Diane Dupuy, always a daydreamer, is among the few who have turned those dreams into reality.
Decades ago, long before “social inclusion” was part of everyday language, Diane Dupuy founded Famous PEOPLE Players with the help of an Opportunity for Youth grant launched under Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. More than five decades later, the Toronto-based black-light theatre company remains a force in the arts as well as for social change in Canada.
“I was a daydreamer,” she says simply, when asked how it all started.
School was a struggle. She recalls failing multiple grades and being told she wouldn’t amount to anything. “And it wasn’t because I was stupid. I always thought I was, [but] I just wasn’t interested. Now, if I was in school today, I would be diagnosed with ADHD. But for me, ADHD really means Awesome Dreams with High Drama, and that’s who I am.”
Those awesome dreams sustained her through a difficult childhood, including time spent alone in a dark basement. “And I loved the dark. I loved it because I was with my imagination,” she recalls. That love of darkness and imagination would later translate into the artistic backbone of Famous PEOPLE Players’ signature black light performances.
A pivotal point came when Dupuy volunteered at an institution in Orillia for people with developmental disabilities. She saw a building falling into disrepair and thought there had to be a better way.
On a bus ride home during a snowstorm, an idea struck her: a black light theatre where performers would be hidden by the dark, manipulating life-sized characters that seemed to float across the stage, enchanting audiences with these figures before revealing themselves as the people behind them. “And people will be amazed that [the performers] can contribute so many wonderful things.”
That dream first became reality on June 1, 1974. Since then, Famous PEOPLE Players has evolved into an internationally acclaimed company, performing everywhere including Radio City Music Hall and Broadway, and sharing stages with icons like Liberace and Paul Newman. Newman himself once mailed Dupuy a US$40,000 cheque to support a Broadway run, urging the company to “Keep up the great work. I am honoured to play a part in this wonderful company.”
When asked what success means to her, she says, “When a person transforms here, transforms into and evolves into normalization.”
At the Dine & Dream Theatre in Toronto, guests are served lunch or dinner by the Players, people Diane refers to as “individuals with exceptionalities,” before being led into the theatre for a black-light production. The immersive experience is joyful and often surprising. Many audience members, Dupuy says, arrive unaware of the company’s deeper mission.
“They love the show. They love the food. A lot of people that come don’t know our history at all,” she says. “You stand on the merits of your performance, not your labels.”
That philosophy has had ripple effects far beyond the stage. “We have turned a lot of lives around. We have taken young people who were walking down the wrong path in life and put them on the right one.”
Over the years, former performers and audience members have reached out with stories of impact. One man who heard Dupuy speak while he was incarcerated said hearing her speak that day changed his life. He reached out to tell her as much, even introducing his family to her.
For Dupuy, such moments reaffirm her purpose, especially during challenging times. Funding pressures are constant. She admits she has often struggled with thoughts of “How will I keep this going?” But then she watches a show from the back of the theatre. “I bawl my eyes out and go: Oh, this has got to continue. This is too beautiful.”
At its heart, Famous PEOPLE Players is about possibility — about refusing to let imagination be extinguished. When asked what she hopes future generations will say about the company’s legacy, her answer is immediate: “Never give up. Whatever you dream, it has got to be. Your existence is to make this world a better place.”
Then she adds with characteristic clarity, “You’re only a grown-up when you grow up to be thoughtful and kind.”
INTERVIEW BY MARC CASTALDO
