CFP for a critical anthology commemorating the 50th Anniversary of The Ecstacy of Rita Joe

[Wes Pearce]

Please distribute the following CFP widely -



CALL FOR PAPERS– 


A critical anthology
commemorating the 50th Anniversary of George Ryga’s The Ecstasy of Rita
Joe 


In his 1998 keynote
address to the Association of Canadian Theatre Research, Robert Wallace
identified the beginning of identifiable Canadian theatre with the
Vancouver
Playhouse’s production of The Ecstasy of
Rita Joe.  Since then, many scholars
and historians of Canadian theatre have agreed that The Ecstasy of Rita
Joe marks the beginning of indigenous (though
not aboriginal) Canadian Theatre. 


Opening on
November 23,1967, this seminal work in the history of Canadian theatre
lived on
long after the original production closed. 
In 1969, the production toured to Ottawa (opening the main stage at the
National Arts Centre);  it was subsequently
filmed and televised on CBC; the play has had productions at many of
Canada’s
regional theatres, as well as productions across the globe (including an
acclaimed 1973 production in Washington DC) and in 1971 the Royal
Winnipeg
Ballet transformed Ryga’s story into a ballet  
The effect that the original production of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe had
on many
aspects of theatre and theatre production has been vast and numerous
artists
would cite the play as a major influence upon their career.  Perhaps
most specifically, as noted theatre
critic Jamie Portman has argued the success of the play profoundly
shaped
Canadian playwrights and playwrighting.1.  The play continues to be
produced in theatres
around the world and, as the first play that most  students in 
Canadian Drama encounter it plays an iconic, if not, mythic role in
Canadian theatre history. 


Over the past 25 years or so,
critical assessment around the play, though not necessarily the place in
holds
in the development of Canadian theatre, has shifted dramatically.  In
his introduction to the 1976 reprint of
the script, Peter Hay wrote, “[b]ut there was something particularly new
about The Ecstasy of Rita Joe and
this has to do with the way George Ryga regards the theatre.  It was the
first time that a playwright had
use the Vancouver Playhouse to confront its largely middle-class
clientele with
the reality of Skid Row blocks away. 
Ryga pointed a finger accusing that audience…” (8). By the late 20th
century however, critics began challenging the historical Rita Joe
narrative, often implicating Ryga in perpetuating colonial attitudes and
appropriating the voice of its aboriginal characters.   Agnes
Grant was not alone when she argued, “Ryga’s play simplistically
sentimentalised the aboriginal
plight as the victimisation of passive children by irresponsible white
parental
authorities, and that this well-meaning but Eurocentric, patriarchal
paradigm
ultimately reflected the assimilationist policies of the Department of
Indian
Affairs at that time.“2  In
2009, acclaimed First Nations playwright, director, actor, dramaturg and
cultural
commentator, Yvette Nolan directed a production of The Ecstasy of Rita
Joe.  The
production was a co-production between Western Canada Theatre (Kamloops)
and
the National Arts Centre (Ottawa) and, unlike the 1967/69 production
featured
aboriginal actor Lisa C Ravensbergen in the titular role.  Nolan’s
production was a thoughtful
re-imagining of the play but it achieved a new sense of urgency by
connecting
Rita Joe’s fictional story within the context of Stolen Sisters/Sisters
in
Spirit and Canada’s growing outrage and concern around the notorious
‘Highway
of Tears’.


 


 1 Portman,
Jamie. “Ecstasy of Rita Joe Still Manages to Shock and Scourge.”
Vancouver Province 12 April 1976: pg 10                        
2Grant,
Agnes. "Canadian Native Literature: The Drama of George Ryga and Tomson
Highway." Australian -
Canadian Studies  10.2
(1992): pg 40.


 


This
edited anthology (to be published by University of Regina Press) seeks
an
intra/cross/multi disciplinary collection of essays reflSimply put, what does The Ecstasy
of Rita Joe mean today?   This call
is seeking
expressions of interest for scholarly work (critical, theoretical and/or
creative work) that explores a wide range of opinions, readings and
responses
to The Ecstasy of Rita Joe -  the text, its production (s) and its
cultural/social
history within Canada and abroad.  It is the
intention that this collection will address an array of historical and
contemporary issues connected to the play and its production.  While it
will have a strong focus on theatre
history/studies submissions that inform 
and respond to The Ecstasy of Rita
Joe from diverse areas such as cultural studies, media and communication
studies, dance studies, queer studies, indigenous studies, sociology,
and urban
studies, to name but a few, are most welcome. 


 


POTENTIAL
TOPICS FOR CONSIDERATION COULD INCLUDE:


 



* Reconsidering the place and role of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe within the
     Canadian theatre cannon
* The effect of The
     Ecstasy of Rita Joe on Canadian playwrights and playwrighting
* Aesthetic, dramaturgical and cultural issues
     around the nature of the first production
* The legacy of George Ryga as playwright and/or
     theatrical deviser
* The
     Ecstasy of Rita Joe as colonizing text /production
* Re-evaluating or re-framing George Ryga’s oeuvre
* The potential readings of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe as a reclaimed
post-colonial text
* Biographical sketches of key players involved in
     the creation/production of the play (for example George Ryga, Joy
Coghill
     or August Schellenberg)
* Changing critical responses The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (as text or in
production)
* The
     Ecstasy of Rita Joe as gothic/queer text
* Critical readings/responses the various
     adaptations of The Ecstasy of Rita
     Joe 
* Challenges/rewards of teaching The Ecstasy of Rita Joe in the
     classroom
* Political, social or cultural readings and
     influences of The Ecstasy of Rita
     Joe
* The
     Ecstasy of Rita Joe as cultural ambassador 
* The critical reaction  of The
     Ecstasy of Rita Joe outside of Canada
* The
     Ecstasy of Rita Joe and the Canadian centennial


****This
is a preliminary list only and is not meant to limit ideas or
proposals****


Timeline



* Interested
     authors are asked to contribute a short (300 word) abstract by
January 1, 2015 and accepted
     authors will be notified by February
     1, 2015                                              
*  Accepted
     and completed essays (4,000 – 6,000 words) will be due February 1,
2016. 


The
University
of Regina Press follows
the humanities style of documentation according to The Chicago Manual of
Style.



* Publication
     is scheduled for fall 2017 


For
more information or to submit proposals (and all other correspondence)
please contact 






Wes D. Pearce
Associate Dean (Undergraduate)  
Faculty of Fine Arts 
University of Regina
S4S 0A2
306 585 5571
@wesdpearce

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