Interview with Ian Farthing (Part One)

Ian Farthing
Artistic Director
St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival

After getting THE INSIDE SCOOP, with Greg Berra, Marketing Director of the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival, I thought a wonderful opportunity was waiting right there for me to interview none other than Mr. Ian Farthing, the Artistic Director, since 2006, of the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival. Not to mention he is an amazing actor/singer extraordinaire! Ian was born in Vancouver, Canada (so accomplished for being still so young, I’ll get the SCOOP for you shortly)! He trained in the UK and worked there for 10 years, only returning to Canada in 1999. I asked Ian how he came about embarking on a journey to the UK and what eventually brought him back to Canada. Mr. Farthing states … “Family stuff took us over to the UK when I was a kid, so I ended up doing all my schooling and training over there. After about 8 years in London, struggling to find work as an actor, I decided I needed a year out to take a break and re-assess whether this was the career path I should be continuing. I knew if I was to do it properly, I needed to leave London, as my Joe job was working in a box office in the West End and many of my friends were in the biz. So I thought I might as well come back to Canada, as I had the passport. And I went to Vancouver because it was the only place I knew! As it turns out, I knew by the end of the year that not only did I still want to be an actor, but that I wanted to stay in Canada and I’ve been back for 12 years now”.
(To be continued)