Between Breaths

The Firehall Arts Centre is proud to present the Western Canadian premiere of Between Breaths from Wednesday, November 12 to Sunday, November 23, 2025. Inspired by a true story, Between Breaths is a profound play that sails through the extraordinary life of Dr. Jon Lien – known to many as “The Whale Man” – who devoted his career to saving whales trapped in fishing nets off the coast of Newfoundland. Over the years, he rescued more than 500 whales, bridging the divide between science and the local fishing community with empathy and respect. But as the play traces Dr. Lien’s legacy, it also reveals his most personal struggle: a battle with dementia that slowly threatened the very core of his identity. Set to a hauntingly beautiful live score by celebrated Newfoundland indie folk trio The Once, Between Breaths is a powerful meditation on memory, loss, and the deep connections that endure even as everything else fades. It is a play about hope, endings, and the human spirit’s quiet resistance against disintegration. “Bringing Between Breaths to the Firehall stage was to have happened in 2020 but now, five years later, the play holds its power, its humour, and is even more relevant,” says Firehall Arts Centre’s Artistic Producer, Donna Spencer. “With the involvement of some of Canada’s top tier theatre artists, led by one of Canada’s most exciting, visionary directors, Jillian Keiley – founder of Artistic Fraud and former Artistic Director of National Arts Centre Theatre – and with a script by award-winning playwright Robert Chafe, this work is a true theatrical treat and is not to be missed. East Coast meets the West in a truly Canadian coastal story.”