Lindsay Robinson, seen in last year’s Arms and the Man as the vainglorious soldier Sergius, returns to the Classic Theatre Festival in Perth to star in the mystery-thriller I’ll Be Back Before Midnight, which opens August 18 at 54 Beckwith Street East and runs until September 10. (Photo: Jean-Denis Labelle)
If living life passionately is a sign of success, then Lindsay Robinson is a successful person. Robinson is currently in Perth to play the role of an archeologist in the “comedy-thriller” I’ll Be Back before Midnight, the annual nail-biter that opens at the Classic Theatre Festival’s mainstage August 18 at 54 Beckwith Street East.
I’ll Be Back before Midnight, the most produced play in Canadian history, is an Alfred Hitchcock-styled psychological thriller about a young Toronto couple who leave the big city to get away from it all, only to encounter weird happenings in the spooky old country farmhouse they decide to rent. Penned by prolific Canadian writer Peter Colley, who also recently opened a new musical about the life of Terry Fox, Marathon of Hope, it combines the spine-tingling building of tension and quirky humour of a Hitchcock film.
For Robinson, it represents another in a long series of roles that have won him award nominations from the likes of Broadway World, Spirit of the Industry Awards, and the Calgary Theatre Alliance. His star turn in the comedy Arms and the Man last year at the Classic Theatre Festival helped snag that show a Best Production nomination from the Capital Critics Circle.
Robinson is a multi-talented individual who, in addition to being a skilled performer, personal trainer, singer-songwriter, and video producer, is also studying to become a medical physician. In a twist on the line “is there a doctor in the house?” Robinson recently provided medical assistance to a distressed theatre patron at BC’s Blue Ridge Repertory Theatre.
“I have a passion for helping people, and I think a combined career as an actor and emergency room doctor allows me that chance,” says Robinson, who has also appeared in Perth as the philandering central character in Neil Simon’s debut Broadway comedy Come Blow Your Horn.
Since 2007, the Vancouver Island born-and-raised Robinson has been working non-stop in professional theatre, television, and film, from recent spots on the Food Network’s Giving You the Business and a pilot for the E1 Network called Mergers and Acquisitions to commercials for Samsung and Sears and a new web series called Sweet Jayne. Robinson eagerly grabs every moment as an opportunity to express himself artistically, as the recent web series “Mini Series” attests: a road trip from Vancouver to Toronto inspired a daily episode of a web series that was written, edited, and posted each night along their journey.
Robinson is not shy about taking on new and heavy-duty challenges. His professional training is extensive, from the New York-based American Academy of Dramatic Arts to the intensive program at the Canadian College of Performing Arts, which entailed six days a week of choreography, directing, singing, acting, and dancing for two years. During the third year, he joined a cooperative theatre company of 12 who spend three months working on and offstage for three productions. He also recently just completed the Banff Professional Theatre training program in conjunction with the Citadel Theatre.
He is also busy completing a libretto and composing music in conjunction with the Vancouver Island Symphony, putting together a show for two singers, one of whom is a member of the original Three Canadian Tenors, and composing the music for a 60-piece orchestra.
Tickets to I’ll Be Back before Midnight, which runs Tuesday to Sunday at 2 pm, and 8 pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays, are available by calling 1-877-283-1283 or online at ticketsplease.ca. Ticketholders receive a discount on the Perth Through the Ages historic theatrical walking play, which runs until August 27, and The Lonely Ghosts Walk, which closes August 25.
