Victoria Hall Volunteers present An Evening with R.H. Thomson
Screenshot of R.H. Thomson. Courtesy of Victoria Hall Volunteers.
By Cecilia Nasmith, Northumberland 89.7 FM News
Cobourg
Victoria Hall Volunteers present An Evening With R.H. Thomson on May 2 at Victoria Hall, featuring the Canadian actor and author.
Thomson will be speaking about his book By The Ghost Light, a riveting examination of how nations remember their war dead and those who are left behind.
Born in 1947 in Richmond Hill, the University of Toronto and the National Theatre School alumnus had a foot firmly in acting and in writing.
His play The Lost Boys was based on letters from five great uncles who served in World War I (including George and Joseph Stratford, who were killed in action). The play was staged in 2002 at the Great Canadian Theatre Company, Tarragon Theatre and Canadian stage.
He hosted CBC's Man Alive from 1996 to 2001 and has portrayed a number of historical figures. The list would include Edsel Ford, Frederick Banting, Duncan Campbell Scott, Mitchell Sharp, Glenn Gould, Tommy Douglas, Charlie Grant and James Grant.
Thomson may also be familiar to audiences as Jasper Dale from The Road To Avonlea in the 1990s and Mathew Cuthbertson in Anne with an E more recently.
He is a member of the Order of Canada and, in 2015, received a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
Thomson has a keen interest in Canada's military and war veterans. In 1995, he narrated a three-part documentary on the nation's involvement in international conflicts. On the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge (where almost 3,600 Canadians died), he co-created a commemoration in which the name of each fallen soldier was projected onto the National War Memorial. He was honoured for this effort with a Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation
He marked the centennial of the outbreak of World War I in 2014 with The World Remembers – Le Monde se Souvient, an attempt to showcase each year the names of each fallen combatant, regardless of the flag served. It reached its climax in 2018, the centennial of the Armistice. The names are projected randomly and now include fallen warriors from 26 countries. The database for The World Remembers has five-million names, almost half of the 9.5-million who died.
Writing about Thomson's book By The Ghost Light, Lt.-Gen. Romeo Dallaire wrote that it reminds us “that behind every single casualty of war there is a story, as well as a family who live the rest of their lives affected by what happened to the warrior, one way or another.”
Following Thomson's 7:30 p.m. presentation, he will sign copies of his book and refreshments will be served.
Tickets are $30, available at Acanthus Interiors, Readers' Nook, Furby House Books in Port Hope and at the Victoria Hall Concert Hall box office (905-372-2220).
For more information, visit www.vhvcobourg.ca
