Research

Written by David Langlois in 2002 and based on months of careful research, Till We Meet Again re-creates an authentic Canadian picture of war-time in the 1940’s. Langlois’s intention was to capture the human side of the war – so he set out on several dozen interviews, hundreds of letters, endless recordings and countless hours of research.

Till We Meet Again happened.

• The songs were all hits during the period.
• The advertisements are actual advertisements.
• The news broadcasts were the news of that day.
• The letters are based on actual letters written to and from Canadian servicemen.
• Although Gordon Watkins is a fictional character, an amalgam of many veterans, the three places and times described in the play actually occurred.
• The interviews are transcripts, sometimes word for word, of interviews with veterans who served in Europe and elsewhere.
• The other characters are based on civilians who never went to war, but were as affected by it as if they themselves had been in action.

Author’s Notes

“…It was an honour for me to speak with these gentlemen who served and have them allow me an insight into their past. Some had seen very little action. Some had never left Canada. Some had seen horrific scenes and did not wish to speak of them. Some had no fear of telling me their most intimate thoughts and of showing their tears as they recounted events of 60 years or more ago with a vividness that we who were not there can never understand.
….For those who had relations serving abroad, they spoke of the intense unsettling effect of not knowing what was happening to their father, husband, brother, sister, son, daughter or friend. They spoke of rationing, of making clothes, of sewing and mending, of victory gardens, of not very much gasoline and absolutely no tires, of “zoot suits”, of dances and church socials, of entertaining troops, of children born and raised with no father around to help, of women working at all kinds of jobs, of penury and hunger, of meeting injured and returning servicemen at the train station, of telling children that ‘daddy wasn’t coming home’, of the strangeness between two people who had been lovers but who had been separated for years, and of dealing with children who thought this strange man shouldn’t be kissing mummy.
…And as they spoke, they re-lived these experiences with all the nuances and feeling as when it had originally happened to them. I was honoured that sometimes they were willing to feel that pain again.
…This play is dedicated to all those who served to preserve Canada and our uniquely Canadian way of life. My mum would have been proud. May God bless her and all of them, they deserve it.”

David Langlois
Russell, Ontario
October 2005