More Sad news

[Ric Knowles]

Dear all:

In case you haven't heard: another giant lost.

OBITUARY: JEAN BARRIE ROBERTS

ROBERTS, JEAN BARRIE:  On December 12, 2012, after many years of ill health, Jean Roberts died in the south of France, where she had been living since the mid 1990's. Born in Perth, Scotland, in 1926, she was educated in Scotland and Belgium, and began work as a scene painter with the Perth Repertory Theatre in 1947. Two years later, she joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company at Stratford-upon-Avon, where she met her life companion, Marigold Charlesworth. In 1956 they emigrated to Canada, and a year later took over the Red Barn Theatre at Jackson's Point, Ontario, where they ran a summer stock company for several years, expanding the theatre's activity to several winter seasons in Toronto. In 1965, the pair became Artistic Directors of Canadian Players.

     Roberts taught at the National Theatre School for part of the 1960's, and in 1967 became Theatre and Dance Officer for the Canada Council. In 1971 she became Director of Theatre for the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and in 1978 joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as Director of Programming for Television Drama. She retired in 1991 and split many of her remaining years between Ottawa and France.

    Jean Roberts' life will be fondly remembered by many theatre artists in Canada - those who experienced, firsthand, her devotion to theatre and its artists, her skill and canniness in dealing with government bureaucracies in order to achieve the best for performance and its artists - and the unique warmth of her personality and humour.


The above was forwarded to me by Sherrill Grace.

Best,

Ric

Co-editor, Theatre Journal
Professor of Theatre Studies
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
N1G 2W1

ph: 519-824-4120, x52931 (w)
FAX: 519-824-0560
email: rknowles at uoguelph.ca
http://www.uoguelph.ca/sets/sets-ric-knowles