The Drawer Boy premiered at Theatre Passe Muraille in 1999, starring Tom Barnett, David Fox and Jerry Franken.
The Drawer Boy replays the adventures of a young actor from a Toronto theatre group who visits the rural Ontario home of two elderly bachelor farmers to "research" farm life for a new play.
Morgan, a tough-minded, stubborn man, cares for Angus, who has had brain damage and lost his memory during the bombing of London in the Second World War.
The Drawer Boy received its London premiere at Finborough Theatre on 19 June 2012, with John Bett, Neil McCaul and Simon Lee Phillips, directed by Eleanor Rhode.
Almost two and a half decades later, Michael Healey went to work as an actor at the Blyth Festival and came into contact with many of the farmers and members of the local community whose stories had served as inspiration for The Farm Show.
The longevity of the impact of that experience, in turn, inspired the playwright to write his tribute to the power of art, The Drawer Boy."
In her five-star review for WhatsOnStage.com, Amy Stow praised the production as "delicately and sympathetically approached by director Eleanor Rhode, who skilfully draws out the humour within each relationship, and creates an immersive world which the audience can simply sink into."
The film was shot in Ontario, starring Stuart Hughes as Angus, Richard Clarkin as Morgan, and Jakob Ehman as Miles.