David French

David used to remind people that the word “amateur” means “lover of”. I’m sure that had something to do with the fact that right from the beginning of his playwriting career, amateur theatres embraced David’s work.  And he loved community theatres right back. He always liked to receive posters and programs from their productions, and he went to see as many shows as he could.

Several years ago we went to Niagara Falls to see a showing of That Summer. It was a lovely production, with teen actors playing the main roles, which lent it a real innocence and freshness. Our drive down had been sunny — but when we walked outside at intermission there were huge snowflakes swirling all around us. We scrapped our plans to drive back that night and stayed for the cast party instead; I’ve rarely had a better night at the theatre.

Right now, several amateur productions of David’s plays are in the works. The next one up is the Burl-Oak Theatre Group’s Salt-Water Moon, which opens on October 6th and runs until October 15th. Their beautiful blue poster image is posted above. You can click here to find out all the details about the production and to purchase tickets.

I’ve had a great time exchanging emails with Micki Clemens of the Burl-Oak group about the show. Actors Emilie Jefferies and Tom Haxell are starring. (And we are all wondering whether Tom, at 6′ 4″, might be the tallest Jacob on record!) Director Peter Kunder is a long-time fan of David’s work. Here’s a quote from Peter:

“In the mid-1980s David French wrote Salt-Water Moon, a poetic drama about the courtship of Mary Snow and Jacob Mercer set in Newfoundland in 1926.  Mary and Jacob first appeared in Leaving Home, French’s first play.  It was a huge hit, saved Tarragon Theatre from closing, and went on to become one of the most-produced plays in Canadian theatre history. It was also the play that first made me understand that there truly is such a thing as “Canadian Theatre”. I was so moved by Leaving Home that I taught it and Salt-Water Moon, to high school students for more than twenty-five years.”

I wish BOTG a big “Break A Leg,” and I hope to get to see the show.

If you look carefully at the hockey sticks behind actor Brooke Johnson’s head, you’ll see David’s name inscribed on one of them. Brooke is raising money for Princess Margaret Hospital’s cancer research facilities — by playing in a dawn-to-dusk road hockey tournament on October 1!  Brooke’s playing in honour of her partner Adrian, who’s had a recent bout with cancer, and for her friends in the theatre community who have died of the disease in the past year. I’ll quote a few lines from her essay about why she’s doing it:

“I am looking for Imagination, Belief, Anger, Love and Action, in the form of Donations for Cancer Research. I am playing in the honour of Carolyn, Jackie, Tracy, David, Paul, Maury, Graham, Pete and Gina, among others lost in the past year; and in memory of Pierre; and Sonya and Ted my grandparents, and George Truss; but mostly because Cancer dared to attack my best pal. Please support my fundraising in honour of your best pal.”

Brooke has already received over $5,000 in pledges, and would be happy to add your name to the list.  You can donate and find out more about the tournament by clicking here.

Go, Brooke, go!

Poster for Salt-Water Moon in Bay Roberts

I spent most of the summer without an internet connection for my computer.  Very restful!  However, because of that, I missed mentioning two amazing Newfoundland productions of Salt-Water Moon: Rising Tide Theatre’s outdoor production of Salt-Water Moon in Trinity Bay, and the SWM production in Bay Roberts, near David’s home town of Coley’s Point.

Rising Tide Theatre has mounted an outdoor production of Salt-Water Moon in Trinity Bay for the past SIXTEEN summers!  I’ve never been lucky enough to see it, but people who have say it’s a magical experience.  You can find out more about Rising Tide by clicking here.

The Victoria LOL #3 Museum and Playhouse in Bay Roberts has a permanent exhibit about David’s career, and it’s been doing annual productions of his work for the past few years.  This year Salt-Water Moon was remounted due to popular demand.  Click here for information about the Museum and Playhouse.

I hope both theatres had a wonderful time with the show.  If anyone has any Salt-Water Moon stories to share, feel free to send them in.  Playing the roles of Jacob and Mary in this show has been described as “a necessary rite of passage for young Canadian actors.”

The University of Windsor Players will be presenting David’s translation of Chekhov’s The Seagull March 1 -4 and March 7 – 11, 2012.

University of Windsor was of course where David spent a happy year as Writer-in-Residence.  He used to take the train early on Monday mornings and return late on Tuesday nights.  While in Windsor he spoke to dozens of students and community members about their writing projects, and had fun getting to know the faculty — especially Karl Jirgens of the English Department and Lionel Walsh (a fellow Newfoundlander) from the Drama Department.  David also enjoyed teasing Alastair MacLeod, who had the office next door.

Click here to connect to the University Players Page for further information.  Here’s their beautiful poster for the show:

University of Windsor Players present David's translation of The Seagull

A poster for the upcoming production of JITTERS in Hong Kong

Charlie, David’s agent, emailed me this wonderful poster this week.  A translation of Jitters is being mounted in Hong Kong!  Ben Fung, who is producing, also plays George.  He says that Hong Kong’s most famous actor, nicknamed “King Sir,” is playing Patrick.  Ben also sent a photo of the cast, below:

The cast of JITTERS. Ben Fung and King Sir are in the middle of the photo.

A couple of weeks ago I had a visit from Michael Wallace of Theatre Museum Canada. Michael and Judi Pearl and Gerry Grace from the National Arts Centre are putting together an Ottawa exhibit about David that will coincide with the upcoming NAC production of Salt-Water Moon.

Here’s the beautiful poster image for that show:

The display is titled “David French: Writing Home” and it’s going to feature information about David’s career along with memorabilia from Salt-Water Moon and the other Mercer plays.  It’s being mounted as part of the nationwide Culture Days celebration.

Before Michael arrived I found a few things that I thought he and his NAC co-curators might be interested in and gathered them together. Well!  It turns out I had underestimated both the scope of the exhibit and the zeal of the curators. After a couple of hours at our apartment, Michael exited carrying boxes filled with clippings and photos and objects of interest – even the French family Bible!  (This was the book that introduced David to literature. When he was a boy his granny French, who had gone blind, would ask him to read passages to her.  David said she was very fond of “Song of Solomon.”)

The incredibly knowledgeable Michael (who, by the way, stage-managed the premiere production of That Summer at the Blyth Festival,) is doing a great job of preserving our theatrical past.  Click here for a link to Theatre Museum Canada to find out more about the museum — and to view interviews with legends of the Canadian theatre, including RH Thomson’s interview with David, taped last year. (The button to choose David’s interview is located about halfway down the page, on the lefthand side.)

I’m very excited about “David French: Writing Home,” and I hope many of you will have a chance to see it.  The exhibit will be available for viewing from September 30 through November, which includes the run of Salt-Water Moon at the NAC (October 18 – November 5.) Click here to link to the NAC site.  I’ll be travelling to Ottawa for the official vernissage and show opening on October 21^st.

There will also be an online version of the exhibit, so I’ll keep you posted about that.

PS. While on the subject of museums, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Victoria LOL #3 Museum and Playhouse in Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, which houses David’s old Smith-Corona typewriter, along with many other items of interest.  You can find a link to this wonderful local museum, operated by Jerry and Brenda Mercer, here.

More good news! Victoria’s Belfry Theatre will be presenting Jitters November 15 to December 18, 2011.  You can find out the details at  http://www.belfry.bc.ca/new-2011-2012-season/

The Belfry is a beautiful renovated 19th-century church in one of the city’s niftiest neighbourhoods.  Patrick Macdonald will be directing the show.  I know they’ll have a good time with Jitters, and I’ll let you know more about the production soon.

I am delighted to let you all know that the National Arts Centre in Ottawa will be presenting Salt-Water Moon from October 18 to November 5, 2011. The production will be directed by Micheline Chevrier. As well, the NAC will be displaying some memorabilia from the play and its many productions.

More information is available on the NAC website at:
http://www2.nac-cna.ca/en/englishtheatre/2011-2012

NAC Artistic Director Peter Hinton talks about the play and about their season in a YouTube video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AtpD0q6vuA&feature=player_embedded#at=18

This is such splendid news. I look forward to posting more details as I learn them!

A few days before David’s memorial, our friend Debra Stuart found out that Mary has been taking riding lessons. Deb then told Mary a story about a time, several years ago, when she’d talked David into going for a horseback ride. David got on his mount reluctantly and had only been in the saddle for a few moments when the horse — as horses do — snorted.

“He growled at me!” David said, and dismounted in a hurry.

Mary and Leslie and I found the story pretty funny. It got me thinking that there might be a way for David’s friends and acquaintances and fans to share their stories of him. It would be great for all of us to hear them, and it would be really wonderful for Mary to have a collection of stories about her dad that she can treasure.

I first thought of handing out pencils and paper at the memorial, but my friend Sally pointed out that people would be too distracted, and that they’d come up with better stories if they’d had a chance to reflect for a bit.  Plus we knew that not everyone would be able to come to the service.

So! This new website has been designed with a special page that will allow people to send their stories or thoughts or whatever you’d like to share. You can check a box that will keep it private — just for Mary and me to see — or you can let us post it here on the site for others to read.

It could be a story about David himself, an anecdote about working on a production of one of his plays, or a few thoughts about how his work affected your life.  Or anything at all, really.  We’d just love to hear from people who have something to say about David or his work.

To send us a story — and I hope you will — just click on “Submit A Story About David“.  You’ll find instructions on the page.

Can’t wait to see what you have to say.