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| Murray Napier |
Pedagogue and PioneerIn founding the John Abbott Theatre Department and sharing his zeal for the arts with his students for 35 years, Napier has contributed waves of professionals that support every facet of the performing arts in Canada and the United States.
By Barbara Ford
Where would we be without those diligent people who, driven by their vision and passion, take it upon themselves to carve out something from virtually nothing, re-shape our reality to create something we didn’t even know we needed until there it is … a bright new shiny thing? Murray Napier is one such visionary.
Born in Halifax, Napier received his higher education in English studies at St. Mary’s University where his fascination with theatre took root, dabbling in a workshop program that by his final year, he headed up. He came to Montreal for his post-graduate studies, majoring in literary drama at McGill. After graduation, he experimented with this and that: courted the corporate world for a spell, taught in New Brunswick and at a high school, but eventually landed a teaching job at the McDonald Campus of McGill, where he taught English to both the Agriculture and Education students.
In 1971 when John Abbott College was formed, Napier stayed on at the campus as the first Chair of the English Department. His first order of business was to form a Theatre Department. Napier didn’t know anyone in the theatre world that he could approach to help him develop the new program so “when actor Stanley Mallough walked in the door to apply, I hired him on the spot!” laughs Napier. In those first years, the two shared the teaching equally, allocating 50% of their time to English and the other 50% to theatre.
