Kanata Theatre began in 1968 when one person, Mary Mauger, placed a notice, an invitation to "all ham actors", in the local weekly paper, the Kanata Standard, which at that time consisted of several letter-sized sheets duplicated and stapled together.

At the first meeting at Mary's home, we decided to meet regularly to read plays: by the following spring, we decided to put on an evening of one-act plays at the Stephen Leacock Public School. The program was typewritten onto a master and printed on an office "duplicator"