Shakespearean actor Michael Blake was a mainstay of Canadian theatre

Over the course of his decades-long acting career, Michael Blake built a reputation within the Canadian theatre industry for being quiet. Backstage, he was known to be thoughtful, perhaps even overly so – he took his time to flesh out the tiniest details of a given character’s psyche. At the Stratford Festival and beyond, he was slow, methodical. Every line had to be perfect.

But fellow actor Jordin Hall, a younger Stratford Festival mainstay who regarded Mr. Blake as a mentor, saw a different side of the artist. On days off from acting, they bonded watching televised Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts, and at work, they shared Hi-Chew candies and giggled together onstage, even whispering inside jokes during performances. In 2023, a murmured reference to a silly line from All’s Well That Ends Well during a death scene in Richard III nearly sent a performance into chaos, according to Mr. Hall. “We had a great laugh, and I nearly croaked,” he said. “But it was worth it.”