Mary Helen Vingoe

With profound sadness we announce that Mary Vingoe died peacefully, at the age of 70, on July 18, 2025 in Halifax, Nova Scotia after a hard-fought battle with multiple-myeloma. A trailblazing force in Canadian theatre, Mary was a playwright, actor, director, dramaturge, teacher, and artistic director whose passion, creativity, and commitment to community-building transformed the cultural landscape.

Mary was born to parents Helen (née Wooll) and Robert Vingoe on May 12th, 1955 in Halifax. A fierce intellect who, even at young age, never shied away from a good argument, Mary could have easily pursued a career in law or academia, but all that changed when she was cast as the lead in her high school production of Please Don’t Walk Around in the Nude by Georges Feydeau. Having fallen dramatically in love with theatre, Mary went on to study acting at Dalhousie University and later completed her Master's at the University of Toronto’s graduate centre for Drama. In the early days, Mary set her sights on becoming an actor at big Canadian theatre festivals like Stratford and Shaw, but quickly found her passion was in telling the stories that hadn’t yet been told, in championing new Canadian plays with an emphasis on plays by women and creating work of social and political relevance.

Actor Gordon White once referred to her as the Johnny Appleseed of Canadian theatre because she became known for founding and fostering no less than five successful Canadian theatre companies and festivals while being directly involved in many more. In 1979, she co-founded Nightwood Theatre in Toronto with Cynthia Grant, Kim Renders, and Maureen White. Nightwood is now one of Canada’s oldest professional feminist theatres. During this time, Mary was also an instrumental early member of Mulgrave Road theatre in Guysborough, Nova Scotia, that focused on making shows about local issues that toured throughout the Maritime provinces. In 1984, she co-founded Ship’s Company Theatre with Michael Fuller on the deck of a decommissioned ferry, the MV Kipawo. While Ship’s produced theatre in the summer, it was not your traditional summer theatre, but instead championed new and politically engaged work with an emphasis on producing stories relevant to Atlantic Canadians. Ship’s Company is now under the artistic leadership of Mary’s daughter, Laura Vingoe-Cram. In 1993, she co-founded Eastern Front Theatre with long-time friend and collaborator Gay Hauser with the mission of supporting and producing works by Atlantic Canadian playwrights such as Wendy Lill, Catherine Banks, Mary-Colin Chisholm, George Elliot Clarke, Daniel MacIvor, and Jackie Torrens. After nearly ten years at Eastern Front, Mary became the founding artistic director of The Magnetic North Theatre Festival, further solidifying her status as a national leader in the arts. Finally, in 2010, she founded Home First Theatre to produce theatre of social and political importance again with an emphasis on plays from Atlantic Canada.

Along with her work as a pioneering artistic director, Mary wrote and published several plays including Living Curiosities, Some Blow Flutes, and Refuge—a finalist for the Governor General’s Award in English-language drama.

In 2009 she was a recipient of the Portia White Prize and in 2011 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Mary’s accolades recognised not only her creative achievements but her unwavering advocacy for inclusion, mentorship, and artistic excellence. Mary Vingoe’s career was marked by collaboration, and community-building and a fierce commitment to the craft of theatre. She nurtured countless artists and enriched cultural life from coast to coast. Her spirit lives on in the companies she founded, the stories she told, the friends and collaborators she uplifted, the students she taught, and the many artists, friends, and audience members she inspired.

She is survived by her two children, Kyle Vingoe-Cram (Stephen) and Laura Vingoe-Cram (Brendan), brother Ian Vingoe (Lydia), and grandchildren Morgan Ruby and Rowen Paul—who was born a week after she died on July 25th.

She is also survived by her cousins Sarah Pitt-Wooll and Carola Careless, sister-in-law Carol Cram (Gregg), and nieces Sarah Vingoe (Christian), Stephanie Vingoe-Pointdexter, and Julia Simpson. She is predeceased by her husband of thirty years, musician and composer Paul Cram. She will be dearly missed by her family as well as her many friends and fellow artists.

The theatre world has lost a brave visionary and relentless advocate. Yet with every curtain that rises, Mary’s legacy lives on—her voice continuing to reverberate on stages across the country.

A Celebration of Life will take place at Alderney Landing Theatre in Dartmouth on October 20th at 7:30pm.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, the Halifax Refugee Clinic, or your favourite local theatre company.

Photo taken by James Arthur Maclean.