Happy World Theatre Day

 

We were there

Happy World Theatre Day everyone. Each year, on March 27th, we rally around all things theatre, and the power it has for good in our lives. If you're interested, here's the 2026 World Theatre Day Message, delivered pithily by Academy Award Winner Willem Dafoe: https://youtu.be/gg15aPydLbE?si=2o2iiR1qrUFjKuM-

But for me World Theatre Day isn't about aging celebrities and their words of wisdom, however inciteful. It isn't about the global force that theatre was, is, and will be, nor about its power to transform societies. And it isn't about politics, or even peace, justice, and human rights, vital as all those things are. For me World Theatre Day is, ultimately, a time of personal reflection. 

I spent the first fifteen years of my life not knowing why I was here, or what I was supposed to be doing, and that caused me quite a few problems. I've written about the bullies of my childhood on this blog once or twice before, but I don't get into too many details - it's triggering for me, and could be for others as well. But suffice it to say that I was very, very unhappy.

And then one day I was introduced to this thing called theatre. I found myself in a room where nobody cared about hockey, my grotesque physique, my intellectual  proclivities, or even the accidentally rolled-up cuffs on my pants (apparently a great fashion faux pas in those days) or anything else that was different about me. Nobody hit me. Nobody laughed at me, or called me names. All they were interested in was making theatre, and how we might do that together. I can't emphasize how tranformative a moment that was. I had found my place, and my people. 

Theatre was not, and is not, my panacea - by the time I walked into my first drama class most of the damage was already done. But I'm pretty sure that I couldn't have made it as far as I have in life without theatre, and being a part of all those productions good, bad, and ugly has forged me into the cultural warrior that I am today. Now I don't just make theatre, I fight for it. I create the conditions for theatre makers at all levels to thrive, from giving people their first chance to be onstage in my Ennotville shows to stewarding arts service organizations that advocate for theatre in the national interest, and everything in between.

But even with all that it's still the personal connection that I have to theatre that means the most to me. Theatre is a collaborative act, but it makes space for some profound individual moments: the buzz I felt, unexpectedly, between "Standby" and "Go" on the first show I ever stage managed. The feeling I got in rehearsal the moment a first-time actress "found" her character, and broke down in tears. The feeling I still get every time I file a prompt script in my basement after a show closes and I hold the binder in my hand, realizing how much time, energy, creativity and passion from how many people went into bringing those words to life, doing something that will never be done that way again. Those are the theatre moments that mean so much to me. 

Whatever it is that theatre does for you, I hope it is just as profound. But now I've got another show to get ready for. Happy World Theatre everyone!