More Sad news

[Brian Morton]

I am very sorry to hear this.   I had the privilege of studying under
Jean Roberts (and her partner Marigold Charlesworth) while a student
at NTS is 1987.

She was a lively person who fostered much debate.   I recall many
lunch conversations  on the subject of Canadian drama (and TV) and
even Sidney Newman and DR WHO..  Even though she was forty years
older, she was keen and interested in other points of view.   Also as
she had followed the Stage Management route to becoming a director -
she directly inspired me ins tarting a theatre company.

Jean at the time was involved in the animated short THE MAN WHO
PLANTED TREES which won an academy award that year.  (Jean did the
translation of the script from french and got Chris Plummer to do the
narration).

I also see she won the order of Canada in 2011.
http://news.gc.ca/web/article-eng.do?nid=613509

I am dismayed that there has been no obituary published in the news
media so far.  Ms Roberts was truly a luminary in Canadian theatre.

It has been more then 25 years since we last spoke, but I recall her fondly.

Brian Morton
Hamilton Fringe Festival


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ric Knowles <rknowles at UOGUELPH.CA>
> Sender: Canadian Theatre Research <CANDRAMA at LISTSERV.UNB.CA>
> Date:         Sun, 16 Dec 2012 22:12:21
> To: <CANDRAMA at LISTSERV.UNB.CA>
> Reply-To: Ric Knowles <rknowles at UOGUELPH.CA>
> Subject: More Sad news
>
> 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