Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
March 11, 2002
Drama program celebrates Luscombe legacy
The University of Guelph's drama program is hosting a colloquium and celebration March 16 to honour the memory of Canadian theatre director George Luscombe.
It begins at 1 p.m. at the Inner Stage with a keynote address by Globe and Mail columnist Rick Salutin on "Performance and Politics: The Legacy of George Luscombe." This will be followed by a video of Luscombe's convocation address when he received an honorary degree from U of G in 1996 and a panel discussion on "Continuing the Legacy: Performance, Politics and Passion." The celebration will culminate at 4:30 p.m. with the formal renaming of the Inner Stage as the George Luscombe Theatre. Guelph professor Alan Filewod, from the School of Literatures and Performance Studies in English, will chair the panel, which features theatre artists Maja Ardal, Robin Breon, Juanita De Vos and Sandi Ross.
The colloquium will explore questions about the meaning of politics and performance today, the role of politically engaged dramatists and how theatre can speak to the changing condition of the world in a meaningful and entertaining way, Filewod said.
Luscombe was a director, producer and playwright who founded Toronto Workshop Productions in 1959. It was the first theatre company in Canada committed to politically engaged ensemble performance. After his retirement, Luscombe taught acting at U of G and was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws for giving Canadians an important body of theatrical innovation and for training several generations of actors, writers and directors.
That evening, the drama program will stage its final performance of The Dog Beneath the Skin, a 1935 British play about the world sliding into war. Directed by Filewod, the production also features the work of the drama program's new design professor, Jerrard Smith, one of Canada's leading mask makers. The play runs March 11 to 15 at 8 p.m. and March 16 at 7 p.m.
For media questions, contact
Communications and Public Affairs,
519-824-4120, Ext. 3338.
