Lunch hour, with a play
Picture downtown Calgary in 1968. You step out for lunch, and somewhere nearby a play, a concert or a lecture is about to start. Beats a sandwich at your desk.
The University of Calgary’s own history of its place in the city, Culture and society, says the downtown lunchtime happenings began in 1968 and offered art, drama, lectures, discussions and concerts. The University of Calgary Gazette, in its first issue in 1969, held them up as an example of what the university gave the city.
The drama department took things further. It performed downtown at lunch and at Spy Hill Prison, at a time when Calgary didn’t have much of a live-theatre scene yet. Theatre without the theatre building. We’re fans.
Got a programme in a drawer
If you remember those lunch hours, or someone in your family kept a flyer or photo, we’d love to hear about it through the contact page. For more on how Calgary built its stage culture from scratch, Joyce Doolittle’s story is a great next read.
Quick answers
The University of Calgary’s history of its place in the city says the downtown lunchtime happenings began in 1968. They offered art, drama, lectures, discussions and concerts, and the University of Calgary Gazette held them up in its first issue in 1969 as an example of what the university gave the city.
The drama department performed downtown at lunch and at Spy Hill Prison, at a time when Calgary did not have much of a live theatre scene yet. It was theatre without the theatre building, and we are fans of the idea.
If you remember those lunch hours, or someone in your family kept a flyer or photo, we would love to hear about it through the contact page. Joyce Doolittle’s story is a great next read on how Calgary built its stage culture from scratch.
Sources: University of Calgary, Culture and society.
Keep going with How Alberta Ballet Found Its Calgary Home and Calgary Once Watched Movies From the Front Seat of a Car.
