Barclay Goldsmith Obituary, – The board of directors and staff at Borderlands Theater are mourning the loss of Barclay Goldsmith, who was not only our dear founder but also a beloved friend and a pioneer in the world of theater.
Throughout his artistic career and his personal life, Barclay was a staunch supporter of the underdog. A man who was able to find the much-needed laughter in the most difficult of times, Barclay was one of Tucson’s greatest. He was passionate about his causes, empathetic toward all those who suffered, and able to find humor wherever.
During the year 1986, he established Borderlands Theater, which was initially housed in a garage that was later transformed into the Black Box Theater at Pima Community College. He was the producer of more than one hundred projects, the most of which focused on the condition of those who were marginalized and oppressed. Barclay was a courageous intellectual who showed support for causes that advocated for social justice, equality, and peace.
The Samaritans, No More Deaths, and Southside Presbyterian Church were among the organizations that he collaborated closely with, both in his personal life and in his capacity as a theater artist.
Before he established Borderlands Theater, he was an integral part of Tucson’s Teatro Libertad throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, where he was actively involved in the Chicano Theater movement before he started Borderlands Theater. Because of his innate inquisitiveness, he might be considered a formidable stage director, and he never stopped acquiring new knowledge about his art.
The careers of a great number of actors and dramatists, both locally and nationally as well as abroad, were significantly impacted by his influence. In addition to being a founding member of the National New Play Network, he was instrumental in establishing a connection between theater makers in Mexico and Tucson theater makers.
Over the course of his tenure as an instructor and chair of the Theater Department at Pima Community College, he was responsible for introducing hundreds of students to the trade.
The work he did throughout his life had an impact on a great number of people’s lives, and the contribution he made to the cultural environment of Southern Arizona left an everlasting legacy that continues to exist.
We would like to extend our sympathies to his children and grandkids, as well as to his spouse and life partner, Raquel Rubio Goldsmith. Greetings, Barclay Fans!
