Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Theatre Terra Nova was founded in Hamilton in 1988 by artistic director Brian Morton as a local company dedicated to the production of Canadian plays. It existed for a short time at Hamilton's Playhouse Cinema, a building dating back to November 1913 located in a former church at Dundurn and Main. After 16 months in its home purchased on an interest-free loan from the city, the theatre slowed down because its motivating force, Brian Morton, went to England for two years.
In England, he made a name for himself producing award-winning Canadian plays for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with his new company Theatre Erebus based in Liverpool. These productions included premiers of four Canadian plays The Occupation of Heather Rose by Wendy Lill, If Betty Should Rise by David Demchuk, The Workingman by Tom Walmsley and Scientific Americans by John Mighton. In 1991, Morton brought the theatre to his hometown of Hamilton, giving the already struggling Theatre Terra Nova and its Artistic Director Chris McHarge (1989-1991) added pressure. Terre Nova, by 1992, had not produced a play in about a year and was having difficulty paying down its original loan. Shortly after that it ceased operation.
Sources
Contents of the fonds.
Morton, Brian. "Playhouse Cinema." Cinematreasures.org. Ca. 2012. Accessed September 19, 2024. Available at https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/40029.
Brown, Stewart. "Studio Theatre Boards will be trod again." The Hamilton Spectator. March 13, 1992. p. 38. Accessed September 19, 2024. Available at https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hamilton-spectator-theatre-erebus-la/137648131/.
"About - Theatre Erebus Inc." Theatre Erebus website. Accessed September 20, 2024. Available at https://theatreerebus.wordpress.com/about/.