As noted previously, I try not to dwell on the passing of celebrities or semi-celebrities as there are just so many of them passing on these days. I will make an exception for Martha Henry, who apparently had Michigan roots, but was so enchanted by the Stratford Festival that she moved to Canada and became an integral part of the company and Canadian theatre more broadly.
I actually saw her twice - once as Prospero in The Tempest on the main stage at Stratford (and I took my son to that) and then in a very intimate setting (the 50-60 seat Coal Mine Theatre) doing a play called Marjorie Prime. I also saw one of her last directing efforts: Henry VIII at Stratford a few years back. I briefly considered going to see her in Albee's Three Tall Women this summer, but it was hard enough to get out there for The Rez Sisters. Also, I saw the Broadway production with Glenda Jackson and Laurie Metcalf, and I thought it would be awfully hard to top that. That said, Stratford did film this production, and if it is ever released, I'm sure I'll watch it.
What's so astonishing is that Henry really did go out with her boots on. She was getting sicker throughout the run, ultimately requiring a wheelchair when she had started out with a walker. And she died 12 days after the final curtain! Definitely a life well-lived doing what she loved.
From time to time, I wish I managed to get to Toronto a bit earlier in 2014, as that seemed like quite a good year for local theatre, and I probably would have seen her acting in The Beaux' Stratagem and perhaps even her production of Brecht's Mother Courage at Stratford (along with some Soulpepper plays I missed out on), but I can take comfort in seeing her in very good productions towards the end of her career.
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