Megan Wykes / en 'I came for that theatre'; Why the late Donald Sutherland championed U of T's Hart House Theatre /news/i-came-theatre-why-late-donald-sutherland-championed-u-t-s-hart-house-theatre <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">'I came for that theatre'; Why the late Donald Sutherland championed U of T's Hart House Theatre</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-08/GettyImages-1177212110-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=SZh2HVGq 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-08/GettyImages-1177212110-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=Uvb33Mn9 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-08/GettyImages-1177212110-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=ry39bASC 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-08/GettyImages-1177212110-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=SZh2HVGq" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-08-26T09:04:15-04:00" title="Monday, August 26, 2024 - 09:04" class="datetime">Mon, 08/26/2024 - 09:04</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>(photo by Carlos R. Alvarez/WireImage/Getty Images)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/megan-wykes" hreflang="en">Megan Wykes</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/alumni" hreflang="en">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/hart-house" hreflang="en">Hart House</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/hart-house-theatre" hreflang="en">Hart House Theatre</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/humanities" hreflang="en">Humanities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/victoria-college" hreflang="en">Victoria College</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">The esteemed actor and U of T alumnus also created the&nbsp;Donald Sutherland Award for Best Performance </div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The late <strong>Donald Sutherland&nbsp;</strong>was not only an esteemed actor and <a href="/news/tributes-pour-hollywood-legend-and-u-t-alumnus-donald-sutherland">alumnus of Victoria College</a>&nbsp;– he was a fierce and lifelong champion of the Ƶ’s Hart House Theatre.</p> <p>Known for roles in <em>M*A*S*H</em>, <em>the Hunger Games</em>, <em>Invasion of the Body Snatchers</em> and others, Sutherland stepped up in support of the campus theatre 24 years ago when it was&nbsp;facing possible closure.</p> <p>With the help of <a href="/news/live-new-york-its-u-t-alum-and-saturday-night-live-producer-lorne-michaels#:~:text=Michaels%2C%20born%20Lorne%20Lipowitz%2C%20graduated,Follies%20and%20Hart%20House%20Theatre.">fellow alumnus&nbsp;<strong>Lorne Michaels</strong></a>, creator and producer of <em>Saturday Night Live</em>, Sutherland became co-chair of the Friends of Hart House Theatre, which was colloquially known as the“Save Hart House Theatre Campaign.”&nbsp;</p> <p>As part of his efforts, Sutherland penned an eloquent and heartfelt letter to then-theatre manager&nbsp;<strong>Janet Bessey </strong>that<strong>&nbsp;</strong>emphasized the theatre’s&nbsp;impact on his life and the lives of so many others.</p> <p>“It’s a theatre. It smells. It hears. It sings. It’s a theatre with arms that embrace you, comfort you, push you, and applaud you. It gives birth to people who make theatre. It nurtures them. It guides them. It sets them free and they wear the mantle of that theatre for the rest of their lives,” he wrote.</p> <p>He added that Hart House Theatre was among the reasons he applied to U of T in the 1950s.</p> <p>“When I came to Toronto forty-seven years ago, I came for that theatre. Expressly for that,” he stated in his correspondence with Bessey.</p> <p>“I’d never been inside a theatre before; I’d never even seen a play. I knew nothing but that I was an actor. I’d not played yet but that’s what I’d come to do,” he elaborated. “That theatre was where some messenger from some advisory council somewhere told my open-faced father and my stunned-in the-headlights self that that was [the] place to go if that indeed was what I wanted to do. It was.”</p> <p>The correspondence, later published by a newspaper, caused a ripple effect. “Through Donald Sutherland’s personal generosity and leadership, hundreds of donors came forward and ensured that Hart House Theatre would remain a vital crucible for student artists,” says&nbsp;<strong>Peter Wambera</strong>, Hart House’s associate director of advancement.</p> <p>Sutherland’s <a href="https://uofthistorysociety.wordpress.com/2016/11/10/donald-sutherland/">very first acting experiences were at U of T</a>. During his undergrad years, he participated in several theatrical productions staged by&nbsp;Hart House Theatre, UC Follies and Victoria College Dramatic Society.</p> <p>His first&nbsp;acting role at Hart House Theatre was in James Thurber&nbsp;and&nbsp;Elliott Nugent’s&nbsp;<em>The Male Animal</em>&nbsp;(1953), which was well-received. He also earned&nbsp;excellent reviews from both&nbsp;the&nbsp;<em>Toronto Star</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;the&nbsp;<em>Globe and Mail</em>&nbsp;for his role as Stephano in&nbsp;Hart House Theatre’s production of William Shakespeare’s&nbsp;<em>The Tempest</em>.&nbsp;</p> <p>Other Hart House plays in which he was involved include&nbsp;<em>Darkness at Noon</em>,&nbsp;<em>The Troublemakers&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>The School for Wives</em>.</p> <p>Sutherland also spent many of his summers acting at the Straw Hat Players, a theatre&nbsp;company founded by members of Hart House Theatre, along with its then director <strong>Robert&nbsp;Gill</strong>.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-08/Sutherland_%28Centre__in_The_School_For_Wives__1956%29web.jpg?itok=1rpDp6eO" width="750" height="536" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Donald Sutherland, centre, in "The School for Wives" in 1956 (photo courtesy of Hart House Theatre Archives)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Sutherland, a Companion of the Order of Canada and recipient of the Governor General's Performing Arts Award&nbsp;for Lifetime Artistic Achievement (Film),&nbsp;graduated from U of T in 1958 with a degree in engineering and drama. In 1998, he received an honorary degree from U of T in recognition of his acting&nbsp;career and his&nbsp;championing of social issues. Hart House co-signed the nomination, recalls then-Warden <strong>Margaret Hancock</strong>.</p> <p>His support of Hart House Theatre never wavered. In 2014, through a&nbsp;generous donation, he created <a href="http://engage.utoronto.ca/site/SPageServer?pagename=donate#/fund/2195">the&nbsp;Donald Sutherland Award for Best Performance</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>“Donald Sutherland’s gift, the creation of the award, not only reflected his own unforgettable experiences at Hart House Theatre and how profoundly he valued this theatre, but it also guaranteed that there would be a permanent award to acknowledge outstanding student acting,” says <strong>Doug Floyd</strong>, Hart House’s director of theatre and performance art. “This is an extraordinary legacy that we cherish at Hart House Theatre. It will inspire and support students for many generations.”</p> <p>Each year’s recipient of the Donald Sutherland Award wrote a letter summing up their experiences at the Hart House U of T Drama Festival. Updates were shared with Sutherland, would often respond with a letter of his own.</p> <p>Hart House Theatre plans to dedicate the fall 2024/2025 season to Sutherland in a gesture of gratitude.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 26 Aug 2024 13:04:15 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 309003 at