Theatre in the Raw's Jay Hamburger remembered for bringing new voices to stage
Art instigator, dramaturge, educator, and radio host was a “positive and creative force” with strong ties to the East Side
Theatre In the Raw's artistic director Jay Hamburger reads a poem before Bruce: The Musical at the Russian Hall.
A LONG-TIME VANCOUVER THEATRE artist, dramaturge, educator, and well-known supporter of the Downtown Eastside died of cancer on March 27.
Jay Hamburger had been artistic director of Theatre in the Raw Society, a group dedicated to “Giving Exposure to Voices Seldom Heard since 1994”.
“Jay dedicated his whole life to theatre, to community, to finding and producing new voices and writers, to supporting local actors and to building a better world,” the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival’s Terry Hunter posted yesterday. “Jay was such an indomitable spirit....full of life, energy, good humour and positive out look on life.”
Theatre in the Raw was perhaps best known for staging Bruce: The Musical, by Bob Sarti, about the life and times of Downtown Eastside founding father Bruce Eriksen and his then-partner Libby Davies.
“Jay’s inimitable spirit informed decades of theatre and performance work as a producer, director, playwright, lyricist, actor, dramaturge, and teacher in both Canada and the USA,” Theatre in the Raw’s Scott Broom posted yesterday. “He was a voice of encouragement in a very discouraging world, truly a positive and creative force.”
The company spelled out its unique, socially minded, grassroots spirit in its mandate: “We are risk takers, creating and responding to the cultural needs of those in the Canadian and International community. We want to provide an open, creative, and supportive atmosphere for struggling artists and give exposure to tried and untried playwrights.”
Theatre In the Raw started out of a storefront café called La Quena on the Drive in 1994, rehearsing and performing there for three years. It also held a free outdoor theatre event with 16 performances at Grandview Park. In 2008, the troupe toured four provinces with three original Canadian one-acts. Plus, it helped bring Yippies In Love, also written by Sarti, to the stage.
Hamburger oversaw a weekly radio show called Arts Rational on Vancouver Co-op Radio CFRO, a program featuring interviews and commentary on the local arts scene, all delivered in the art instigator’s distinctive and instantly recognizable baritone voice. He had a hand in 13 original radio play pieces for the Carnegie Radio Play Project at Co-op Radio, and had worked as coordinator of the Theatre Workshop at the Carnegie Community Centre. Hamburger also taught acting for adults with the Vancouver School Board Continuing Education program.
The final episode of Hamburger’s interview program Raw Diaries airs tonight (March 28) at 9 pm on Co-op Radio. Past shows of that and Arts Rational can be heard here.
In honour of Hamburger, Theatre in the Raw has posted his own words about his artistic practice, spoken during the 2016 Mayor’s Arts Award when he received an award for Community Engaged Arts:
“I thought how lucky I am to be able to be in the presence of someone trying […] with little but words, song or thought and gesture to reach out and illustrate that there is something going on for us on this planet that is better than the violence, hatred or recessive problems that can surround. For a possible moment, the world can be moved or changed through a poem, or a play or a piece of music put out there for the health of the community.”
Hamburger’s story here represents just a part of his life in the arts. Hailing from New York, Hamburger graduated from Carnegie Mellon University. The hit 1970s musical Godspell began as a project by drama students there, and one of Hamburger’s biggest claims to fame was serving as the lyricist for “By My Side”. What ties that early project perhaps so well to his work here on the West Coast was his lifelong devotion to collaboration and theatre for the people.
Details of a memorial gathering are to be posted at the Theatre in the Raw site later in the spring or summer when they are available. 
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