Twenty-Five Years of One-Night Stands

Abstract

Standing on a make-shift stage in the lush gardens of the Canadian Ambassador’s residence in Lima, Peru, with a large Canadian flag flying at the masthead by the front gate and eight ambassadors from various countries in the audience, I experienced a sudden and unexpected attack of nerves. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that my one-man show, A Child Growing Up, was the first piece of Canadian culture to play under the auspices of the Canadian Embassy in Lima in living memory. Maybe it was because I didn’t want to let down the Canadian Ambassador or, worse yet, my country, but the pressure was certainly evident and given the long history of the show and the countless times I had performed it, I was more than a little surprised.