David Hou Colm Feore plays "Coriolanus" at the Stratford's Festival Theatre through Sept. 23. Click photo for larger image.

"It hit me like a ton of bricks," says Jackie Maxwell, artistic director of Ontario's Shaw Festival, about rereading Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," a story of the 17th-century Salem witch hunts that once seemed a parable for America's fear of communism. "Religious hysteria, people pulled by fear, these terrifying absolutes of 'You're with us or against us' -- it's even more resonant today."

Finding plays with current clout is one goal in building a season at the Shaw Festival, one of the biggest ensemble repertory companies in North America. This year's schedule includes nine plays, two by Shaw and the others written in or about the era of his long life (1857-1950). All are staged in rotating repertory in three theaters, from now into November, and there's an array of workshops, seminars and other enhancements.

The other goal is variety, which Maxwell considers the most exciting aspect of this Shaw season: "We have huge diversity," she says, citing, among the "many worlds the Shaw is visiting," G.B. Shaw's own eccentric Bulgaria, the repressed Victorian New York of Henry James and high society in suburban Philadelphia.

Those shows are "Arms and the Man," "The Heiress" and "High Society" (the musical), the three festival shows already open -- others are in previews or still to come. Overall, it's about two-thirds comedy, one-third drama.

But what most typifies this year's roster is a focus on what Maxwell calls "love, sex, marriage and family -- the lure of the domestic." And of course there's also a pull away from the domestic, as in Noel Coward's "Design for Living" and Ibsen's "Rosmersholm."

As always, the Shaw Festival's two highlights will be the company's excellent acting ensemble, tested and refined through the years, and the delightful town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, a tourist haven of colorful flowers, small hotels and B&Bs, ice cream shops, wineries and lots of theater.

A couple of hours farther northwest lies an even bigger and older repertory company, the Stratford Festival. Now in its 54th season, it spreads its larger ensemble throughout 15 plays staged in four theaters, in a season running through October.

No longer called the Shakespeare Festival, Stratford still claims the Bard as its house dramatist, and this year it honors him with four productions -- a history, a tragedy and two comedies. Rather fancying itself as Canada's national theater, Stratford takes all world drama as its province, extending its reach through Marlowe and Moliere, Ibsen and Tennessee Williams, to two classic musicals ("Oliver!" and "South Pacific") and several experiments.

These latter, set in the small Studio Theatre, include variations on Stratford's classic fare. There's a twist on "Othello," set in Harlem; an adaptation of work by the French classic playwright Corneille; and a drama about the 19th-century Shakespearean actress, Fanny Kemble.

A highlight should be "London Assurance," a robust 19th-century comedy by Irish whirlwind Dion Boucicault, in which longtime star Brian Bedford both directs and stars as the aging roue foiled in his pursuit of a young heiress. Leading man Colm Feore will do an amazing triple, playing Shakespeare's bloody Coriolanus and Dickens' Fagin (sometimes on the same day) and Moliere's Don Juan -- the last in both English and French. (A special offer saves 30 percent if you buy all three.)

Leading ladies Lucy Peacock and Seanna McKenna will match this triple, Peacock doing "Much Ado," "The Duchess of Malfi" and a one-woman play, and McKenna "Twelfth Night," "Glass Menagerie" and "London Assurance," while veteran Martha Henry tackles both "Coriolanus" and "Ghosts."

Off-stage, Stratford has just announced something new. When Richard Monette completes his record-setting 14-year run as artistic director next year, current executive director Antoni Cimolino will take charge as general director, leading a team of up to four artistic directors.

"In a way, this is an innovation," Cimolino told a news conference. "There's no organization of our size that has attempted this. But you know, everything about creating theater is about collaboration. Everything."

Of course, whoever the leadership, Shakespeare will remain the main man.

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If you go ... The Shaw Festival

Basics: Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario; 45th season, the fourth for artistic director Jackie Maxwell. A colorful, large-format, 68-page festival booklet, including play descriptions, schedules of performances and the other events summarized below, plus a visitors guide to accommodations, accommodation services, restaurants, wineries, shopping and other attractions, is available from the Shaw Festival, Box 774, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada L0S 1J0; phone 1-800-511-7429; fax 1-905-468-3804. Much of the same information is available at www.shawfest.com.

Tickets: Prices (ordered from the phone numbers above) vary according to theater, location, day of week and play. The range is Canadian $45-$86 (U.S. $41-$78), with some shows discounted as low as $22 (U.S. $20) for students and $35 (U.S. $32) for seniors; lunchtime one-acts are $25 (U.S. $22.70). Preview tickets are discounted up to 30 percent; a family plan includes half-price youth tickets; those under 30 can buy some tickets for $30 (U.S. $27); Sunday performances are discounted.

Accommodations: The Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce is in the Court House at 26 Queen St. and is open seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., through October. It publishes its own Visitor's Guide and it runs a very helpful accommodations service; 1-888-619-5981, 1-905-468-1950 or www.niagaraonthelake.com. Other such services include the Niagara-on-the-Lake B&B Association (1-905-468-0123; www.niagarabedandbreak fasts.com); Stay Niagara-on-the-Lake (1-866-805-9188; www.stayniagaraonthelake.com); Accommodations Are Us (1-905-468-7007; www.accommodations-niagara.com); Accommodation in the Theatre District (www.theatredistrictbb.com); and Historic B&B (www.historicbb.com).

Schedule of plays and events

Festival Theatre (869 seats): Shaw, "Arms and the Man" (through Oct. 29); Cole Porter & Arthur Kopit, "High Society" (through Nov. 19); Arthur Miller, "The Crucible" (June 3-Oct. 14).

Royal George Theatre (328 seats): Ruth and Augustus Goetz, "The Heiress" (through Oct. 7); Michael O'Brien (after H.G. Wells), "The Invisible Man" (through Oct. 29); Noel Coward, "Design for Living" (June 15-Nov. 18).

Court House Theatre (327 seats): Shaw, "Too True to Be Good" (through Oct. 7); Chekhov, "Love Among the Russians" (lunchtime theater, June 10-Sept. 24); Lillian Groag, "The Magic Fire" (June 11-Oct. 8); Ibsen, "Rosmersholm" (July 5-Oct. 7).

Reading Series: "A Mirror on Shaw" (July 9); "Ibsen Deconstructed" (Aug. 13); "Golden Argentina" (Sept. 10); "The Golden Apple," a musical (Oct. 1 and 7).

Workshops: Eight topics, from "Character Building" to "Hats Off," each from one to five days.

Shaw Enriched: Two-day Extreme Weekends (July 8-9, Aug. 12-13, Sept. 8-10); Shaw and His Contemporaries (July 6-9); Shaw's Women (Aug. 10-13); Autumn Hostels (Oct. 4-6, 25-27); Teachers Days (Oct. 13, 20); Shaw Symposium (Aug. 18-20).

Explore the Shaw: Pre-show chats, Tuesday Q&A, Saturday Conversations, Sunday Coffee Concerts, Backstage Tours, Village Fair.

Tours from Pittsburgh: The Post-Gazette sponsors an eight-play motorcoach tour to both the Shaw and Stratford Festivals, July 12-16, and a six-play tour to the Shaw Festival alone, Sept. 12-15. Call 412-441-3131 for details.

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If you go ... The Stratford Festival

Basics: Stratford, Ontario; 54th season; artistic director since 1994 is Richard Monette. A well-illustrated, detailed 128-page festival schedule and visitors guide to hotels, B&Bs, restaurants and attractions is available from the Stratford Festival, Box 520, Stratford, Ontario, Canada N5A 6V2; phone 1-800-567-1600; fax 1-519-273-3731; e-mail

orders@stratfordfestival.ca; or visit www.stratfordfestival.ca.

Tickets: Prices of tickets (available from the above numbers) vary according to play, theater, location and day of week. The range in the main three theaters for plays is Canadian $51-$93 (U.S. $46-$84), for musicals Canadian $63-$102 (U.S. $57-$92 ); for the Studio it's Canadian $35-$56 (U.S. $31.50-$50.50); many shows are discounted for students (Canadian $25), seniors (Canadian $36-$50), families (Canadian $34), under 30s, 30-35s and groups or at special performances.

Accommodations: The Festival's extensive patron services include a free accommodation bureau (1-800-567-1600; accommodations@stratfordfestival.ca; www.stratford-festival.ca); Tourism Stratford lists accommodations (1-800-561-7926; www.city. stratford.on.ca) and through October runs an information booth at York Street and Lakeview Drive.

Schedule of plays and events

Festival Theatre (1,824 seats): Shakespeare, "Coriolanus" (through Sept. 23), "Much Ado About Nothing" (through Oct. 22) and "Twelfth Night" (July 30-Oct. 28); Lionel Bart, "Oliver!" (through Oct. 29).

Avon Theatre (1,093): Tennessee Williams, "The Glass Menagerie" (through Oct. 22); Rodgers & Hammerstein, "South Pacific" (through Oct. 28); Boucicault, "London Assurance" (through Oct. 21); Moliere, "Don Juan" (in English, Aug. 1-Oct. 10; in French, Oct. 12-20).

Tom Patterson Theatre (487): Shakespeare, "Henry IV, Part 1" (through Sept. 24); John Webster, "The Duchess of Malfi" (May 22-Sept. 23); Ibsen, "Ghosts" (July 25-Sept. 23).

Studio Theatre (260): Djanet Sears, "Harlem Duet" (June 20-Sept. 22); Robert Hewett, "The Blonde, the Brunette, and the Vengeful Redhead" (June 27-Sept. 24); Peter Hinton, "Fanny Kemble" (July 18-Sept. 23); Pierre Corneille, adapted by Ranjit Bolt, "The Liar" (Aug. 9-Sept. 23).

Celebrated Writers: Michael Ignatieff (June 18), Douglas Coupland (July 30), Margaret MacMillan (Aug. 6), George Elliott Clarke (Aug. 20), Peter Robinson (Aug. 27).

Educational (there's a special emphasis on families this year): Table Talk (11 dates, buffet and lecture on different plays); Family Room (three dates, family workshops); Weekend Explorer (meals, lectures, panels, activities); Family Explorer (separate workshops for adults and teenagers); Special Lectures (July 23, Aug. 6 and 13); Shakespeare School, ages 13-18 (seven sessions, one or two weeks each); Festival Courses, from one day (Voice and Text Workshop) to 12 days (The Classic Tailored Jacket); University Courses.

Also: Night Music (Mondays in June, July, August); Costume Warehouse Tours; Festival Theatre Tours; Garden Tours; Stageside Chats (Meet the Festival; Talking Theatre; Table Talk; Post-Performance Discussion; Pre-Show Lectures).

Tour from Pittsburgh: The Post-Gazette sponsors an eight-play motorcoach tour to both the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, July 12-16. Call 412-441-3131 for details.

David Cooper "The Heiress" at the Shaw Festival's Royal George Theatre stars Michael Ball as Dr. Sloper and Tara Rosling as Catherine. The play runs through Oct. 7.