“All has not been said and never will be.”
—Samuel Beckett
The Department of Theatre is sad to announce the loss of influential professor John Krich, who passed away on September 14.
John was a member of the Theatre department from 1969 to 2002. He contributed greatly to the life of this university and our community as a beloved professor of acting, a versatile and inventive performer, and a caring and supportive director.
After receiving his MFA from the Yale School of Drama, he came to UVic and established the Victoria Fair with a fellow instructor and dear friend, Harvey Miller. The Victoria Fair presented three plays produced each season by the Theatre department (most often at the McPherson Playhouse) and included such noted international theatre artists as Christopher Newton, Marti Maraden and Neil Munro. John also spearheaded the Phoenix Summer Theatre which ran as a repertory company from 1972 to 1996 and employed numerous Phoenix students. In 1996, he also organized an international Beckett Festival presented at the Phoenix Theatre.
He directed many shows at the Phoenix and appeared in others as an actor working alongside our students. In his final year at the Phoenix, he gave an awe-inspiring performance as Hamm in a memorable production of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame directed by Giles Hogya (above). John continued to perform following his retirement in 2002 in Canada and the United States, notably appearing in Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre’s inaugural production of As You Like It.
In his final years, he found contentment in his old pastimes of reading, writing and drawing (or “doodling” as he referred to it). He loved language and was a dedicated logophile and an avid cruciverbalist. He zealously collected references to the number “7” amassing over 3,000 entries. He relished slow thoughtful walks. When health or weather prevented him from walking, he drove along Dallas Road to Beach Drive, up Cedar Hill Cross Road, once around the Ring Road—with a nod to the Phoenix—and back home again.
“He was always a teacher, always an inspiration,” says acting department chair Patrick DuWors. “He will be missed.”
Endgame credits: Production director & photographer, Giles Hogya; set designer, Allan Stichbury; costume designer, Mary Kerr; guest lighting designer, Melinda Sutton; movement coach, Peter Balkwill; stage manager, Noelle Miles. Cast: John Krich, Ryan Arnold, Devon Pipars and Zachary Stevenson.