Italian-Montrealer Steve Galluccio takes on love and loss in new play dedicated to his late husband

Montreal playwright Steve Galluccio first rose to fame with his semi-autobiographical play Mambo Italiano, which was adapted to the big screen and released in 2003.

His latest work, he says, is his most personal play since, telling the story of three gay men in their late 50s who come together to discuss life, love and loss.

During the play, the character of Michael shares that his husband has Alzheimer's and is living in a long-term care home. This echoes the real life of Galluccio, whose husband died in a Quebec CHSLD only six weeks ago.

The play will be presented as a staged reading at the Centaur Theatre on Oct. 21. Due to the restrictions on public gathering, the event will be streamed for free online.

Galluccio began writing the play, titled At the Beginning of Time, before the pandemic arrived in Canada.

Even though the play doesn't feature Galluccio's husband as a character, it was written with him in mind.

"I had written parts of it spending afternoons with him at the CHSLD," he told CBC's Let's Go. "For me, it's in another era. It was written when he was still alive."

Galluccio said once the first lockdown began, it was impossible for him to visit his husband due to the ban on visitors and caregivers in CHSLDs. But he continued writing and reflecting, capturing his feelings in the moment.

"The way I deal with things is by writing them," he said.

His husband did contract COVID-19 while in the CHSLD, Galluccio said, but he managed to recover. He was weakened, however, and died several months later at the age of 72.

Now that the play is being presented to the public for the first time, Galluccio said he's looking forward to sharing this story. 

He's planning to dedicate the performance to his late husband's memory. Eventually Galluccio hopes to see a fully staged production of it, once theatres can receive audiences again.

"I'm seldom proud of my pieces but this one I'm very proud of," he said.  "I'm looking forward to seeing it and hearing it."

At the Beginning of Time will be livestreamed by the Centaur Theatre on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m.