Lists, lists, lists

[Gaetan Charlebois]

Hello Valerie

One of the privileges of editing the encycl. is that people are always
suggesting plays for me to read and even, sometimes, sending them to me. Had
it not been for this, I would have known hardly anything about a dozen or so
Canadian playwrights whose plays I am discovering. Now, if I didn't know
about them from where I sit, imagine the "average Canadian." That was one of
the reasons for the Ten Best. Already there are about a dozen plays
suggested that I plan to have a look at.

Gaetan

----------
>From: Valerie Senyk <vsenyk at NICKEL.LAURENTIAN.CA>
>To: CANDRAMA at LISTSERV.UNB.CA
>Subject: Lists, lists, lists
>Date: Fri, May 7, 1999, 5:51 PM
>

> Usually, the only lists I get to make are shopping lists...
>
> I think "Canadian" plays is a category that we need to be attentive to.
> Of course, we are all aware that the world is abundant with nationally,
> culturally, individually diverse art: that's a given. It's also a given
> that good is good, and mediocre is what it is, no matter where it's
> from.
> But I am discouraged that too many play anthologies of world theatre do
> not include works by Canadian playwrights. Why? We have enormously
> exciting "voices" in the theatre, such diversity...I don't have a
> nationalistic bone in my body, but I am quite at loss about how low-key
> we are about our own theatre. And again I ask -why?
> I would LOVE to see people's "lists"...I WANT to see these lists. I'm
> sure there are plays and playwrights out there that I have no knowledge
> of. When you live in cities other than Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, as
> I and hundreds of other theatre artists do, there is less exposure to
> new works, let alone Canadian works. Gaetan's "list" idea could have
> further (positive) ramifications than what he intended.
>
> Cheers,
> Valerie Senyk
>
> p.s. I recently reviewed Kit Brennan's anthology of Canadian women's
> plays...it's a worthy effort, and contains short and long plays by
> writers I'd never heard of. I was glad to read it.
>