Theatre Passe Muraille - Collective Creation at TPM

Collective Creation At TPM

Thompson’s taking over the helm at Passe Muraille marked not only a turning point for the theatre but also a significant, even vital, step in the development of Canadian theatre as a whole. He brought with him the art of “collective creation,” a technique whereby plays were made by the actors themselves from their own experiences.

The use of collective creation at Passe Muraille began when Paul Thompson, John Palmer and Martin Kinch found themselves with lots of ideas for shows but no scripts.

It was a form that had no roots in English-speaking North America. “The collective-creation idea was inspired obviously by the Living Theatre,” said Paul Thompson, “but more closely by a company called Theatre d’Aujourd’hui…There were a group of actors who had come out of the French section of the National Theatre School and were doing some very good improvisationally written shows and that sort of got me excited.”

“As far as going into a locale, the idea came from stuff I had been reading about China,” continued Paul Thompson, “They went into areas and made stories about local heroes, they were traveling companies.”

The Farm Show is arguably the most significant collective creation in TPM’s history. In 1972, Thompson and a group of actors went out into farming country around Clinton in southwestern Ontario. They lived with the farmers, worked with them, watched them and learned their stories. Then Thompson, who had been raised in farm country, literally forced his actors to create a play, each being responsible for his or her own part. It was part of an idea that became a theme for later work to help Canadians find new terms for heroes; to move away from the Davy Crockett types. The impact of The Farm Show was guaranteed by the fact that the community the show was built around saw it first and went crazy about it. The show premiered in the very barn the actors used for rehearsals. It was a terrific success and was taken on the road.