Stratford adds Bard to its name

There will be an ambitious recommitment to Shakespeare and the classics next season at the Stratford Festival of Canada, with the repertory company even getting a new name to reflect the change -- the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

The 2008 season will be the first for the festival’s trio of new artistic directors, Marti Maraden, Des McAnuff and Don Shipley. They are following Richard Monette, who is completing a 14-year run at the Stratford, Ontario-based theater.

McAnuff, best known for running the La Jolla Playhouse and for his Broadway productions of “Jersey Boys,” “The Who’s Tommy” and “Big River,” will direct “Romeo and Juliet” in 2008 at Stratford.