[Candrama] In Memoriam John H. Astington

[Drama Communications]

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In Memoriam
John H. Astington

It is with profound sorrow that we share with you the news of the untimely death of John H. Astington, Professor Emeritus in the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies and in the Department of English, and a cherished colleague to many. John passed away on December 11, 2019 after a sudden illness.

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John Astington first came to the Centre in 1966, the year it was established, and he was only the second to graduate from its Ph.D. program. He began working at U of T in 1971 and taught the first ever theatre course at UTM (then known as Erindale College), becoming instrumental in building its undergraduate theatre program. On St. George campus, John served as the Centre’s graduate coordinator and, more recently, its Director. During his highly esteemed career, Professor Astington became known for his internationally renowned research and publications, administrative and supervisory acumen, and an ease of manner with all with whom he worked. John’s professional legacy also includes his memorable work as a performer and theatre director on stages across our campus and beyond.

Professor Astington specialized in the world of Shakespeare and his contemporaries and developed unique expertise in the relationship between early modern plays and contemporary visual materials. Both his first monograph, English Court Theatre, 1558-1642 (1999), and the following book, Actors and Acting in Shakespeare's Time: The Art of Stage Playing (2010), as well as his latest Stage and Picture in the English Renaissance (2017) are held in high regard for their impeccable and influential research and ideas (with the second also short-listed for the Theatre Book Prize in 2011). The editors of critical volumes in the field frequently recognized the authority of his voice. Among Prof. Astington’s many contributions we find: “Court Theatre” in The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theatre (2009);  "Visual Texts" in Thomas Middleton and Early Modern Textual Culture: A Companion to the Collected Works (2013); "Why the theatres changed" in Moving Shakespeare Indoors: Performance and Repertoire in the Jacobean Playhouse (2014); “His Theatre Friends: the Burbages” in The Shakespeare Circle: An Alternative Biography (2015); and “Audiences and Playgoing” in The Cambridge Guide to the Worlds of Shakespeare (2016).

It is as impossible to paint a full picture of a career spanning over forty-five years as it is to now express our loss. With John’s passing, we say goodbye not only to an outstanding scholar, but also a warm, subtle, and generous friend, mentor, and colleague, whose witty sense of humor went hand in hand with a genuine love of life and people. We will miss him deeply.
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