Dame Maggie Smith remembered for contributions to Stratford, Ont. stage

She was a world-renowned actor who captured the imagination of audiences on the silver screen for decades, but closer to home, Dame Maggie Smith is being remembered for her spellbinding work on an Ontario stage.

The Oscar winning actor known for her roles on “Downton Abbey” and the Harry Potter films, died early Friday at the age of 89.

But in the ’70s and ’80s, with an Oscar win already under her belt, she appeared in several Stratford Festival productions.

“She wanted a chance to play a wider variety of parts. To really challenge herself on Shakespeare and the classics and Chekhov and other writers,” Antoni Cimolino, artistic director of the Stratford Festival recalls.

“We all know of Maggie Smith as being a kind of tough and very funny actor. But here at the festival and playing parts like Cleopatra or Rosalind in As You Like It, we saw a softer side of her,” Cimonlino said. “Her work was extraordinary. She was someone who drew audiences from around the world to the Stratford Festival.”

Throughout her time in Stratford, Smith’s credits include Hippolyta and Titania in Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rosalind in the 1977 version of As You Like It, Judith Bliss in Hay Fever, Queen Elizabeth in Richard III and Lady MacBeth in 1978 production of MacBeth.

She was a regular presence on the Stratford stage for four seasons.

Stratford Festival honoured her contributions in 2012 by presenting the British actor with a Legacy Award.

“We still have many people who remember her work on our stages who are attending the festival,” Cimonlino said. “We like to share stories about her work here internally because she could usually sum things up in a brilliant way.”

Cimonlino said when Smith was on the stage, audiences couldn’t take their eyes off her.

“She was constantly reinventing herself, trying new things. [She was] never afraid to dive into a project that was entirely to do with a world that had changed so much during the course of her career. She was always modern. She was always our contemporary. She really insisted on showing different aspects of herself. She didn’t settle for what the producers or even the public told her she was about. She was brave in that way.”

Smith is survived by two sons, five grandchildren and millions of fans.

“A great one is gone,” Cimonlino lamented.

Cimonlino said The Stratford Festival will be dedicating their upcoming productions of As You Like It to Smith’s memory.

“We would benefit from a few more Maggie Smiths in our world today.”