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Sir Charles Tupper was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia on July 2, 1821. He was educated at Horton Academy in Wolfville and graduated with his M.D. from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in 1843. On his return to Canada he established a medical practice and pharmacy in Amherst. In 1846 he married Frances Morse, with whom he had six children.

Tupper’s political career began in 1855 when he was elected as a Conservative candidate in the provincial legislature. He went on to serve as Premier of Nova Scotia between 1864 to 1867 and is considered largely responsible for the province joining Confederation. In 1867 Tupper successfully ran for Federal Parliament and became an important figure in national politics, leading the Conservative Party from 1896 to 1901 and serving briefly as Prime Minister in 1896. Tupper died in England on October 30, 1915.

Two Planks and a Passion Theatre Company was founded in 1992 by Chris O'Neill and Ken Schwartz, with a mandate to produce new Canadian works with strong female roles and community relevance. The company's original home was a small community hall in Sheffield Mills, Nova Scotia, and, as such, Two Planks became an itinerant company, bringing theatre to rural communities throughout Canada with regular regional and national tours.

In 2003 O'Neill and Schwartz began construction of a multi-disciplinary arts centre, and Two Planks and a Passion found a fixed address on a former cattle farm on 178 acres of field and forest overlooking the Bay of Fundy. In addition to providing an outdoor summer theatre venue, Ross Creek Centre for the Arts offers programming and space for arts-focused residential summer camps, workshops for youth and families, and retreats for emerging and established artists.

Two Planks' first production was a one-woman show, See Bob run, by Daniel MacIvor (1992); two years later the company received national recognition with its groundbreaking production of Butterbox babies, adapted by Chris O'Neill from the novel by Bette L. Cahill (1994). During its years of touring, the company produced many plays with Atlantic Canadian themes and/or playrights, including Westray: The long way home, by Chris O'Neill and Ken Schwartz (1995; 1996; 2002), which had an extensive national tour sponsored in part by the United Steelworkers of America. Other plays included Halo, by Josh MacDonald (1999), and Hockey mom, hockey dad, by Michael Melski (1999; 2001-2002).

Once in its permanent home, Two Plank's productions were able to feature larger casts and the "theatre off the grid"series were rooted in their natural surroundings. Productions such as The Odyssey, adapted by Rick Chafe (2007), Our town, by Thornton Wilder (2008), Rockbound, by Allen Cole (2009), The crucible, by Arthur Miller (2011), and Beowulf, adapted by Rick Chafe (2012), all received awards and/or nominations for Robert Merritt Awards.

Ron Ulrich has worked as a director and artistic director with many major theatre companies across Canada, and is perhaps best known for his work with American comedies and musicals. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Saskatchewan and graduated from the National Theatre School of County.

He was the artistic director of various theatre companies across Canada, including the Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend, Ontario (1983-1985); Stage West Canada (1985-1993); the Muskoka Festival, Gravenhurst, Ontario (1992-1994); the Mayfield Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta (1994-2000); and Neptune Theatre in Halifax, Nova Scotia (2000-2008). Since 2008, he has been the artistic director of Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton, Ontario.

Upstart Theatre originated with Tom Regan, who wanted to establish a Halifax theatre dedicated to producing plays previously unseen in the Halifax area. The first step to achieving his goal was the founding of Dark Night, a play-reading group, with Martin Surrette, L.H. Paris, and Sharon Kline. In 1988 Regan, Paris, and Kline were joined by Iris Quinn, Lynn Ostergaard, Pamela Robinson, Moira Dann, David Renton and Deborah Allen as the founding members of Upstart Theatre. Sten Eirik and Jennifer Hogan joined the group shortly thereafter. Upstart Theatre was self-supporting with assistance from provincial government grants and local donations, and was run primarily by volunteers.

In its first season, Upstart offered Lynn Ostergaard’s Moving Day and George Boyd’s Gideon’s Blues. The company was praised for tackling thought-provoking material. Although the company was artistically acclaimed, financial problems plagued it from the start. This, combined with the loss of venue in 1991, caused the theatre to cancel its 1991/1992 season. Although it was able to produce Betty Lambert’s Under the Skin in the fall of 1992, it was officially dissolved in September 1993.