Strolling Player

From entranced boy at his father's theatre to actor bringing Shakespeare to the White House, through death and divorce, falling off the stage and falling in love, Richard Sheridan Willis recounts the passions and absurdities of one actor's life.

Strolling Player began as a one-man show, performed in theatres in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. In 2020, Richard was artistic director of the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival and looking for ways to bring theatre to the community during lockdown. To create this filmic version of his critically-acclaimed theatrical production, he adapted footage from three of his stage performances of Strolling Player—in Kitchener, Ontario, Washington, D.C. and Hastings, England—and combined them with scenes filmed in the empty Festival amphitheatre and on the banks of the St. Lawrence in Prescott, Ontario.

In The Mother Act, the character Damian Linnen—like Richard—is born in Stratford-upon-Avon on purpose and gifted a Complete Works of Shakespeare at his birth. He goes on to form a Shakespeare company called The Strolling Players. As you’ll see after you’ve watched Strolling Player and read The Mother Act, Heidi borrowed liberally.

directed by Robert Richmond

performed by Richard Sheridan Willis

written by Richard Sheridan Willis with Heidi Reimer

music by Dougal Rose