“It’s extremely rare- and an exciting opportunity- to witness two brothers sharing the stage and unravelling the untold truths of a generation almost forgotten and left out of our Canadian history books. (Beau Dixon)”
Given our fractured and divisive world right now, Remembrance Day is a necessary time to pause, to re-collect and to remember those who selflessly gave of their lives in war so that we may appreciate what we have today in Canada.
Actor/playwright Beau Dixon and his brother, pastor and teacher Lance, wish to honour their grandfather and father through their upcoming workshop and staged reading of Footnote to Freedom at Peterborough’s Market Hall. As it is a busy time right now (Beau continues performing in the off-Mirvish production of ‘Bright Star’ and Lance is busy with his work as pastor and teacher), I asked them via email about the importance of Remembrance Day.
Each year, Lance and Beau have had to ask themselves how to make Remembrance Day meaningful for the community sitting in front of them. How does Remembrance Day connect with the lives they experience every day?
Over the last twenty-five years, two questions have remained relevant:
“How does the violence of past wars motivate us to shape a future of peace? Does the cost of building peace, in the long run, outweigh the cost of division and war?”
Their response to these two questions reveals why the Dixon brothers have felt compelled to stage Footnote.
Produced by Beau’s theatre company, Firebrand Theatre, in association with Peterborough’s New Stages, the mandate behind this upcoming staged reading of Footnote is to bring Canadian stories to life for today’s youth.
Footnote details Private George Dixon (grandfather to Beau and Lance) as the subject of the staged reading. Private Dixon passed away when Beau and Lance were young boys. During his lifetime, the boys rarely spoke with him. Their father, Blair Dixon, had moved to Detroit, where the boys spent most of their early childhood. In 2022, when the Canadian government announced it would finally issue a Formal Apology for the racial discrimination the men of the Black Battalion faced during World War I, Lance was inspired to learn the full story of his grandfather’s life.
For Lance, his work in learning more about his grandfather led to writing a memoir —A Footnote to Freedom. This memoir is an account of Private Dixon’s life and role in the historic No. 2 Construction Battalion. The memoir is mainly told through the memories of Beau and Lance’s father, Blair, who recently passed away.
Of his research, Lance says:
“Of the various pieces he [my father] could not recollect, or had no knowledge of, I spent long hours poring over archives, speaking with older relatives, and people in the community who had kept precious anecdotal evidence that helped piece our grandfather’s life together. I am pleased that A Footnote to Freedom is being published by Dundurn Press this coming February 2026.”
The November staged reading at Peterborough’s Market Hall is an adaptation of the soon-to-be-published memoir. When Beau read the original book manuscript, he believed the story could be told as a musical on stage:
“The musical element is important because our grandfather was inspired by his close musician friends to become the battalion’s marching band.”
For Lance and Beau, adapting the memoir into a stage play/musical has been incredible. They’ve had the privilege of working with Joe Slabe in Calgary, Phil Aiken in Toronto and other dramaturges. Lance is also quick to point out that Beau has also strongly shaped Footnote into a simple two-hander that ultimately focuses on the relationships between fathers and sons as they try to come to terms with how society shapes the male sense of identity and purpose.
Throughout the staged reading, Beau and Lance will alternate playing different characters who helped shape the redemptive arc of their grandfather’s story.
Lance and Beau strongly believe audiences will be touched by the story of their grandfather whether it be through the lens of his longing for home as an orphan, his troubled service as a soldier at war, his life as a person of colour on the margins of society, trying to find pride in the face of poverty, or even his difficulty defining his role as a father.
At the staged reading, there will be a selection of nine songs that tie directly to key moments or events in Private Dixon’s story. The play is intended to be one act, so Beau and Lance plan to present most of the scenes. That being said, in the spirit of New Stages productions, the audience will still experience Lance and Beau as both actors and playwrights, as they will be interactive with the audience, getting input and ideas at the end, working lines with script in hand, with some planned (and spontaneous) blocking to help the audience see the character separation.”
The essence of Footnote is family. The audience will meet three generations of the same family, all trying to understand how their identities influence one another. Although some content is challenging —addressing tough issues like racism, war, and trauma within families —Lance and Beau wrote Footnote with a younger audience in mind. They aim to present Footnote in schools nationwide.
In this time of tensions between Canada and the United States, not wanting to become the 51st state, how does Footnote reflect a sense of Canadian uniqueness?
Lance wrote that the enthusiasm for telling this kind of story on stage, one that is upfront and clear about the reality of systemic racism in our country’s history, shows how much Canadians still value truth and tolerance in Canadian public spaces. As a race equity teacher specialist with the Calgary Catholic School District, Lance says there are strong voices in the Canadian nation trying to push back against the historical denialism we are witnessing at a heightened level south of the border.
As artists, the Dixon brothers aim to make every member of the audience, regardless of background, feel appreciated. They plan to use the stage to highlight what makes Canada special. Through Footnote to Freedom, Lance and Beau want to celebrate truth and reconciliation as the path the nation has chosen toward a better future.
“Canadians are not threatened by difficult conversations – we embrace them. We are not threatened by our diverse stories; we know it is our strength in this global village.”
Lance hopes the audience will take away two things: an appreciation for the men who served in Canada’s only segregated black battalion in the Great War, and an appreciation for the sacrifice it takes, individually and collectively, to create a truly equal society. Not to spoil too much, but Lance and Beau begin and end the play with essentially the same message: ‘imagine freedom’.
The full musical production is set to premiere next year at Calgary’s downtown LunchBox Theatre. Beau and Lance are also eager to perform the play in Saint John next summer, where much of their grandfather’s story unfolded. Beau also adds that Footnote is the type of theatre he thinks is essential for Canadian educators and teachers. It’s an opportunity to show Canadian school boards and districts how the musical can be considered part of the necessary curriculum in line with February’s Black History Month and November’s Remembrance Day.
As we concluded our email conversation, Beau writes that he can’t think of any other musical that centers on two brothers sharing their lived experiences of grappling not only with their racial identity as African Canadians in the present, but also with the vague and somewhat undocumented relationship between their Father and Grandfather after World War One. His headline quote reveals how Beau feels about working with Lance and sharing their story regarding their grandfather and father.
Footnote to Freedom will have two performances.
The first is on Sunday, November 9, at 7 pm at Peterborough’s Market Hall.
The Second on Monday, November 10, at 12 noon at Market Hall for private groups, including schools, veterans and other interested groups. Groups of 4 or more interested in attending the Monday show should contact Group Sales at info@newstages.ca.
Veterans attend free for the Monday performance.
The show runs approx 70 min, followed by a Q&A. Suitable for ages 10+
SALES: Tickets are already very limited for the public showing on Sun, Nov 9. To check availability, visit bit.ly/newstagestheatre or click [bit.ly/newstagestheatre]here asap.
Tickets are $25 + venue fee (sliding-scale ticketing options include an $18 welcome rate and a $32 pay-it-forward rate). Visit the Market Hall box office website at the link above, or call the box office at 705-775-1503. For tickets for Mon Nov 10, email directly at info@newstages.ca.
