Friday, January 12, 2024 (St. Catharines, ON) - Norm Foster, Canada’s most prolific and arguably
successful playwright, is celebrating his 75th Birthday and The Foster Festival is marking the occasion
with a Birthday Bash on February 11, 2024! A three-course lunch will be served at Club Roma St.
Catharines to start off an afternoon of music, stories, and laughter presented by artists, friends, and
colleagues to honour the Officer of the Order of Canada and keeper of the Key to the City of St.
Catharines.
Over the course of his four+ decade career Norm Foster has written 78 plays (and counting), averages
150 productions of his plays annually, and been translated and produced internationally, most recently
in Poland and the Bahamas. No single Canadian playwright has had, or continues to have, a greater
impact on our national theatre industry than he has. For all this, his entry into the world of theatre was
inauspicious:
"A friend of mine was going to audition for a community theatre production of 'Harvey’, and he asked me
to go along. I went just to see what this theatre thing was all about, and I ended up getting the part of
Elwood P. Dowd. I had never even seen a play in my life before this.”
Foster fell in love with the theatre right then and there, and two years later he penned his first
professionally produced play, Sinners. It was produced by Theatre New Brunswick and directed by
Malcolm Black, who would also direct Foster's next effort, the highly successful, The Melville Boys. The
Melville Boys would go on to be produced across Canada and in the United States, including a well-
received run off-Broadway in New York. It would become Foster's signature play, and the one which
would bring his name to the forefront of Canadian theatre.
2024 is the 40th anniversary of this heartfelt comedy and The Foster Festival is marking this milestone
with an anniversary production of The Melville Boys to cap its Mainstage Summer Season at The
Mandeville Theatre, Ridley College Aug 15th
- 25th.
The breadth and depth of Norm Foster’s work is astounding: conventions, theme, and genre of his plays
are incredibly varied; his sense of humour adored by fans across the country and beyond. At the root of
his writing is an immeasurable capacity to create characters that audiences continually identify with, or
recognize, and ultimately care about- ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.
On February 11th, 2024, from 12:00pm-3:00pm, The Foster Festival, now in its 9th season, will be hosting
a 75th Birthday Bash for the renowned playwright and all are invited. The event includes a pasta
luncheon with coffee/tea service, a cash bar, and entertainment featuring the talents of past Foster
Festival performers Kirsten Alter, Lisa Horner, Melanie Janzen, Darren Keay, David Leyshon, Sheila
McCarthy, Nora McLellan, Artistic Director Emily Oriold, Eliza-Jane Scott, Helen Taylor, William Vickers,
and Artistic Associate Jamie Williams, with musical accompaniment by Steve Thomas. Full details are
available at
https://thenormfostertheatrefestival.thundertix.com/events/222494
Join The Foster Festival in wishing Norm a Happy 75th Birthday by celebrating with them at Club Roma,
125 Vansickle Rd, St. Catharines, with all proceeds going towards our Local Hero Program - Making the
Live Arts accessible to all!
For more information about The Foster Festival 2024 season or to subscribe or purchase tickets to their
productions or other events please visit www.fosterfestival.com or contact our box office at 1-844-735-
4832 x.3.