Carol Bolt has repeatedly been described as one of Canada's most prolific and successful playwrights. Born on 25 August 1941 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the only child of William Johnson, a logger and miner, and his wife, Marjorie Small Johnson, she grew up in mining towns across Canada. Settling in Vancouver for a time, Bolt received her bachelor of arts degree from the University of British Columbia in 1961. Shortly after graduating, she moved to England. Returning to Canada a few years later, she settled in Montreal where she worked as a market researcher. Partly out of boredom, she and a few friends started a small theater there in 1963. The theater closed because the building could not meet fire regulations, and she was transferred to Toronto in 1964. She decided to abandon the research job and do prop making and stage managing instead.

While stage manager for an amateur production of British playwright...