Canadian Performance Documents and Debates

A Sourcebook

Edited by Anthony J. Vickery, Glen F. Nichols, and Allana C. Lindgren
Foreword by Jerry Wasserman
Categories: Art & Performance Studies, Performance Arts (theatre, Dance & Music), Literature & Language Studies, Literary Criticism, Regional & Cultural Studies
Publisher: University of Alberta Press
Paperback : 9781772126044, 664 pages, August 2022
Ebook (EPUB) : 9781772126204, 816 pages, October 2022
Ebook (PDF) : 9781772126211, 816 pages, October 2022
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Excerpt

“Theatre history texts have traditionally come in two kinds: anthologies of plays and narrative histories containing some play excerpts. This volume represents both a synthesis of those two genres and something new, a mix-and-match documentary approach that substitutes ‘performance’ for ‘theatre’ and lays out a progressive agenda for the study of Canadian performance in historical contexts.” Jerry Wasserman, from the Foreword

Table of contents

Thematic Table of Contents
Foreword | JERRY WASSERMAN
Acknowledgements
Introduction | ALLANA C. LINDGREN, GLEN F. NICHOLS, & ANTHONY J. VICKERY
1 | The Theatre of Neptune (1606) | JILL CARTER
The Theatre of Neptune in New France | MARC LESCARBOT
Translation by VK PRESTON & DANIEL J. RUPPEL
2 | The Conquest of Canada; or the Siege of Quebec (1766) | GLEN F. NICHOLS
The Conquest of Canada; or the Siege of Quebec | GEORGE COCKINGS
3 | Acadius, or Love in a Calm (1774) | JUSTIN A . BLUM
Acadius, or Love in a Calm | ANONYMOUS
4 | Early Quebec Circus (1797–1950s) | LOUIS PATRICK LEROUX
5 | Petitions Against Performances of “Jim Crow” (1840–1843) | STEPHEN JOHNSON
Transcripts of Petitions
6 | Shipboard Performances (1851) | HEATHER DAVIS-FISCH
Excerpts of Shipboard Performances
7 | Canadian Fancy Dress Balls (1876–1898) | CYNTHIA COOPER
8 | The Sweet Girl Graduate (1882) | KYM BIRD
The Sweet Girl Graduate | SARAH ANNE CURZON
9 | A Red Girl’s Reasoning (1892) | SASHA KOVACS
A Red Girl’s Reasoning | E . PAULINE JOHNSON (TEKAHIONWAKE)
10 | Walker Theatre, Winnipeg (1905–1907) | ANTHONY J. VICKERY
11 | Cantonese Theatre in Vancouver (1916–1936) | WING CHUNG NG
12 | The Man Who Went (1916) | ANTHONY J. VICKERY
The Man Who Went | WILLIAM ANDREW TREMAYNE
13 | Little Theatre Scenography (1919–1937) | PAUL J. STOESSER
14 | The Wood Carver’s Wife (1919) | MOIRA DAY
The Wood Carver’s Wife | MARJORIE PICKTHALL
15 | Evelyn Geary and the Uptown Girls (1922–1938) | AMY BOWRING
16 | The IODE’s Historical Pageant (1927) | ALLANA C. LINDGREN
17 | Rocks (1932) | ANTON WAGNER
Rocks | HERMAN VOADEN
18 | Unity (1933) | ALAN FILEWOD
Unity | OSCAR RYAN
19 | Cocktail (1935) | CHRISTL VERDUYN
Cocktail | YVETTE O. MERCIER-GOUIN
Translation by GLEN F. NICHOLS
20 | The Winnipeg Ballet Club (1939) | ERIN JOELLE MCCURDY
21 | William Tell (ca. 1943–1945) | CODY POULTON & JORDAN STANGER-ROSS
William Tell | FRIEDRICH SCHILLER
Act III, scene three, in a Japanese rendering by JOHN NIHE I
Translation by MATSUKI MASUTANI
22 | Gay/Queer and Trans Performances and Cultures in Toronto
(1946–1965) | J. PAUL HALFERTY
23 | The Good Life (1947) | RAY ELLENWOOD
The Good Life | CLAUDE GAUVREAU
Translation by RAY ELLENWOOD
24 | Hilda Morgan (1949) | JOHN JACKSON & HOWARD FINK
Hilda Morgan | LISTER SINCLAIR
25 | Christmas Mummering Plays in Newfoundland (1949) | DENYSE LYNDE
Oldtime “Mumming” Christmas Play in Newfoundland
26 | A Dialogue on the State of the Theatre in Canada (1951) | JAMES HOFFMAN
A Dialogue on the State of the Theatre in Canada | ROBERTSON DAVIES
27 | Tyrone Guthrie and the Festival Stage (1953) | LIZA GIFFEN
28 | Zone (1953) | SYLVAIN LAVOIE
Zone | MARCEL DUBÉ
English Adaptation by AVIVA RAVE L (1977)
29 | How Now Black Man (1965–1970) | CLARENCE S. BAYNE
How Now Black Man | LORRIS ELLIOTT
30 | Theatre in the Canada Pavilion at Expo 67 (1967) | ERIN HURLEY
31 | Lament for Confederation (1967) | JENN COLE
Lament for Confederation | CHIEF DAN GEORGE (GESWANOUTH)
Previously Published Documents
Contributors
Index

Description

Canadian Performance Documents and Debates provides insight into performance activities from the seventeenth century to the early 1970s, and probes important yet vexing questions about Canada as a country and a concept. The volume collects playscripts and archival material to explore what these documents tell us about the values, debates, and priorities of artists and their audiences from the past 400 years. Analyses throughout rethink the significance of theatre, dance, opera, circus, and other performance genres and events. This landmark collection challenges readers to reconsider Canadian theatre and performance history.

Contributors: Clarence S. Bayne, Kym Bird, Justin A. Blum, Amy Bowring, Jill Carter, Jenn Cole, Cynthia Cooper, Heather Davis-Fisch, Moira J. Day, Ray Ellenwood, Alan Filewod, Howard Fink, Liza Giffen, J. Paul Halferty, James Hoffman, Erin Hurley, John D. Jackson, Stephen Johnson, Sasha Kovacs, Sylvain Lavoie, Louis Patrick Leroux, Allana C. Lindgren, Denyse Lynde, Erin Joelle McCurdy, Wing Chung Ng, Glen F. Nichols, M. Cody Poulton, VK Preston, Daniel J. Ruppel, Jordan Stanger-Ross, Paul J. Stoesser, Christl Verduyn, Anthony J. Vickery, Anton Wagner