A fan page for people who like David’s work. Notice of updates to this site will be posted on this Facebook page. “Like” it!
Theatre Museum Canada interview with David
RH Thomson talked with David in spring of 2010. The interview touches on many career highlights.
Founded in Vancouver, Canada in 1967, Talonbooks publishes authors of international stature writing in the literary genres of poetry, fiction, and drama, as well as non-fiction books in the fields of environmental and social issues. Talonbooks is the publisher of most of David French’s plays, including Salt-Water Moon, Jitters, That Summer, 1949, Soldier’s Heart, One Crack Out, The Riddle of the World, and David’s translations of The Seagull and Miss Julie.
House of Anansi Press was founded in 1967 by writers Dennis Lee and David Godfrey. The company specializes in finding and developing Canada’s great new writers of literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, and in maintaining a culturally significant backlist that has accumulated since the house was founded. Anansi recently published a collection entitled Three Mercer Plays, which contains Leaving Home, Of The Fields, Lately, and Salt-Water Moon.
Playwrights Guild of Canada is national association of professional and emerging playwrights. David was a founding member of the Guild and was awarded a Lifetime Membership in 2010.
Tarragon Theatre in Toronto was founded in 1971 by Bill Glassco and his wife Jane Gordon. Tarragon became, from its first production, one of the most important houses in the national for its creation of new Canadian works, its nurturing of Canadian artists, and its high professional standards. Most of David’s plays had their first productions at the Tarragon, under the direction of Bill Glassco.
Soulpepper Theatre was founded in 1998 by a group of twelve theatre artists who dreamed of a creating a vibrant company in Toronto that would produce theatrical classics. It rapidly became an important part of Toronto’s theatre scene. The first Canadian play produced by Soulpepper was David’s Leaving Home, in 2007, and the company has since become home for David’s work. Soulpepper has presented highly-acclaimed revivals of Of The Fields, Lately, Salt-Water Moon and Jitters in the past several years.
Theatre Newfoundland and Labrador
TNL produced all five of the Mercer plays in rep at the Gros Morne Theatre Festival in Cow Head in the summer of 2009. The company produces shows throughout western Newfoundland, and presents a mixture of comedy, drama, music, and dinner theatre.
The Victoria LOL #3 Museum and Playhouse
This museum in beautiful Bay Roberts, Newfoundland houses memorabilia from David’s plays as well as his beloved old Smith-Corona typewriter. Museum founders and curators Jerry and Brenda Mercer also present an annual production of a David French play.
For seventy years Dramatists Play Service, Inc. has provided the finest plays by both established writers and new playwrights of exceptional promise. Formed in 1936 by a number of prominent playwrights and theatre agents, DPS was created to foster opportunity and provide support for playwrights by publishing acting editions of their plays and handling the non-professional and professional leasing rights to these works. Offering an extensive list of titles, including the most significant American plays of the last half-century, DPS works with thousands of theatres and supports the theatre’s vital position in contemporary life. Some of David’s plays are available in the USA from DPS.
The Juno-nominated ’70s prog-rock band Garfield was fronted by David’s nephew Ron Garfield French. Nephew Dennis French played drums for the band. Garfield had a dedicated following, and released several albums, which are now available on many platforms. Both Ron and Dennis now have solo careers.