Paul Gross, Steven Page and Hawksley Workman are headlining the Stratford Festival Forum’s Shakespeare Slam on Wednesday, April 23, at Toronto’s Koerner Hall. This celebration, marking Shakespeare’s 450th birthday, showcases the Festival’s 2014 season theme of “Madness: Minds Pushed to the Edge.”

Stratford Festival Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino will host the event.

Exploring The Artistic Process

Two teams of spirited debaters will square off on whether madness is inherent in the artistic process.

On the one side are actor Paul Gross, famed for his portrayal of “Slings and Arrows’” mentally overwrought artistic director Geoffrey Tennant, and Lisa Brown, founder and executive/artistic director of Workman Arts, which celebrates and promotes the work of artists living with mental-health and addiction issues.

Opposing them are Juno Award-winning musician, Stratford Festival composer and renowned troubadour Steven Page and the Festival’s resident Rhodes Scholar, the hilarious and erudite David Goldbloom. As well as being the past chair of the Festival’s Board, Goldbloom is the senior medical advisor for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and the chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

After the debate, the prolific songwriter, multi instrumentalist, actor, and authorHawksley Workman takes centre stage with his own brand of musical performance. Workman is participating in Stratford Festival’s Forum, September 11 to 20, when he presents his Bacchae-inspired cabaret “The God That Comes.”

Steven Page will also offer up one of his exuberant musical performances, featuring songs combining humour and pathos in a memorable exploration of the evening’s theme.

The event culminates in a truly joyous grand finale, featuring Slam headliners and members of the Festival company.