Hart House spurred alumna’s success story in Canadian theatre

Emily Dix was first introduced to Hart House Theatre as a U of T undergrad. Now, the Artistic Executive Director of Bygone Theatre – who won the Broadway World Toronto Award for Best Direction of a Play last year – says the experience propelled her career in theatre.

U of T alumna Emily Dix (BA 2014 WDW) grew up in Kitchener-Waterloo, which had limited options for those interested in theatre. But that didn’t stop her. At the tender age of five, she began writing scripts and directing her friends in various home-made productions.

After high school, Emily was eager to move to the “big city” (Toronto) and connect with more like-minded theatre folks. At U of T, the drama programs involved lengthy rehearsal times and she had a full-time job that would not allow for this. So she began investigating other ways on campus to get into theatre, while majoring in English and minoring in cinema studies and drama. 

“In first year, I did a musical with Victoria College Drama Society (VCDS). In second year, I was in a play with VCDS,” she says. Here, she noticed that the team needed more support. “So, I began looking for ways to get more involved.”

Next, she did Hairspray with St. Michael’s College Troubadours, which was staged at Hart House. At this point, she got to know the team. And this experience at the Hart House Theatre led to a life-changing decision for Emily. “Hairspray convinced me I need to start my own company. It was fun. I put a lot of time and effort into it. It felt like I was running the show,” she explains. So, she decided to do just that. She launched Bygone Theatre in 2012 when she was still an undergrad.

The goal of this new theatre company was straightforward. “The main thing was having something more accessible. I also liked vintage things and period productions,” she says, noting at the time that Soulpepper Theatre Company and Stratford Festival, much farther afield, were two theatres in Ontario staging period drama pieces, which she liked. Shaw Festival also offered this genre.

She studied Soulpepper and considered its genesis. “They had started in a similar fashion: getting a group together, renting a space and putting on a show, then waiting a year until we have some resources to do it again. My goal was to become a mini, more accessible version of Soulpepper. Another goal was to be, by our tenth season, known for the type of work we do and at a point where we could start planning how to get our own venue,” she adds.

Bygone Theatre’s first production, John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt: A Parable, was a co-production with the University College (UC) Follies in January 2013.

A few short years after this new theatre’s founding, the accolades came flooding in. In 2019, Bygone Theatre was nominated for 14 Broadway World Toronto Awards (including Best Community Theatre) and won five. In 2021, it was awarded the Toronto Star Readers' Choice Award, Diamond Level for Best Live Theatre. In 2022, it received 20 Broadway World Toronto Award nominations and three wins for productions that season.

In 2023, Emily won the Broadway World Toronto Award for Best Direction of a Play for The Birds, which she wrote and directed. This play, staged at Hart House Theatre in 2022, examined the effects of isolation and paranoia through the lens of Cold War Era America and mirrored many of the issues our community has faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This year, Bygone Theatre returned to Hart House Theatre once again for a production of The Rear Window. In June 2024, Emily hosted a workshop for students at Hart House: Design on a Dime.

Hart House offers invaluable hands-on experience

Reflecting on what Hart House means to her, Emily again underscores that this theatre led to her first foray into the professional theater. “Hart House Theatre is known as a stepping stone. There are many very big names who’ve gone through. It’s the only place where you could get hands-on experience.

“I got to try a little bit of all different things. The first time I stage managed, for example, I was thrown into doing it, which was terrifying for the first 30 minutes. But then you realize it's not actually that hard; it's something you can learn to do.”

Doug Floyd saves the day!

Emily has a nail-biting story in which a production was literally saved by Hart House Theatre’s intrepid Director of Theatre and Performance Arts, Doug Floyd. Bygone Theatre was working on a new version of The Birds. But when the company that oversaw the space that Bygone Theatre rented cancelled the booking, Emily and her team had to scramble fast to find another venue for the show. “I was in a panic! I mentioned our predicament to Doug … and he told us he’d find a way to make it work at Hart House Theatre.”

Bygone Theatre now has a new home, a different building, but it continues to collaborate with Hart House Theatre. Emily hopes to work with more U of T students in future productions as well. She also wants to stage more workshops at Hart House Theatre.

Advice for students: “Get involved in Hart House Theatre”

Emily has stellar advice for students. “For Hart House Theatre? Just do it. Get on a list of volunteers. You could be head of wardrobe or assistant director or just come and help carry stuff! You can get to see what it's like backstage, even if you've never done anything like this before. Everybody's very easy going. It's fine if you don't know what you're doing. Someone will teach you. It’s a good place to start.”

Originally published by Hart House