The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time

Welcome to The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time—a powerful autobiographical play and the story of Walter Borden’s life, his life’s work, and his letter to the world. Told through the voices of ten deeply etched, spellbinding characters, the Tightrope Time narrative has been shaped, formed, and re-formed through a continuous evolution over forty-eight years.

Here, in The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time, Borden reflects on the journey of his life and examines his experience as a Black gay man facing the challenges of racism, poverty, and homophobia. One of the first plays in the history of Black Canadian literature to examine themes around male homosexuality from a Black perspective, the work is a profound expression of the resiliency of the human spirit.

The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time officially premiered as an NAC English Theatre Production curated by Black Theatre Workshop at Neptune Theatre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in September 2022. Featuring fifteen photos by Haui taken during the Neptune show, this new and fully revised edition (previously published as Tightrope Time: Ain’t Nuttin’ More Than Some Itty Bitty Madness Between Twilight & Dawn) brings readers face-to-face with Borden’s passion, anger, joy, despair—and love.