A new and fully revised edition of the popular, long-running autobiographical play from celebrated playwright and actor Walter Borden, exploring his experiences as a Black gay man facing racism, poverty, and homophobia.

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.

Born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Walter Borden, CM ONS, is an acclaimed and revered actor, activist, poet, teacher, and mentor. As a stage actor, he has left his signature imprint in all the major theatres in every province in the country, including five seasons at Stratford Festival. His artistry has earned him a Merritt Award, a META Award and a Dora nomination for Best Performance by an Actor, as well as a Quebec Cinema nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Gerontophilia.

Walter Borden is a recipient of the Order of Canada, the Order of Nova Scotia, the Queen Elizabeth II Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilee Medals, the prestigious Portia White Prize, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Achievement Award, the Leslie Yeo Prize for Volunteerism, and two honourary doctorates. He is an inductee into the Dr. William P. Oliver Wall of Honour Society at the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia, and he is the author of The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time.

Walter Borden's profile page