Accessibility - Shaw Festival Theatre

We are committed to serving people with disabilities who use assistive devices.

We will ensure that our staff are trained and familiar with various assistive devices that may be used by patrons with disabilities while attending our facilities (ie. wheelchairs, walkers, canes, assistive listening devices).

• Accessible seating: We are committed to providing an exceptional experience for all patrons, and we offer special access seating at the Festival, Royal George and Studio Theatres. Patrons should advise the Box Office Representative when they order tickets if they will need any assistance during their visit. Patrons using a wheelchair should arrive 30 minutes prior to the performance. To book special access seating please contact the Box Office at 1-800-511-7429.
• Parking: There are four (4) on-site accessible parking spaces available for patrons with disabilities at the Festival/Studio Theatres.
• Wheelchair accessible washrooms: There are wheelchair accessible washroom facilities at the Festival, Royal George and Studio Theatres.

Festival Theatre

The Festival Theatre orchestra seating is at street level. If you have mobility issues, wheelchair-accessible seating is available at the back of the orchestra, there is a long flight of stairs leading to the front of the orchestra section. The balcony section is up three flights of stairs (a total of 40 steps). New! Elevator access is available to the mezzanine and balcony areas. Inside the balcony there are several stairs down to your seat. Wheelchair-accessible washrooms are available on the street level at the Festival Theatre.

Royal George Theatre

If you have mobility issues, the Royal George Theatre features special access seating available upon request. The Royal George orchestra level seating is four steps above street level. There is also a flight of stairs (14 steps) up to the balcony and another small flight of stairs to your seats. Access to the basement bar and lounge can only be reached by going down 17 steps (NO ELEVATOR ACCESS). There is an automatic wheelchair lift located near the front entrance doors. Ask staff for assistance to use the lift. A wheelchair-accessible washroom is behind the retail store next door to the Royal George Theatre, accessible only from outside the shop. We ask patrons using wheelchairs to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the performance for assistance.

Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre

The Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre has special access seating and wheelchair-accessible washrooms are available. If you have mobility issues, please be aware that inside the Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre there is a flight of stairs to reach most seats.

Available at all our theatres.

To book special access seating please contact the Box Office at 1-800-511-7429. Please reserve seats when ordering tickets and advise us if you require any extra assistance. We ask patrons using wheelchairs to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the performance for assistance. There is a wheelchair-accessible washroom at the Festival and Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatres and at the rear of the shop next door to the Royal George Theatre, accessible from outside the shop. If you have any group members with mobility concerns, please ask the Group Sales representative for information about stairs and access at each of the theatres.

There are no elevators at the Royal George Theatre. Special access seating is available at all three theatres. Please arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the performance. Accessible washrooms are available.

A relaxed performance is designed to provide an inclusive, relaxed environment for everyone, including individuals who may feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed in a traditional theatre setting.

The performances are adapted in various ways, such as altered lighting and sound effects. During the performance there will never be a full black out in the house, where the audience is seated. Everyone attending is encouraged to enjoy the show with a relaxed attitude to sound and movement. Audience members may enter and exit the auditorium during the performance. There are two quiet spaces available, one outside the house, and one outside the Royal George Theatre inside the Gallery, should patrons prefer to enjoy their time during the performance in a quieter way.

The Shaw Festival believes in the transformative power of the arts and strive to remove barriers to create a space where everyone can fully enjoy the magic of live theatre.

2024 Relaxed Performances
A Christmas Carol – December 4, 11am

2025 Relaxed Performances
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – June 12, 11am & October 1, 11am
A Christmas Carol – December 4, 1pm

Please Note: For our relaxed performance, cellphone’s should be turned off or placed on silent. Should you be required to answer your phone, we ask that you take your call outside the theatre, so as not to disturb the other patrons or the performance.

Our website is fully accessible to users with various needs

Click this icon at the bottom of each webpage to activate the accessibility features.

These features include:

• Screen-reader optimization for blind users scans, analyzes, and interprets every element on the page the same way sighted users do. It then uses various behaviour adjustments to provide full context to screen readers, allowing blind users to navigate and browse through sites accurately.
• Keyboard navigation optimization for the motor impaired enables users to navigate the entire site using just their keyboard. By using the Tab key, the arrow keys, the ESC key, and various letter keys, users without a mouse can handle everything from pop-ups to forms, and dropdown menus to buttons.
• There is an on-page, live dictionary/glossary for people with cognitive disorders which includes a built-in dictionary, making it easy for users to check the meaning of slang, abbreviations, or phrases they don’t understand, as well as references to famous people, places or events.
• You can choose to stop all flashing animations immediately to freeze any flashing gifs, animations, videos or patterns that could affect people with photo-sensitive epilepsy.
• For the visually impaired, users can change the scaling, sizing and spacing on texts without losing content or usability, alter fonts and even change contrast and color ratios.

If you see a checkmark on the icon, you have activated one of these features. To view the website without these features, click Reset Settings.

Shaw Festival welcomes our patrons with disabilities who are accompanied by a service animal or support person.  We will ensure that all staff, and others dealing with the public are properly trained in how to interact with people with disabilities who are accompanied by a service animal or support person.

Effective July 1, 2016:  Any person with a disability who is accompanied by a support person for the purposes of health or safety and in consultation with the determined a support person is required, the fee (if applicable) for the support person must be waived.

Reserve when you book your tickets.

There is no charge, but we do ask you to consider a donation at time of pick up. This donation helps with the cost to repair and replace these devices. Reserve early, limited availability.

All Shaw Festival theatres are equipped with Sennheiser Infrared Assistive Listening Systems.
Types of Assistive Listening Receivers available:

• Stethoset style receivers – similar to a stethoscope, it is worn in both ears with hearing aids removed.
  • RI 150 Stethoset Style Receiver
  • HDI 830 Stethoset Style Receiver

The Shaw Festival will provide patrons with notice in the event a performance is disrupted in the facilities or services usually used by people with disabilities (daily functions – elevators, physical operations that may or may not be within the Festival’s control or knowledge).

The Festival will make all reasonable efforts to provide advance notice of this disruption to the public, including information about the reason for the disruption, its anticipated duration and a description of alternate facilities or services, if available.

Procedures:

• The Shaw Festival’s website
• Temporary on site signage: in the event of an unexpected disruption, advance notice may not be possible.  In such cases, the Festival will provide on-site signage.
• Staff and volunteers will be kept informed through pre-shift meetings, emails, as appropriate.

Patrons with a disability who are inconvenienced, or cannot access the Festival premises due to a temporary disruption of service should speak to a Box Office representative of House Manager for assistance and accommodation.

The goal of the Shaw Festival is to meet and surpass patron expectations while serving patrons with disabilities. Comments on our services regarding how well these expectations are being met are welcome and appreciated and can be made by email, telephone, fax, in person, or by mail.

Patrons providing feedback will be asked to provide their name and contact information (phone, email and/or address).

Once the feedback is received, the following actions will be taken:

• The feedback will be directed to the appropriate person.
• The feedback will be assessed for appropriate action.
• A response, if required, will be made in a timely manner.

Feedback response forms will be available at each theatre’s front of house desk.

Concerns will be addressed and answered in an appropriate time frame.
Please use the contact information below:

Shaw Festival Theatre, Canada
Attn: Front of House
10 Queen’s Parade
P.O. Box 774
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON  L0S 1J0

Phone: 1-800-657-1106
Fax: 905-468-4745
Email: [email protected]