UBC Theatre and Film is saddened to share the news of the passing of Professor Emeritus Errol Durbach on July 10, 2024.
Professor Durbach was a renowned Ibsen scholar and beloved teacher. He started off teaching in the Department of English Language & Literatures, where theatre was known as “Dramatic Literature,” before moving over to the Department of Theatre and Film where he taught for many years. He was the Head of the Department from 1987–1994. In the latter part of his career, he wrote several theatrical adaptations, breathing new life into novels and updating classic plays to resonate with contemporary audiences. Additionally, he was a passionate advocate for local theatre. His contributions to the UBC and the broader theatre community will be greatly missed. Below, a number of Professor Durbach’s colleagues recall the impact he had on the Department and their lives.
“Errol always encouraged and looked out for young faculty who invariably, including myself, made several rookie mistakes in dealing with students or fellow faculty members. He invited us warmly into his home for dinner, gave clear guidance when asked, and was truly Solomon-like in dealing with the diverse programs within our complex unit. Famously, one dramatically raised eyebrow from Errol usually meant perhaps one needed to rethink! Though he was renowned as an Ibsen expert, I recall fondly our occasional animated, but always friendly, discussions about the theatre and film work of Ingmar Bergman. A true gentleman and scholar who made an enormous contribution to the Faculty of Arts at UBC.”
—Professor Emeritus Brian McIlroy
“Errol Durbach was, without question, the most extraordinary teacher I ever had the good fortune to study with. His lectures set a standard for clarity, conciseness, inspiration, and illumination that I have never seen equaled and towards which I can only strive, knowing that I will forever fall short. His impact on my life and career cannot be adequately summed up. With his passing, we have lost a truly remarkable gentleman and scholar. My deepest condolences to his family and friends.”
—Professor Tom Scholte
“When he was head of the Department, Dr. Durbach wrote a letter to the cast of each production going up at the Frederic Wood Theatre. On opening nights, he somehow managed to sneak downstairs unseen and pin the letter by the dressing rooms. Often poetic and humorous, those letters were read and re-read many times by cast and crew alike. They became a must-read before the curtain went up; a triumphant send-off that was witty, encouraging and made students all feel like we were seen. In the service of students, Dr. Durbach found the time to show up to theatre scene work or class presentations and freely offered thoughtful, intelligent, collaborative feedback—whether you were an actor, director, or designer. His insight to what we were doing served to deepen our understanding of the craft and reminded us of the value of theatre to society. I was lucky enough to know him as my teacher, my mentor, a staff colleague and friend. And I was grateful to have had the opportunity to direct his adaptation of The Master Builder in 2010 at the Telus Studio Theatre. Ever curious, ever inspirational, his influence will continue with those who knew him and were taught by him. A sprinkling of magical theatrical dust from the man who was so passionate about the theatre, in a life fully lived.”
—Gerald Vanderwoude (MFA, 2000)
“Erroll was one of the ‘old profs’ who took me for lunch once in a while. I interviewed him on his work on Ibsen (A Doll’s House), not so long ago. Erroll would always tell me, ‘Being a professor is not an onerous job.’”
—Professor Ernest Mathijs
Errol was a passionate family man, but also a brilliant scholar. His work on Ibsen transformed my understanding of the playwright. Errol was equally compelling whether he spoke about Shakespeare, Chekov, or Fugard. Compassion tempered by clarity, and a capacious knowledge of dramatic traditions and productions, were central to Errol’s critical approach. Over the decades, his fine criticism, his justly famed teaching, and his wonderful gift for adapting fiction for the theatre, and drama to the contemporary audience inspired me and countless others. In my first years at UBC, Errol and his gracious, very astute wife, Edna, went out of their way to welcome me. They were cosmopolitan, forthright, and great hosts for amateur dramatics! Errol displayed a tremendous gift for comedy, only enhanced by his profoundly tragic sensibility. Human suffering was at the centre of his understanding of the world; but he loved to make people happy, and – in the theatre – to make them feel, in order to make them think a little differently. Errol was in many ways a luminous character, who would have snorted in disbelief to hear himself described as such. He possessed dignity without vanity, kindness without flourish, and strong conscience without a trace of self-righteousness. He made a significant contribution to his field, to his university, and to the theatre. But he was also an extraordinary human being.”
— Associate Professor Emerita Katherine Sirluck
“In my very first year at UBC, our department produced Errol’s divine adaptation of Ibsen’s classic, Peer Gynt, in which Errol played the iconic role of the Button Moulder. It had Errol’s thoughtful, unique, theatrical touch to it—a magical way to be inaugurated into this department which Errol had led as Department Head just a few years prior. Errol was a wonderful role model for a new faculty member—his academic rigour coupled with his sense of humour and playfulness made him a perfect figure to emulate. When our colleague, Peter Loeffler, died in 2002, Errol said in his remarks, ‘Our department is less interesting with his passing’. The same can certainly be said about Errol. He will be missed.”
—Professor Stephen Heatley
“Errol’s mix of urbanity, erudition, impatience with pretension will be very much missed. He and I shared an interest in Athol Fugard, and one of our more recent exchanges was about spotting the veteran South African actor John Kani in a surprising context: we’d both admired Kani, co-writer and star of Fugard’s anti-apartheid play Sizwe Bansi is Dead, in his role as the Dubious Daddy of Happy Bapetsi in the Curtis/Minghella adaptation of The Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency. As well, Errol enjoyed the depiction of rural Botswana because it reminded him of his childhood in South Africa. I also recall visits to several of his son Andrey’s restaurants where the servers were aspiring actors, and guests listened with open mouths as the recital of specials turned into a Shakespearean monologue, complete with appropriate gestures. (I think most of us were so fascinated that we had a hard time recalling the actual dishes). Errol himself may have had turmeric on his shirts as a badge of his own cooking, but he reported that Andrey was forbidden to check through his parents’ condiments because he had a habit of criticizing their brand of olive oil. As I said, he will be very much missed.”
—Professor Emerita Eva-Marie Kröller
“I am very sad to hear this news. Professor Errol Durbach was a wise and witty colleague as well as an important departmental and disciplinary leader. He knew so very much about dramaturgy and theatre and, like the many students who have shared the importance of chats with him in their professional development, I am also grateful to have gained from his mentorship. When I first arrived at UBC, I appreciated his truly kind welcome, support, and patience. It is an honour and a pleasure every year to award the Errol Durbach Graduate Scholarship in Theatre to a promising student who aims to contribute meaningfully to the study and practice of theatre. We tell students of the many ways that Errol enriched our department and discipline, not least in his unparalleled understanding of Ibsen and other modernist playwrights. I loved to hear him speak about the different productions of Peer Gynt he had attended around the world and was grateful to have seen an adaptation and translation of his own produced by Blackbird Theatre. While Errol’s passion for theatre and dramaturgy was inspiring, what I also remember from our workplace conversations were the many stories evincing his clear love and admiration for his remarkable family. I hope they know how enormously proud he was of them all!”
—Professor Kirsty Johnston
“I took as many courses with Errol Durbach as I could when I was an undergrad at UBC—I so admired his sense of humour, his urbane wit, his thoughtfulness, his acting ability, his sophisticated knowledge. I remember him starting a theatre-history midterm of slides we were supposed to ID; the first slide was of a misty seascape with seagulls. While we were all quietly panicking (“What was this?? Some symbolist set for Chekhov that we don’t remember???”) a voice came through the dark “So this is the test slide.” We all groaned—but it certainly broke the ice! He was very supportive of me, encouraging me to consider grad school, expecting me to do well, and encouraging me to do better.”
—Professor Elizabeth Hodgson
“Errol was a member of my doctoral committee and I benefited hugely from his mentorship—not just his vast theatre knowledge, but also the generous model of academia that he embodied. My favourite conversation with him was when my committee was discussing what the format of my comps would be and the need for an oral component. He wondered aloud, with that ever-present twinkle in his eye, if we might possibly do that part of it at the pub, since that was where all the best academic conversations take place.”
—Associate Professor Hallie Marshall
“I became a colleague of Errol’s in 1972 when I joined the UBC English Department, and we became immediate friends. Errol was a smart, gentlemanly scholar with a wicked sense of humour and a love of performance. In addition to the wonderful, warm hospitality that Errol and his wife Edna (now Oona) showed me and my wife Sue, who had been Errol’s adoring student—their beautiful Kerrisdale home was always filled with students and colleagues experiencing the Durbachs’ fine cooking and great art collection—I really enjoyed watching Errol act. He always had a subtle ironic edge to his theatrical performances, a kind of wink that implied that life might be a tragic stage but is also a platform for comic joy. I was lucky enough to perform in his Falstaff Project, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV plays, directed by John Wright on the Freddy Wood stage. But my very favourite Errol experience was acting with him in the old Dorothy Somerset Studio in a two-hander called Sacking, written by Ian Weir, and directed by John Cooper as his MFA thesis project. It was a play about old friends Attila the Hun (me) and Alaric the Visigoth (Errol). We had a rollicking time as these over-the-hill murderous barbarians, the very antithesis of who Errol was throughout his rich life and sterling career. I miss him deeply. Sue and I send all our love to Oona and their kids Andrey and Nadja.”
—Professor Emeritus Jerry Wasserman
A celebration of Professor Errol Durbach’s life will be held on Saturday, August 31, 2024, at 2 pm in The Frederic Wood Theatre.
