Every year, the Eastern Michigan University Honors College takes a small group of students to the Stratford Festival for two days to celebrate Shakespeare, appreciate live theater and build new friendships. This year’s trip is Oct. 2-3, 2026.
The Stratford Festival, in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, is a months-long festival of Shakespearean theatre, its website states. The festival puts on several different Shakespearean productions, such as "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Othello," and related productions like "Something Rotten." Shows span across four different venues: the Festival Theatre, the Avon Theatre, the Tom Patterson Theatre and the Studio Theatre.
Nick Malendowski, assistant director of the Honors College, describes the Stratford Festival as Ontario's version of Broadway.
Attending students see three live theater productions during their two days at the festival and have the opportunity to explore and learn about the city of Stratford.
Attending the Stratford trip is beneficial to students in that it helps them build community and exposes them to new art forms, Malendowski said. There is community building on the road, even before arriving to the festival. Students are broken into groups for the ride there and often remain in those groups throughout the trip, allowing them the opportunity to make new friends among their peers, Malendowski said. Most students go on the trip before having seen or experienced many theater performances, making the Stratford Festival a first-time experience with live theater.
“It's really fun. It is probably my favorite part of my job, to be honest. It is just a good way to experience something new," Malendowski said.
Hanna Feldman, an honors student majoring in marketing, said that attending the Stratford trip helped her develop a deeper understanding of the importance and prevalence of Shakespeare.
“Stratford showed us why Shakespeare is still prevalent now, because there have been so many writers, but he is one of the ones that we still talk about to this day, which means that he is a very important person, and that he has passed the age of time to actually be able to still be prevalent today. I feel like it really showed us how impactful Shakespeare’s writing was," Feldman said.
Any honors student in good standing is eligible to complete the RSVP form for a chance to attend the trip. If more than 24 students fill out the RSVP form, they are entered into a lottery, and 24 students are drawn at random. Students who are drawn in the lottery are able to attend the trip, Malendowski said. The deadline to fill out the RSVP form was Sept. 1, 2026, according to the Honors College Monthly Minute summer newsletter.
Attending the Stratford trip counts as a cultural exploration CLIPS experience.
CLIPS are required co-curricular experiences for Honors College students, the Honors College website says. Honors students must complete 20 hours of work in a number of different CLIPS categories — determined by which honors pathway they are pursuing — in order to graduate with honors. CLIPS categories are cultural exploration, leadership, intellectual, professional development and skills development.
