Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Boardmore, Liz and Harry
Liz and Harry Boardmore came from England to Xavier College in Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in 1966 to teach English. In their first year they sought out talent within the college and community to produce Arthur Miller's The Crucible, which was staged for two nights at Sydney's Vogue Theatre before capacity audiences. They subsequently took their cast to the parent university in Antigonish, the University College of Cape Breton, for a third performance. This began the tradition of both college and community cooperation in drama.
Harry and Liz introduced "experimental" theatre and the Theatre of the Absurd, such as The Serpent, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Their mission to create children's theatre began in 1971-72. In addition to the fourteen plays produced that year, the first Christmas plays for children were staged, and this has become an annual affair.
Another lasting contribution has been the Annual Festival of Plays which began in 1972 and has involved students, faculty, high school students, and children and adults from the community. Drama groups which performed at the Festival include the St. Ann's Bay Players. Many original productions and plays have also come from the Festival, by playwrights such as Bryden MacDonald and Audrey Butler.
The Boardmore Playhouse at Cape Breton University is named to honour their twenty-five year contribution to theatre on the island, which included directing eighty-five productions. The Playhouse continues to present plays by Shakespeare, musicals, young people's theatre, and new works. The Boardmore's approach to theatre is captured in the words of Samuel Beckett displayed on the dedication plaque outside the Playhouse: “No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Elizabeth Boardmore died in 2004; Harry died in 2013 in Bolivia at the age of 82.
Source: Dr. D.F. Campbell, "The Boardmores: From Xavier to UCCB."
Last updated 2020-05-07
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