an old Canadian play: Marsh Hay

[Lisbie Rae]

The people on this list are well placed to help in the re-examination
Guillermo wants done.  After all, it's what most of us in university
drama departments do for aat least part of our time.
How can we make our work on the history and criticism of Canadian drama
more accessible to theatres across the country?  We need more and better
connections between critics, scholars, and theatre companies.
Some suggestions I have:  spread the word about successful campus
productions of Canadian work -- send reviews to artistic directors.
Remind artistic directors of important reasons for reviving specific plays
Prepare a list of older plays worth restaging and offer it to the local
regional theatre
Is this hopelessly naive?  Would artistic directors welcome such input,
and make time to consider it?  What suggestions do others have?

And before I forget, Hurrah for Shaw!

Lisbie Rae


On Tue, 20 Aug 1996, Guillermo Verdecchia wrote:

> >  What a treat to have confirmed that an "old Canadian play" can
> > hold the 1996 professional stage with such potency. I agree with those
> > who will undoubtedly point out that it is not everyone's cup of tea. But
> drinking different kinds of tea is surely >a good idea.
>
> How exciting. I wish I could get to Shaw and see this production.
>
> Just last night, I was talking to Peter Hinton (new artistic director at the
> Playwrights Theatre Centre in Vancouver) and bemoaning the fate of most Canadian
> plays: two or three productions and then relegated to the dustbin or archive
> boxes. Our plays have little "weight" because a body of production and criticism
> doesn't build up around them. Nothing accretes to our work. The plays float
> ghostly through our culture. I hope  theatres of all sizes around the country
> will take their cue from Neil Munro and the Shaw Festival and begin to
> re-examine the body of Canadian work that already exists.
>
> Guillermo Verdecchia
>