A Halifax woman found an unproduced play written by her grandfather. It opens next month

Halifax professor Karen Harper never had the opportunity to meet her grandfather, Wallace Russell Harper. However, her recent discovery of an unproduced play that he wrote in the 1950s has sparked a new mission for her. The play, found in the attic of her parents’ home in Ontario, has inspired Harper to bring her grandfather’s work to the stage.

Harper’s grandparents, Gladys Isabel Mackenzie Harper and Wallace Russell Harper, were both physicists who met and married while studying at the University of Cambridge in England in the late 1920s. While Harper knew her grandmother well and admired her groundbreaking work in the field of physics, her grandfather passed away before she could get to know him. She always saw him as a professor who wrote textbooks, so the discovery of his creative writing came as a surprise.

“I’ve always admired my grandmother, but now I have the chance to learn more about my grandfather as well,” said Harper.

The play was unearthed by Harper’s father, who found it in a box of old belongings as he prepared to move into a retirement home. Along with the play, the box contained poems and other manuscripts, shedding new light on her grandfather’s talents and interests.

The play, written under the pseudonym Henry Latimer, explores the story of a man who works at a nuclear power station and his cat, both exposed to radiation. Harper was struck by the quality and humor in the play, prompting her to seek out opportunities to bring it to life on stage.

After facing challenges in Halifax, Harper reached out to the University of Cambridge, where she found a group of eager students willing to stage the play. Titled “Not for a Cat: A Play for the Nuclear Age,” the play is set to premiere at the University on April 5, nearly 70 years after it was first written. Following the performance, there will be a discussion led by Cambridge academics on the history and science behind the play.

Harper is looking forward to being in the audience that night, witnessing her grandfather’s work come to life in a new and meaningful way. The journey of discovering and honoring her grandfather’s legacy through his writing has been a rewarding experience for Harper, bridging the gap between generations and connecting her to her family’s rich history.