Listening to Linda Griffiths: Heeding to the Archives of an Emblematic Voice in Canadian Theatre

Abstract

Linda Griffiths, actor and playwright, was a charismatic and vital presence within Canadian theatre from the early 1970s, writing and performing until her untimely death in 2014. She worked in theatres across Canada all the while maintaining her dedication to her home, Theatre Passe Muraille, creating award-winning pieces that were also audience hits. This article presents and employs an archival methodology that the author calls listening to Linda. In the first part of this piece, the author makes key historiographical interventions in Canadian theatre history based on her recognition of (and attentive listening to) Griffiths’s own historiographical intervention, made via her self-created and deliberately preserved archival record as well as her published autobiographical writing and interviews. Research into the Linda Griffiths fonds sheds new light on the early years of her career (1971–75) that have yet to be discussed in existing studies and rectifies misrepresentations of her story, repositioning her in the field of Canadian theatre. This methodology also sheds new light upon the analysis of her plays. In the case of O.D. on Paradise, by returning attention to this overlooked text the author discovered a multifaceted moment within Griffiths’s growth as a playwright which intertwines with the play’s historical importance. Research into Alien Creature: A Visitation from Gwendolyn MacEwen revivifies the scholarly discussion on this well-known auto/biographical piece by perceiving Griffiths’s voice within her archive and in performance as insisting Canadian women artists be heard, believing in the lasting power of their work. Therefore, by listening to this creator’s voice within her self-curated archive, the author’s methodology enables a shifting of knowledge regarding Griffiths’s contributions to Canadian theatre, the remembering of lost histories, and the lasting effects of performance.