This website has collected fragments of the post-Sixties journey of Canadian theatre from the perspective of a battle-scared theatre warrior after 50 years in the trenches. I’m retired now, at least from running theatres. (I have run five different theatres over my career…so far.) I grow potatoes, my vegetable metaphor for Life. Make my own maple syrup. Try and feed the family with healthy food.. Digging potatoes and boiling maple sap leave me the head space to chew over questions, the nagging questions, that keep me awake at night. From the 1960’s to the 2020’s - from what?/where?/ to what?/where? Was theatre of value? Did it reflect/question the evolving universe with any lasting impact? Did our theatre succeed in building a sense of community? Were we able to embed a respect for our artists in the overall landscape of Canadian society? Was our theatre craft able to contribute and bequeath to the next generation a deeper understanding of the mystery of the craft of acting? Questions, questions. Has the baton been passed and where is it being carried to? This quest has driven me to try and rescue my past from the nooks and crannies of Memory, searching through boxes of inconsistently collected archives, reviews of my shows, plays, photos, posters, documentaries, supplemented by letters, poems, prose, articles I wrote all enhanced with many conversations with colleagues from the past. I am assembling this detritus after having a chunk of cancer exorcised from my bladder. If you are going to have cancer, bladder cancer is the one to have, says the doctor. Had a distinct bulge on the right side of my lower tummy. The tumour no doubt. Now, with the tumour cut out, my belly is flat and I can blame my lousy balance while playing hockey on having to re-adjust to less weight on my right side. Good excuse. This bladder operation morphed into a pulmonary embolism that seriously impressed the emergency doctors at the Montreal Jewish Hospital. So, we will see how long I last. Fate? I have no right to complain, I had a good life. But looking over the edge of the cliff sure puts a new perspective on time. Makes the need to revisit the past more urgent.

Hence the building of a website that exploits one theatre artist’s personal journey as a tool, a metaphysical crow-bar to pry open a questioning/understanding of the path theatre in Canada has taken over the last half century. How do the pieces fit together? What picture do they reveal? Where has Canadian theatre been? Where is it heading? What can/should theatre be for the Québec/Canadian cultural scene? Lots of questions. Welcome to the jigsaw puzzle of one human Life structured to allow you to hopscotch your own journey through time, exploring as your curiosity guides you. The drop-down menu bar at the top will help you chose the periods, plays, documentaries, reviews, writings, people, politics, poetry, in any sequence you chose. As you time-travel, you will hit links that give you the option of cross referencing sideways to relevant material that may enhance the particular segment you are visiting.

Unfortunately, still have to earn enough to pay the Hydro bills. Need to take the occasional acting gig -and get shot by Juliette Lewis, or fix Alan Cumming’s broken truck in feature films.

If you have any insights to share with me, or factual errors to draw my attention to, or any qustions… please get in touch.

Archival material can be accessed at Library and Archives Canada Collection Reference: R15968-0-0-E