What does Seneca Falls have in common with Niagara-on-the-Lake? Well, we found out very quickly after our first show at the Shaw Festival in this lovely, quaint, and historic town on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. In Seneca Falls, we saw the site of the first Women’s Rights Convention in 1848; in Niagara-on-the-Lake we saw three works of one of the best playwrights of the late 19th and early 20th century, George Bernard Shaw, who also happened to be a great proponent of women’s rights and emancipation. In Candida, Shaw described the lead woman character as the nurturing soul absolutely necessary to the men who were ultimately dependent on her. In My Fair Lady, the exciting musical adaptation of Pygmalion (and it was a superb production), we saw Eliza Doolittle’s impact on Henry Higgins--- especially as he sang, “Never Let a Woman in Your Life.” We could hum the tunes from the original 1957 Broadway production with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews – where Bob took a date and Jane went with her mother. Once again, the man is needy and the more assured woman both changes and rescues him. In Heartbreak House, our third show in two days, the only possibly sane character is another woman, Ellie Dunn, who, in a mad house, realistically pursues a plan to protect her future. So, moving on to Niagara-on-the-Lake from Seneca Falls in some ways made perfect sense.
Niagara-on-the-Lake was founded during the American Revolution when Loyalists crossed the river into friendlier territory. After burning to the ground during the War of 1812, the town was rebuilt with classical British architecture. It is a charming town with quaint hotels, shoppes, B & Bs, nestled alongside the Niagara River as it flows into Lake Erie.
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