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	Survivor Recounts His Abuse Robert Berube's Play, Recounting His Abuse by a Priest, Opens This Year's Fringe Festival By Joe Belanger The London Free Press [Canada] July 7, 2007 http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2007/07/07/4320592-sun.html Robert Berube knows first-hand the impact on a child of being abused by a priest. And on July 28, Londoners will get a chance to hear about the lifelong, life-changing pain of child sexual abuse survivors when Berube's play, The Highbury Hilton, opens at this year's London Fringe theatre festival. Berube, an advocate for male victims of sexual violence and an organizer of the Male Survivor Group, adapted the play from a book he's writing. And he's even got the backing of the Roman Catholic Diocese of London. It has bought a block of tickets and is urging supporters to attend. "I want to educate people about the fact people are being abused and not much is being done about it," Berube said. "But I also want to tell people the church needs to be more accountable and what our mental-health system is like. I went through hell in that system." Berube, 52, is a former school principal now on disability after suffering years of depression. He was abused by a priest as a child in the northern Ontario town of Warren, east of Sudbury, where he was raised. "For me, writing this was very cathartic," said Berube, who still suffers bouts of depression. "It's me exposing my soul and telling about what happened to me." The one-act play tells the story of three women in a psychiatric hospital, The Highbury Hilton, which the London hospital is derisively referred to by some. "In every community where there's a psychiatric hospital, there's a local name for it and I wanted to critique that," Berube said. Berube's daughter, Stephanie, 21, one of the first graduate's of Fanshawe College's theatre program, is one of the three actors. Berube, who has provided support for the 47 female victims of Rev. Charles Sylvestre when he was a priest in the London diocese, said he had no difficulty changing his original male characters to women. "I felt that for men and women the outcome of abuse by a priest is very similar," he said. Rev. John Sharpe, who is overseeing the diocese's revamping of its sexual misconduct policy, said the tickets were bought for Berube to distribute. "It's part of our ongoing effort to enter into partnerships that support survivors of clergy abuse," Sharpe said. The play, directed by Kincardine resident Kevin McGarry, will be performed at the Wolf Performance Hall at London Central Library July 28 to Aug. 6. Tickets are $12, including a Fringe button. Proceeds will be donated to provide support for male victims of child sexual abuse. Contact: Joe Belanger jbelanger@lfpress.com
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