THEATRICAL TRAILBLAZER
Brit who took over festival in mid-70s brought stars like Maggie Smith to its stages
Robin Phillips changed the way we looked at Shakespeare during his time at the Stratford Festival,
STRATFORD, ONT.— Hours after hearing about the death of Robin Phillips, Antoni Cimolino went home and opened a card he had been given years earlier from the venerated Stratford Festival director complimenting him on his early production of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost.
It was a full-circle moment for Cimolino, now himself artistic director of Ontario’s premier classical theatre festival, who credits Phillips with changing his life.
“When I was a kid I watched his production of Love’s Labour’s Lost and . . . I left everything to go into the theatre,” said Cimolino. “I basically went into the theatre because of the beauty and the quality of what he put onstage.”
Phillips died in his sleep at his home outside Stratford, Ont., on Saturday morning. He was 73.
His hard work, talent and teaching are celebrated for attracting to the stage aficionados and newcomers alike, as well as shaping theatre across Canada and around the world.
“He had a way of making the classics really speak to the time we’re in now; he had a way of making Shakespeare so clear and so compelling,” said Cimolino.
“He taught so many people across the country — actors, directors, designers — about the potential for real beauty in the classics.
“I think he probably brought a lot of people to theatres, and he made those who attended theatres believe in plays and stagecraft in a way they’d never believed it before.”
Phillips was born in England in 1942 and studied acting at the Bristol Old Vic. He moved to Canada in the mid-1970s to work as artistic director at the Stratford Festival, a position he held until his resignation in 1980.
The British-born thespian taking the reins at Stratford was initially condemned by Canadian theatre purists, who opposed the appointment of a foreigner to head the Canadian theatre institution.
But Cimolino said Phillips’ decision to become a Canadian citizen and his dedication to understanding the arts across Canada turned many people around.
“He overcame the waves of exclusion . . . and found himself included and appreciated,” said Cimolino.
He is credited with having brought revered theatre talents to the Canadian stage, such as Maggie Smith, who made numerous appearances onstage during Phillips’s tenure.
“He was able to attract great actors because he was a great director,” said Cimolino.
Phillips was prolific during his time at Stratford, directing up to seven plays a year. In all, he directed 40 productions for the festival, including works outside his six seasons as artistic director.
“He was very driven in the sense that he was very committed to the work; he seemed to live and breathe it, from morning until night,” said Cimolino.
“That said, because he asked so much of himself he was able to ask a lot of others.”
Phillips received an honorary degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1983 and was named to the Order of Canada in 2005. In 2010, he received a Governor General’s Award for Lifetime Achievement.