“We’re A Cult” – The Leonor
Stratford has a new “third space!”
The Leonor on George is hard to categorize and hard to resist. It’s a bookshop/boutique/tea room/performance space that seeks to become a gathering place for Stratford’s arts community and those drawn to it. The tag line says it all – “Where Creativity and Community Gather.”
The beating heart of The Leonor’s concept are the Gatherings, periodic one-night live events that range from light entertainment, to book readings, to Beatnik-inspired poetry sessions, knitting parties, and perhaps even Dungeons and Dragons games. The setting is intimate, just 28 people, seated at tables and treated to a pot of tea of their choice.
The tea selection is varied and imaginative with cutesy names like Hygge, Chatty Cathy, and Good Kisser. They’re all available for purchase in bulk. You can even order online.
My introduction to The Leonor was “The Leonor’s Last Laugh,” inspired by the UK game show Last One Laughing in which “contestants” (actually a carefully curated group drawn from Stratford’s performing arts community) try to crack each other up without laughing themselves.
Programming for these Gatherings is still a work in progress. At the moment there seems to be about one event per week. During “The Leonor’s Last Laugh” audience members were encouraged to submit ideas for future events. So feel free to chip in.
Hours of operation are in flux at the moment. The Leonor is closed on Wednesdays. As for the other days of he week, they seem to be open only when there is a Gathering scheduled, except for Friday and Saturday when they advertise “Open Swim” from noon to 5 pm. In other words, they are open for shopping and tea during those hours. As the season heats up, those hours may expand.
Check The Leonor website for their schedule.
The Leonor is the brainchild of three talented women, Sara-Jeanne Hosie, Lauren Bowler, and Deanna Horton. Hosie is an accomplished actor who will be undertaking three roles at the Stratford Festival this season. She honed her comic chops playing villains in several Ross Petty pantomimes.
Bowler, too, is an actor and an accomplished comedienne who had me incontinent with laughter in Here For Now’s Myth of the Ostrich.
Hosie and Bowler are serial entrepreneurs. Hosie had a boutique on York Street and Bowler is one of the founders of the Great Wall Tea Company. Both of those ventures are reflected in The Leonor’s retail offerings.
The third member of the triumuvirate is distinguished in a completely different field. Horton is a Distinguished Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy with a lengthy career in the Canadian foreign service. She “curates” the selection of pre-loved books.
While The Leonor’s primary focus is the Stratford community, I would encourage my American readers in town for the Festival to add a stop here to their Stratford to-do list. It will offer a pleasant window into the spirit and people who make Stratford so special.
The Leonor is located at 21 George Street, just around the corner from the Avon Theatre.
Footnote: The establishment takes it name from the surrealist painter Leonor Fini (1907-1996). She was an Argentine of Italian birth who, according to Wikipedia, was bisexual, polyamorous, and “known for her depictions of powerful and erotic women.” Make of that what you will.
