scholarly exploration of the psychology behind our tastes and the misunderstandings that different forms of communication can cause – moderated by this season’s Marquise de Merteuil, Jessica B. Hill.

Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

In this episode, join playwright and actor in Forgiveness Hiro Kanagawa, Editor of the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia Dr. Anne Nothof and Canadian Studies scholar Peter Hodgins as they examine Canadian cultural identity and explore questions such as, 'How do we define Canadian theatre and art? How exactly does our cultural mosaic influence this definition?'

Together, they examine the interplay between art and identity in Canada, discussing how people’s differences shape their understanding of themselves and the importance of Canadian art showcasing diverse narratives on the stage, both locally and globally.

Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

In this episode, join playwright Erin Shields, Nehiyaw storyteller Trina Moyan, and University of Toronto professor Adriana Brook as they explore storytelling as a transformative force across time. From the origins of Greek epic poetry and its roots in oral tradition to its transition to the written page, the panel reflects on how stories like Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey continue to shape culture today. Discover how ancient narratives and modern adaptations such as Shields’ Ransacking Troy reveal the enduring human impulse to share stories as a way of understanding the world.

Support for The Meighen Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.

Note: Transcript coming soon.