By Douglas Paton
July 27 is George Ryga’s birthday.
The famed playwright and one-time Summerland resident, who died in 1987, would have turned 85 this year.
In fact, not only does this year mark what would have Ryga’s 85th birthday, it also marks the 50th anniversary of the premiere of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, Ryga’s most well-known play and the one that initially put him on the map.
Peter Hay, a Summerland resident who knew Ryga, described him as, “the most important writer who ever lived here.”
Hay and Ryga met while Hay was working at the Vancouver Playhouse, where the Ecstasy of Rita Joe first premiered.
He said Ryga’s work was so important at the time because, in English Canada at least, most of the plays that were being produced in Canada were mostly harmless comedies that were meant to entertain, not call attention to issues of social significance.
With the Ecstasy of Rita Joe, Ryga was inspired by a newspaper clipping he had received in the mail about the death of an aboriginal woman in Vancouver’s skid row and based his play on that.
“His sympathy extended to all people who were poor and marginalized,” said Hay. “He was a pioneer of social drama in Canada.”
The Ecstasy of Rita Joe would go on to be produced world-wide and put Ryga on the map.
Ryga divided his time between Summerland and Mexico.
While he was in Summerland, Hay says, his house was open house. It wasn’t unusual for Ryga’s house to be filled with musicians and performers who stayed with him and played and sang while Ryga worked on his plays.
After Ryga’s death in 1987, his house here in Summerland was turned into a writers’ retreat which was run by the Ryga Society until three years ago, when dwindling interest and lack of support lead to the sale of the house.
As unfortunate as it was to see the house sell, the money from the sale went towards establishing a series of bursaries and literary prizes in Ryga’s name.
There’s a fellowship in Ryga’s name available at the Banff Centre for the Arts, as well as a B.C. Book award. The award is for book published in the past year that did an outstanding job raising social awareness for the year.
Here in Summerland, Ryga’s legacy lives thanks to the help of the recently started Ryga Festival, what Hay describes as a living memorial to George Ryga.
The festival is now in its second year and Hay is one of the driving forces behind it. The festival is designed as a way to not only keep Ryga’s memory alive and well in the community, but to encourage others to keep pursing his legacy.
For more information about the Ryga Festival, visit www.rygafest.ca.