A Stratford Season

While Don Carrier, BCom'83, studied finance and marketing at McGill, the theatre stole his heart. Following graduation, Carrier's passion took him to Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England, after which he embarked on a career path that has seen him gather numerous film, television and theatre credits across Canada and the United States.

When Carrier returned to his native Montreal five years ago as part of the cast for Antony and Cleopatra at the Centaur Theatre, he wandered up to McGill to reminisce. His destination, naturally, was not the Bronfman Building, home to the long-forgotten business courses that he never used, but the Players' Theatre, where he served a year as student president in 1982-83 and had a hand in more shows than he can remember. And it was then that the memories started to roll in.

"It was play after play after play," recalls Carrier, one of three McGill grads plying their talents this season at the Stratford Festival, Canada's most prestigious theatre showcase. "I don't even know how I graduated; we were literally there (at the theatre) all the time. It was crazy in a way, because if you're into it, you're really into it. People spend every waking hour there."

For some, like Carrier, the lure of the stage is one that could never be resisted. From his humble beginnings at McGill as "assistant publicist on something, which constituted basically drawing posters," that passion would carry him far. Carrier is now in his third year at Stratford and has major roles this season in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (Bassanio) and Henry V (King Charles). He is also featured as Tom Davenport in Inherit the Wind, a courtroom drama by American playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee.

Don Carrier and Andrew Linley, both of whom feature in the cast of Inherit the Wind

A review of one of Carrier's recent non-Stratford performances called him "wonderfully slimy" in his portrayal of the scheming Joseph Surface in The School for Scandal at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. More often than not, though, his stage roles have been sympathetic characters, such as Merchant's romantic lead Bassanio.

"You do get cast in a certain range of roles," Carrier says, "and it's up to you to prove you can do other things."

The competition for roles is so intense, with far more actors and aspiring actors than parts to fill, that the temptation might be to accept whatever comes one's way. Yet Carrier says it's important for actors to take the initiative in standing up for themselves and the roles they want to get. Often in the end they are respected for it.

"You almost have to -- I don't want to say be pushy -- but you have to be willing to step forward and say what you want."