The Stratford Festival in Ontario opened its 50th season May 27 with a production of Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well, one of the plays mounted by the nascent company back in 1953.

In the first years of the now world-renowned Canadian festival, plays were mounted under a tent. This year, All's Well played the flagship festival theatre, whose various nooks and crannies now have corporate underwriters. The multimillion-dollar initiative has four venues and hundreds of employees, many working year round.

The opening week of the 2002 Stratford Festival continues to June 1 with the openings of My Fair Lady May 28, The Threepenny Opera May 29, The Scarlet Pimpernel (the non-musical play) May 30, Romeo and Juliet May 31 and Henry VI: Revenge in France and Henry VI: Revolt in England June 1.

The productions play in repertory and welcome other stagings later in the year, including Christopher Plummer in King Lear. Previews for Lear in the Festival stage begin Aug. 20.

For Stratford Festival information, call (800) 567-1600 or visit stratfordfestival.ca. — By Kenneth Jones