Theatre Museum Canada: Legend Library (Oral History Project)

The Legend Library

The Legend Library: A video record of our theatrical legends

This series of exclusive video interviews is one of our most important initiatives, capturing the stories of our theatrical legends. Conducted by actor/director RH Thomson, these comprehensive interviews will preserve our theatrical heritage for generations to come.

Not only does this library contain fascinating and entertaining views on acting, theatre and our theatrical history, it’s also presented in a highly accessible format, allowing the visitor or researcher to find and view specific areas of interest.

Requires Windows Media Player to play videos.

Building our Library

The list of theatrical legends we want to interview is long and the need to record them soon is urgent. Once their stories are gone, there’s no second chance to retrieve them. Your support of Theatre Museum Canada will help ensure that our Legend Library continues to expand.

Mavor Moore photo

Susan Benson & Michael Whitfield on...

Doing multiple productions of the same play (2:15)
The benefits of manual over computerized lighting (4:29)
Creating the right environment through light (using Chekhov as an example) (3:43)
Lighting design for the Stratford Festival Theatre (10:27)
“External” and “internal” light (6:20)
A lighting designer’s relationship with the director (6:14)
Adapting to the digital age (4:41)
How much is art and how much is sciencel (2:44)
How you learn the art of design (6:36)
The importance of learning through doing (1:20)
How you learn to be a lighting designer (3:32)
The colour of sunlight (2:30)
How the physical quality of the theatre affects the design (3:02)
How leaders in theatre get the best work out of artists (4:54)
A designer’s relationship with the actors (example Maggie Smith, Patricia Collins) (3:48)
Dressing for the personality of the character (4:11)
A designer’s relationship with the director (4:22)
Designing sets and costumes for the Stratford Festival Theatre (10:27)
Designing "The Mikado" for Stratford, 1981 (6:31)
Why detail is so important in theatre design (Desmond Heeley as example) (2:26)
The government’s role in supporting the arts (14:58)
Negative space (6:58)
How the design changes from paper to finished costume (1:42)
Looking at the whole of the play to develop the design (using “Importance of Being Ernest”) (6:25)
Who their mentors were (2:17)

Recorded in Stratford Ontario, August 21, 2007

William Hutt photo

Martha Henry on...

This instalment is made possible by a gift from the Fleck Family.

Jean Gascon (3:41)
Whether an actor wears a mask (3:40)
Being an actor who directs (3:03)
Being directed by John Hirsch (5:56)
Being directed by Michael Langham (9:11)
Confidence as an actor's currency (3:38)
Diana Leblanc (2:32)
Early days in Toronto and the Crest (3:13)
English and French at National Theatre School (NTS) (5:22)
The first class at the NTS (6:32)
First time directing (1:37)
Knowing our theatre history (1:25)
Parts for women in Shakespeare (2:25)
Playing in Rep (2:16)
Taking voice lessons with Louis Spitzer (2:37)
The body as the actor's instrument (1:23)
The Gang of Four (14:10)
The power of acting (6:28)
The reasons for becoming an actor (6:36)
Working with designer Astrid Janson (4:14)
Working with designer John Pennoyer (3:16)
Working with John Colicos (4:02)
Working with Robin Phillips (8:49)

Mavor Moore photo

Mavor Moore on...

Dora Mavor Moore’s New Play Society (3:30)
Dora Mavor Moore’s contribution to theatre in Canada (1:06)
His acting career (1:09)
Superstitious occurrences during productions of Macbeth (2:14)
His time in New York (late 40s) (4:44)
The beginning of CBC TV (early 50s) (3:37)
His time at Stratford, ‘54 (5:10)
Centennial projects and the creation of the Charlottetown Festival (4:51)
The creation of the St. Lawrence Centre (5:38)
The successes and failures of the Centennial theatre projects (3:55)
The original production of Anne of Green Gables (5:17)
The success of Anne beyond PEI (2:40)
His move into Academia (2:41)
His involvement with the Canada Council (5:01)
The value of theatre (2:50)
The true meaning of culture (1:43)
The state of culture today (4:33)
Canadians’ view of American culture (2:51)
The Moore “dynasty” (5:12)

Recorded in Toronto Ontario

William Hutt photo

Jean-Louis Roux on...

Comparing an excerpt of Hamlet in English and French (13:50)
Founding Theatre du Nouveau Monde (7:49)
His beginnings in Stratford in 1956 ("Henry V") (4:37)
His inner clown (2:46)
How to teach acting (2:53)
How to teach physicality (1:46)
The challenge of translating Shakespeare into French (13:50)
The challenge of translating Shakespeare to French (en francais) (5:12)
The essence of being an actor (6:41)
The importance of listening on stage (3:31)
The influence of classical French theatre on theatre in Quebec (5:21)
The roots of theatre in Quebec (en francais) (4:57)
Why culture in Quebec is so important (8:55)
Working with fight director Paddy Crane (0:51)
Working with Jean Gascon (4:31)
Working with Michael Langham (6:16)

Recorded in Stratford Ontario

Choose from our library of theatrical legends:

Douglas Campbell photo

Douglas Campbell on...

The first rehearsal in the Stratford Tent (2:02)
Guthrie's concept of the Thrust Stage (2:58)
Directing fights for Guthrie (3:15)
His directing style (3:52)
Learning to speak from Lewis Casson (2:22)
Breath and breathing (0:51)
How pronunciation affects character (5:31)
The music of speech - and hiccups! (1:45)
The significance of theatre (3:54)

Sponsored by:

Recorded at The Sutton Place Hotel, Toronto Ontario.

William Hutt photo

Desmond Heeley on...

Continuing to learn (1:06)
Designing "Cinderella on Ice" (0:59)
Designing "Cyrano" with Tanya Moiseiwitsch (5:51)
Designing Prince Charles’ investiture (3:53)
Desmond’s hands (0:35)
Exchanging his family for the theatre family (2:02)
His Broadway debut with "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead" (2:42)
His design for "The Tempest", directed by John Hirsch (3:20)
His early mentors (Tanya Moiseiwitsch, Oliver Messel) (3:09)
His favourite materials (1:19)
His views of literalism (1:07)
Texture and “the old tricks” (1:49)
The designer’s role – working with others (2:49)
The Early Years of Stratford upon Avon (4:39)
The importance of magic in theatre (5:02)
The Importance of pageantry in Theatre (8:54)
A tour backstage at Stratford (3:09)
When his work on a play ends (1:09)
Working on the Stratford Festival stage (2:13)
Working with a lighting designer (Michael Whitfield and "Amadeus") (7:18)
Working with Erik Brun on "Giselle" in Stockholm (2:53)
Working with Michael Langham ("Love's Labour's Lost", "Arms & the Man") (3:00)
Working with Peter Brook, Lawrence Olivier, Vivien Leigh (1:39)

Recorded in Stratford Ontario, March 22, 2006

William Hutt photo

William Hutt on...

Our national humility (3:05)
Making Shakespeare clear (5:38)
Using the sounds in Shakespeare's words (1:50)
His special bond with the audience (13:30)
The Stratford Festival stage (5:06)
An actor's breathing technique (0:55)
Michael Langham & Robin Phillips at Stratford (3:55)
Conveying feelings to the audience (2:46)
Stage actors in the future (3:12)

Douglas Campbell photo

William Needles on...

An actor's obligation to other actors (0:29)
An actor's relationship with the audience (0:52)
His remarkable auditioning record (5:21)
His theatrical dynasty (2:16)
How an actor's life experience informs his performance (2:09)
How he likes to work with a director (2:20)
How Shakespeare's verse enriches his life (4:50)
How the audience's appreciation for theatre has changed(2:02)
How to deal with nerves (2:56)
How to handle difficulties with a director (3:25)
Learning to speak Shakespeare's verse (5:20)
Learning to understand and speak Shakespeare's text (2:42)
Making the choice of acting as a profession (3:07)
Having confidence in yourself as an actor (2:31)
Playing Petruchio in "Taming of the Shrew" (3:25)
Playing the villain (2:13)
The 2005 Stratford production of "As You Like It" (1:05)
The actor's relationship to a director (2:10)
The Canadian Players (2:29)
The core of acting (1:59)
The first days of the Stratford Festival (5:44)
Understanding differences in theatre style (2:30)
Working with Dora Mavor Moore and the New Play Society (1:48)
Working with Michael Langham (1:28)
Working with the John Holden Players in Winnipeg (2:15)

Recorded in Stratford Ontario, September 27, 2005

Douglas Campbell photo

Paul Thompson on...

This instalment is made possible by a gift from John McKellar.

Toronto's 5 theatre companies in the 60s & 70s (10:57)
The lasting effect of the alternative theatre in the 70s (0:43)
Boom and bust theory of Canadian culture (6:45)
The theatre of "borrowed words" (7:00)
Bringing anarchy into the creative process (4:09)
Reaching the changing audience in Toronto (5:25)
The legacy of collective theatre (1:35)
The most corrosive thing to Canadian theatre (6:36)
"The Farm Show" and " The Drawer Boy" (4:05)
His French background (4:55)
The history of the Passe Muraille building (7:11)
The importance of sex in the alternative theatre (2:34)
How he got involved in Theatre Passe Muraille (2:59)
What we can learn from Quebecois culture (2:13)
The importance of linking themes to the audience (5:43)
Native theatre in Canada (3:29)
The production of "1837" (3:49)
How he would run a theatre now (6:48)
The theatre scene in Toronto now (December 2007) (4:40)
Working on "Tartuffe" in Stratford, 1968 (3:25)
The writing process in collective theatre (7:21)