Peter Cureton (November 1, 1965 – March 2, 1994) was a Canadian actor and playwright.^[1] He was best known for his 1993 play Passages, an autobiographical show about living with HIV/AIDS.^[2]

Born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, Cureton was a cousin of actor R. H. Thomson.^[1] He attended high school at Lisgar Collegiate Institute, and later studied drama at Concordia University.^[3] He acted in theatre roles in both Ottawa and Montreal, including productions of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap,^[3] Jack Todd's The Day Luzinski Stole Home^[4] and William Mastrosimone's Shivaree,^[5] participated in Montreal's first bilingual theatresports competition,^[6] and appeared in the television film The Boys of St. Vincent as Brother Peter.^[3]

Diagnosed HIV-positive in 1988 while acting in The Mousetrap,^[3] he also worked as an HIV educator.^[3]

Passages premiered in Montreal in 1993, with Cureton as the director of the inaugural production.^[2] The cast included Joe de Paul, Susan Glover, Lisa Bronwyn Moore, Patrick Brosseau and Pauline Little.^[2] The play was favourably reviewed, with Montreal Gazette theatre critic Pat Donnelly writing that "it should be a kickoff, not a swan song".^[2]

Cureton died on March 2, 1994, aged 28, at his family's home in Ottawa,^[2] while working on a planned production of Passages in Toronto.^[3]

References