arts & entertainment Honoring John Hirsch New one-man show spotlights the orphaned Holocaust survivor who became artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Mon Nashman es John Hirsch in Hirsch, debuting during the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's 60th season. Suzanne Chessler Contributing Writer A lon Nashman was a Toronto teenager when he saw a produc- tion of The Dybbuk directed by the late John Hirsch, and that dramatic experience changed his life. A regular theatergoer before reacting to the mystical Jewish play about romantic entanglements, Nashman soon decided he wanted to pursue a theater career. Nashman's decision resulted in some 30 years of acting, directing, writing and producing and now is the foundation of a tribute to the professional who served as inspiration. The tribute takes the form of a one-man theater piece, Hirsch, and spotlights the man who became artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival during the 1980s. Hirsch, debuting June 20-Sept.14 as part of the observance of the 60th anni- versary of the Canadian repertory com- "To inhabit him, to encounter him and pany, reveals the essence of the orphaned to argue with him is a kind of joy that a Holocaust survivor who found a home in performer rarely gets to experience." Canada, built an acclaimed international Nashman, named Toronto's No. 1 theater career and lost his battle with artist in 2008 by that city's Now AIDS. magazine, began working on the "I get to encounter a production six years ago after remarkable man every time I being approached with a collabo- do this play:' says Nashman, ration idea by Paul Thompson. 53, in a phone conversation The two met when Thompson from Canada. "John Hirsch was director of the National ignited the whole regional Theatre School of Canada and theater movement in North Nashman was a student. They Alon Nashman: America and was the ulti- became colleagues and friends, "John Hirsch mate artist, a creator in every and their new initiative has ignited the whole respect. Thompson as director. "John Hirsch embraced var- regional theater "Every word of the script movement in ied theatrical styles through has flowed through me in one North America." Shakespearean works, musi- way or another:' says Nashman, cals, children's drama, puppet shows and who wanted to cover the broad scope of everything in between. His personal his- Hirsch's life (1930-89). tory was so rich, so full of both trauma "A lot has been generated through and triumph, that I think of him as a experimentation and improvisation based wonder being. on the research we've done and the sto- Fresh Facets Stratford's diamond-anniversary season sparkles with classics and newer works. Suzanne Chessler Contributing Writer Nothing, Cymbeline) and going into other areas of classical theater, innovative new Canadian theater and crowd-pleasing r. David Goldbloom considers musicals:' says Goldbloom, outlining the himself very lucky to be chair- season in a phone conversation from man of the board of governors of Canada. the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in its "The opportunity to see Oscar-winning 60th anniversary season. Christopher Plummer in a one-man show The Canadian is a rare opportunity. He's going to do A psychiatrist, in a Word or Two, directed by Des McAnuff, four-generation fam- our artistic director. It's about the litera- ily of Stratford fans, ture that influenced Plummer's life. gets to see every play "Plummer's involvement with the fes- more than once in tival is almost as long as the festival has performances running been in existence. Anybody who caught through Oct. 28. his performance as Prospero in The Allik Board of "We are celebrating, Tempest two years ago knows that he's Governors as we do every year, probably the leading actor alive today." Chairman the works of William Goldbloom, 58, who was invited to Dr. David Shakespeare (Henry join the board in 2005 after his term Goldbloom y Much Ado About ended with the Glenn Gould Foundation, D believes American audiences, return- ing and new, will especially appreci- ate the comedy and cleverness of The Matchmaker, written by American play- wright Thornton Wilder. "For some people who haven't been to Stratford for a while, they will have nostalgic recall of when we used to do Gilbert and Sullivan with some frequen- cy," Goldbloom says. "Pirates of Penzance is our first revisiting of the Gilbert and Sullivan canon in a long time. "We're also doing the perennial chil- dren's classic You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. It was very important for us to have shows that would appeal to families. "I believe that once you expose young people to live theater, you create the seeds for an attachment and commitment that videos, computers and television simply cannot reproduce!' Two of the songs in the Charlie Brown musical — "My New Philosophy" and "Beethoven Day" — were added to the 1967 Clark Gesner score by Andrew Lippa, who graduated from Oak Park High School and the University of Michigan and whose family attended ser- vices at Congregation B'nai Moshe. ries we've heard talking to the greats of Canadian theater. "Every word in the play is not a word John Hirsch necessarily uttered, wrote or thought, but I'm hoping that it's nonethe- less truer than documentary authentic- ity. I'm also hoping that we have actually touched his soul in such a way that he would feel extremely well represented!' Nashman, whose emotional reaction to The Dybbuk had to do with links to his own family history in the Jewish shtetls of Eastern Europe, started serious acting studies at the University of Toronto before moving on to the National Theatre School, where he added directing to his academic interests. "I've been working steadily since I graduated in 1990," he says."I've been in a variety of settings, from a native Canadian theater company to pretty much all the theaters in Toronto and theaters in other parts of Canada." Honoring on page 52 Ken James Stewart, Erica Peck, Andrew Broderick, Amy Wallis and Kevin Yee in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. "When I was a kid, I used to read Peanuts comics all the time and had a bunch of com- pilations of Peanuts books:' recalls Lippa, 47, during a call from New York. "I love how Composer truly big-hearted and Andrew Lippa funny the characters are, and the musical shares that." Lippa, who created the songs and addi- Fresh Facets on page 52 May 3 s 2012 47