Skip to main content

Michael Healey at a rehearsal of his play Them & Us at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto, Dec. 30, 2008.Kevin Van Paassen

If we had 11 fingers instead of 10 and organised our calendar accordingly, we might have spent the last few weeks talking about decoding the undecade (or, perhaps, hendecade?). And, in this alternative world where our looks back looked back to 1999, we might have declared Michael Healey the Canadian playwright of the undecade.

In was in 1999 that Healey's hit The Drawer Boy premiered at Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille, directed by Miles Potter and starring Jerry Franken, David Fox and Tom Barnett. It was in the past ten years, however, that it became an international phenomenon.

In fact, crunching the numbers, The Wall Street Journal's Terry Teachout has determined that The Drawer Boy was the fourth most-produced play in the US during the years 2000 to 2010, ringing up some 36 separate American productions during that time. The only plays produced more often were David Auburn's Proof, John Patrick Shanley's Doubt and Yasmina Reza's Art. (NB: This is based on data that excludes the plays of Shakespeare and seasonal shows like It's a Wonderful Life.)

That's pretty impressive, as is the award tally that Healey racked up at home over the past 11 years, notably 3 Doras for best new play. The Drawer Boy (1999), Plan B (2002) and Generous (1997) were all winners.

The latter play is currently getting a production in London and, while the reviews have not been raves, there have been some kind words from the critics. In the Guardian, Michael Billington likes the ideas in it and contrasts it with The Wild Duck: "Healey's play, suggesting flawed help is better than wilful indifference, has a benign morality that offers a neat riposte to Ibsenite irony." In the Times, Dominic Maxwell pens a flattering lede: "The Canadian playwright Michael Healey has rarely been performed in Britain, but Generous suggests that he's too intriguing a writer to ignore for ever." (Perhaps the UK will pay more attention over the next 11 years.)

Only the Daily Mail's Quentin Letts is completely ungenerous towards the play. The headline on his review captures the tone: "Oh Canada! Your boy is overhyped and over here."

Back in Canada, our boy premiered a companion piece to Generous called Courageous - starring Tom Barnett from that first production of The Drawer Boy - at the Tarragon Theatre last week, and I won't be surprised if it garners Healey another Dora nomination for best play. (Though there's some tough competition this year and a new George F. Walker to come.) If you haven't read my three-star review, it's here: "Healey comes out on top... It's great to see a playwright grapple with contemporary issues without fear and with a genuinely questioning mind."

The other TO critics like it even more. It gets 3.5/4 stars from The Star, 4.5/5 from The Sun and the National Post's Robert Cushman seems to imply it's the best new Canadian play since Hannah Moscovitch's East of Berlin.

Wisely, Healey chose to premiere Courageous at the beginning of the decade instead of at the end of one this time around, so that when December 2019 comes around and we're decoding that decade, theatre critics can all say the Terrible Teens got off to a good start theatrically, at least.

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe