Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia

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Peacock, David

Theatre administrator born in England, April 14, 1924, died in London, England, January 11, 2000. He was the son of a civil servant, his mother was French.

He served in the British forces during WWII and then was stage manager at the Royal Opera House. In 1951 he married Georgia Thorndike (niece of actor Sybil) and they moved to Canada in 1964. He was hired to direct the production course at the National Theatre School of Canada. In 1970 he became the school's general director. In 1972 he took over the arts division of the Canada Council.

He also served as advisor to the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, adjudicated for the Dominion Drama Festival and directed twice for the the Canadian Opera Company. He also advised regional companies across the country.

He divorced in 1978, and in 1981 moved back to Great Britain, where he was cultural coordinator for Canada House, and remarried.

He had seven children with his first wife, including actor Lucy Peacock.

He once said of Canadian theatre: "The main problem is that Canadians are impatient. They want instant identity and instant heritage, and they look to a country like England or France and feel they should have the sort of indigenous theatre they see there, entirely forgetting that Europe has more than 500 years to fall back on. Canadian theatre is not just an idea or a case of wishful thinking or a dream. It can be an established fact."

Source: Alan Hustak. "Peacock helped to shape Montreal theatre scene," Montreal Gazette, 19 Jan 2000.

Profile by Gaetan Charlebois.

Last updated 2011-07-09

Peacock, Lucy

Actor, best known for her long association with the Stratford Festival (37 seasons as of 2024). Lucy Peacock is the daughter of David Peacock. She studied at the National Theatre School of Canada.

Since 1984, Peacock has performed in more than sixty productions for Stratford, including at least thirty plays by Shakespeare. Her diverse roles include leading parts in The Duchess of Malfi, Taming of the Shrew (1988), Richard III, Twelfth Night (1988), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1989, 1993), As You Like It (1990, 2000), My Fair Lady (1988), Pride and Prejudice, as Portia in The Merchant of Venice (2001), Emilia in Othello (2007), among many others. She was particularly acclaimed for her solo performance in The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead (2006), which travelled across Canada. For the 2008 season, she played Grumio as a woman in The Taming of the Shrew, and in 2009 she played an aging prostitute in The Trespassers by Morris Panych. In 2013 she starred in the Stratford premiere of The Thrill by Judith Thompson, and in 2014, she played Mrs. Sullen in George Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem, returning to the role twenty-nine years after she first played it at Stratford. In 2016, she played Kate Keller in All My Sons and Gunhild Borkman in John Gabriel Borkman. In 2018, she played Satan in Paradise Lost by Erin Shields, and an intense, persuasive Volumnia in Coriolanus to critical acclaim: "Lucy Peacock is a tremendous Volumnia, marshalling her arguments with unflagging strength and overpowering lucidity, but only getting through to him at the very last moment when she abandons oratory for despair and disgust" (Robert Cushman. stratfordfestivalreviews.com. 1 July 18). In 2023, she played Germaine Lauzon in Les Belles-soeurs; and in 2024, the title role in Cymbeline.

Lucy Peacock lives on a race horse farm outside of Stratford with her husband, Christopher Thomas. They have two sons, Ben Thomas and Harrison (also an actor).

Profile by Gaetan Charlebois. Information provided by Lindy Cooksey; additional information provided by Christopher Hoile and Anne Nothof.

Last updated 2024-03-26