Princess Diana's 1991 visit to a Toronto AIDS hospice shines on in this moving new play

Queeries is a column by CBC Arts producer Peter Knegt that queries LGBTQ art, culture and/or identity through a personal lens. 

On October 25, 1991, Toronto's Casey House — a hospice for people living with HIV that still exists today — welcomed who was then inarguably the most famous person in the world: Diana, Princess of Wales.

Crowds gathered outside as Diana went room to room, spending time with all 13 residents as well as Casey House's staff. She is said to have stayed much longer than planned, and agreed to just one pre-arranged photo-op with one of the residents. But instead of sitting in a chair that had been placed for her at a distance from the resident, Diana moved the chair next to him and put her hand on his. 

This remarkable day — which went a long way in reducing the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS — is now the inspiration behind an extraordinarily moving play currently being staged at the Stratford Festival: Casey & Diana. Written by Nick Green and directed by Andrew Kushnir, the play utilizes Diana's historic visit as an entry point into a potent tribute to Casey House's patients and their caregivers. 

"As I started asking questions and doing more research into this story, I realized that it is so much more than about Princess Diana," says Green. "I was definitely pulled in by her because, you know, I'm a homo. I love Princess Diana. But what I uncovered is that this really was the story of a community rallying and organizing, as well as the story of what Casey House is, and the precedent it set as an organization and their type of care. It just stood out to me as a story of incredible kindness in the face of devastation."

When Green contacted Casey House, asking them for recommendations for who he could talk to for their accounts of the big day with Diana, he says, "I didn't have to walk far."

"There are a few people who still work there that were there on that day. So I spoke to some nurses who were still on staff there, as well as former nurses, the former volunteer coordinator; the CEO at the time, Jane Darville, who actually was the one that toured Diana through the hallways. I also spoke to engaged members of the community at that time, not necessarily who were there on that day, but just to learn about the context of this visit and what it was to be queer at that time."

When Kushnir came on board as the play's director, he brought in a lot of people as well.

"He has his own approach to theatre-making, which involves a lot of community engagement." Green says. "So through him, there were also conversations with bereavement counselors who worked at Casey House and Princess Diana's ballet teacher even came and talked to the whole cast." 

The play ultimately ended up centring on five characters in addition to Diana: two patients at Casey House (played by Sean Arbuckle and Davinder Malhi), a nurse (Sophia Walker), a volunteer (Linda Cash), and a sister of one the patients (Laura Condlln). Alongside Krystin Pellerin as Diana, the incredible ensemble cast offers Stratford audiences a window into an intensely challenging moment in our history — a moment that remains all too relevant over 30 years later.

"To me, exploring this story myself really reiterated how important it is that we leave behind a world that's a little bit easier or nicer or better for somebody else," Green says. "I think that's an ongoing journey that we're all always thinking about: what's going to exist to us after we're gone."

"Whatever you believe in, once you go, the only thing that exists on this earth is the impact that you've left on other people. So that's one way that I think this continues to be relevant and universal."

The other, Green says, is a simple message that seems to remain lost on far too many people in this world: that of kindness and compassion. 

"I think that this story shows that from princesses to nurses, volunteers to family members, we're all capable in the face of pain and terror. We're all capable of compassion and kindness. And what it actually asks is to just look at the person in front of us and connect and act with care and love."

"We're in a scary time for 2SLGBTQ people right now. I mean, it's never been fully unscary, but the incidence of hate and violence is really, really spiking and terrifying. And I think a show that kind of celebrates queerness and love and kindness is really important right now."

When audiences are done watching this celebration, the Stratford Festival has set up a space outside the theatre dedicated to "post-show reflection and facilitated discussion." 

"I love that space," Green says. "It really is to me a beautiful manifestation of the partnership between Stratford Festival and Casey House, which I was really hoping for from the minute I started writing the play."

"Casey House worked with Stratford to have quilts from their archives hung in the space, one of which is the quilt from the year Princess Diana visited. So the names on that quilt, a lot of them are the men who were in the rooms and met her, which still makes me kind of tear up a bit when I talk about it. The space ties together, I think, the sort of fictionalized world of the play with the real world that we still live in where HIV/AIDS is still present."

Casey & Diana runs through June 17th at the Stratford Festival. Tickets and more information are available here.