Training the Young Actors of Theatre Ashbury: How Good do you Want to be? And What are you Going to do About it?

When Gregory H. Simpson was hired to run the drama program at Ottawa private school Ashbury College, he brought with him a very simple premise:

If you taught kids to think, there would be a revolution in education.

That premise—plus a few years, more than a few scandalously unfiltered plays, and a whole bunch of wonderful students—would create the internationally-acclaimed Theatre Ashbury. Mr. Simpson demanded critical thought, intense work, and commitment from those kids, and what he got wa...