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The original precedent for Neptune Theatre was Nova Scotia's first French language theatrical presentation, Marc Lescarbot's Le Theatre de Neptune en la Nouvelle-France in 1606.The impetus to found a repertory theatre in Halifax was spurred on by the Canada Council's encouragement of establishing regional theatres in the late 1950s. Local Halifax politicians supported the endeavor, believing it would aid city development and help to attract additional tourists. Neptune's first repertory season was in 1963-1964. Neptune was also the first completely year-round theatre in Canada.

In the early years, Neptune produced a variety of plays in an attempt to appeal to a broad audience. However, attendance numbers typically were only around fifty percent of capacity and the theatre started to experience the first of many financial hard times. Subscription series were introduced in 1967 to help counteract these problems. Neptune was also supported by a variety of grants, including some from the Canada Council as well as from all three levels of government.

Neptune has produced many Canadian-authored plays, including several commissioned specifically for them over the years. From the start, Neptune attempted to reach a wide audience by touring one or two productions each year on a regional basis, beginning in 1963. The first nation-wide tour was in 1967. Neptune also produced several world premieres in its early years, including Michael Cook's Colour the Flesh the Colour of Dust (1972).

In the early 1970s, the decision was made to have a single season from November to August rather than continuing the year-round schedule. It was too expensive to maintain a full company for that time period. It was also difficult to attract many of Canada's best performers to stay in Halifax for long periods of time. Therefore, rather than attempt to remain a repertory company, Neptune became a stock company during this time.

In the 1971-1972 season, Neptune's Studio Theatre was created. This second stage produced more experimental works as well as workshop-style productions. It was dependent upon government grants and, due to a lack of such monies, disappeared after the 1973-1974 season. It was later reinitiated by Tom Kerr in the 1985-1986 season under the name "Neptune North," and later in the 1990s as the "Studio Series."

The community took an active interest in Neptune. This was first concretely demonstrated by the creation of The Tritons, or Children of Neptune. This was a group of young people who wanted to know more about Neptune and it served as the forerunner of the Theatre School, later established by Tom Kerr in 1983. In 1973-1974, a Student Theatre Company was formed jointly with the Halifax School Board. However, it was quickly abandoned after only two seasons.

During these early years, it became progressively clear that the physical resources of the Neptune Theatre, namely the building and theatre equipment, were lacking. This acknowledgement was the start of a quest to improve these facilities. Various renovations were conducted over the years, but the desire for a new theatre building remained a passionate goal. Studies were conducted and plans were drawn up in the early 1980s to create a joint Neptune and Art Gallery complex on the Halifax waterfront. These plans were abandoned due to a lack of financial backing. Neptune also considered redeveloping the existing building with the addition of a second stage during the 1980s. This dream finally came to fruition in 1997 with the construction of a wholly renovated building, complete with a second stage.

The financial situation worsened as the theatre's deficit mounted from 1974 to 1977. In 1978, Artistic Director John Wood was replaced by John Neville (Artistic Director 1978-1983), who worked to correct the financial situation by instigating several changes and programs. New managerial staff was hired to help improve the financial area through new subscription campaigns and by appealing to the business sector for sponsorship.

An actor of international stature, Neville helped to promote Neptune locally and abroad. He kept himself visible to the greater community by acting in several plays and helped to increase Neptune's community exposure with the creation of the Young Neptune Company, a professional company that conducted extensive school tours throughout the region. Neville also instituted the artist-in-residence program in 1981-1982 and attempted to increase the accessibility of theatre to the community with the lunchtime productions. These productions became difficult to maintain alongside main stage productions and were phased out after the 1983-1984 season.

Tom Kerr maintained the Young Neptune Company, the artist-in-residence program, and also added the Apprentice Directors' Program in 1983. He also founded the Neptune Theatre School in 1983 with the help of Irene Watts.

Today, Neptune remains a multi-faceted organization with main stage productions, Studio Series productions, a Young Neptune Company, and a successful Theatre School. There will surely be many more seasons to come.

George Van Vliet Nicholls, QC was born on October 25th, 1908 in Montreal, Quebec to Dr. Albert George and Lucia Pomeroy (Van Vliet) Nicholls. The family moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1915 where Nicholls graduated from the Halifax County Academy with the highest standing in his class. He went on to Dalhousie University, and then transferred to McGill University his junior year, later graduating with honours in English literature in 1929 and a civil law degree from McGill in 1932. Nicholls was admitted to the Quebec Bar that same year and practiced law for a few years in Montreal. The Nicholls family had returned to Montreal in 1927.

Nicholls went on to work in the legal and industrial relations departments at the Toronto head office of the Canadian Manufacturers’ Association in 1937. He was commissioned by the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941, and was the first sectary and chairman of the K.R. (Air) Revision Committee. In 1943, he joined the staff of the Judge Advocate General’s Brach in London and transferred to the Reserve in December, 1945.

After the service, Nicholls was appointed Manager of the Research Department at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Montreal. Nicholls was appointed to Queen’s Council in 1953 in Quebec. He also became the editor of the Canadian Bar Review until 1957 when he joined the Faculty of Law at Dalhousie.

While at Dalhousie, he taught administrative law and labour law. He also originated and taught the courses, the Introduction to the Private Law of Quebec and Legal Research and Writing which is still part of the curriculum and became a model for legal research and writing courses at other law schools across Canada. Nicholls also assisted in the creation of the Dalhousie Law Journal, which was first published in September, 1973 and served as one of the original editors and was on the editorial board. He’s been published in multiple legal journals and reviews writing on topics covering administrative and common law, labour law and Quebec law and was the author of The Responsibility for Offences and Quasi-offences under the Law of Quebec.

Nicholls was a member of the Senate Committee, and chairman of the Art Gallery Committee and Dalhousie University’s General Committee on Cultural Activities. He was also one of the people responsible for the concept and planning of the Dalhousie Arts Centre. Nicholls also served as chairman for the public relations of the Waegwoltic Club.

George V.V. Nicholls was married to Patricia “Pat” Ross and had one daughter, Anne. Nicholls died on August 9, 1986 in Halifax.

Edward Wilber Nichols was a classicist with a long and close association with Dalhousie University. The son of a farmer, he was born in 1881 in Lansdowne, Digby County, where he received his early education. He earned both his BA (1906) and MA (1910) from Dalhousie before receiving a PhD in 1913 from Yale University, where he taught classics until 1918. In 1919 he returned to Dalhousie as an assistant professor in the Department of Classics, eventually becoming department head in 1930, a position he held until his death in 1939 at the age of fifty-seven. His widow, Dr. Roberta Bond, a graduate of Dalhousie Medical School, raised their four children while running a wartime medical practice and teaching in the Department of Anatomy, and eventually developed and headed the Department of Anaesthesia at the Children's Hospital.

In the obituary that appeared in Volume LXXII of the Dalhousie Gazette, Charles Lindsay Bennet remembers his colleague as a "complete Dalhousian," whose dominant principle was loyalty to the College.
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