Dominion drama festival archives

Tue Oct 27 13:15:58 EDT 2015

Hi David: 

Thanks much for this. It definitely offers another avenue for investigating. The controversy appears (it's hard to say what the subtext is exactly) that "A Stranger..." did not win best production in 66 due to a homophobic bias to its content among judges. The denial of the award was blamed on a 'lack of competition', a circumstance that did not prevent other plays from garnering awards that year. 

Best 

Tony 

Dr. T. Berto 
School of English and Theatre Studies, 
University of Guelph. 
aberto at uoguelph.ca 

----- Original Message -----

From: "david ferry" <appledor at sympatico.ca> 
To: "T. Berto" <aberto at UOGUELPH.CA> 
Cc: CANDRAMA at LISTSERV.UNB.CA 
Sent: Tuesday, 27 October, 2015 12:57:04 PM 
Subject: Re: Dominion drama festival archives 

Dr Berto in the earlier document sent by Robin, with the archives listings, there was mention of the Guy Beaulne "Individual Officer Files" (Vol. number 64) for the years 64-67. 

Guy Beaulne was one of the top officers of DDF and was the adjudicator of the 1967 Festival, which as you will likely know, was an all Canadian script Festival (local, regional, national entries.) The winning production in 1967 by the way was also a Quebec Francophone production "Le Pendu" by Robert Gurik. He may have some correspondence relating to your subject. 

Allegations of bias relating to Francophone plays in the DDF were not unique. 

Have you looked in "Theatre and Politics in Modern Quebec" by Elaine Frances Nardochio (U of A, 1986), maybe something there? 

https://www.google.ca/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Elaine+Frances+Nardocchio%22 

David Ferry 
Appledore Productions 
416 433 5826 
appledor at sympatico.ca 
davidferry.workbooklive.com 

Try again. Fail again. Fail better. (Samuel Beckett. Worstward ho.) 

On Oct 27, 2015, at 11:53 AM, T. Berto < aberto at UOGUELPH.CA > wrote: 

Dear Moira and all else that have helped: 

The suggestions have been really helpful. In my naivete I thought that perhaps they might be all stored in one place. What I'm actually looking for is an early Canadian play about gay Identity called A Stranger Unto My Brethren by John Burgess. It won the GG's DDF prize in 1966 but then had a rather controversial with accusations of its not gaining further 'legs' due to its content. Here's the little I've been able to find: My main interest is to find a copy of the script. Because the Governor general gave it an award (seemingly designed just for DDF winners), does anyone know if this could prove an avenue to locating a script? Any and all suggestions would help. 

best 

TB 

Dr. T. Berto 
School of English and Theatre Studies, 
University of Guelph. 
aberto at uoguelph.ca 

---. A . 

Burgess, John. A Stranger Unto My Brethren . Questers of Toronto. Governor General’s Award for Dominion Drama Festival. 1969. Massey Award for best Canadian playwright at DDF. 

[Robert Trow, "John Burgess," Body Politic, no. 13 (1974), p.13] 

Drawing on the funds under this section the Council contributed to the programme of prizes for new plays being planned by the Dominion Drama Festival for three of its regions during the 1965-66 season. Thirty-seven plays were submitted. In Western Quebec Region, three of these were chosen for inclusion in the Regional Festival and two were recommended in Toronto. Of these two, A Stranger unto my Brethren by John Burg ess, won awards for best production and best new Canadian play, thus qualifying for the final Festival in Victoria. 

-The Canada Council Annual report 1965-66. Pg. 10. 

“Dominion Drama Festival Award Winners Listed.” The Montreal Gazette. 24, May. 1966. 36. < https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19660524&id=boEuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rp8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5095,5329386&hl=en >. 

"Massey Award for best Canadian Play at DDF. " 

Jocelyn, Gordon. "They Stayed Away in Droves." The Montreal Gazette. 

10 December 1966. 38. Review.< https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19661210&id=KpUtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4p8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=7325,2268158&hl=en >. 

Cast: Jack O'Reilly as the Bachelor, Joni Calvir as the wife, Ian Stuart as the husband, Shelia Zack. 

Director M.E. Evans 

Produced: Merger Productions. 

Theatre: The Collonade, Toronto 

2.5 week into the run, so app Dec 1st opening day. 

Company: Questors of Toronto 

"TORONTO (CP)-The Central Ontario Drama League's president has complained to John Brook, president of the Dominion Drama Festival, that the Questors of Toronto were slighted during last month's DDF finals at Victoria. 

Blanch Hogg said in a letter to Mr. Brook - that adjudicator Marius Goring withheld the award for the best production of a Canadian play from the Questors who performed A Stranger Unto My Brethren . "Withholding the award on the grounds of no competition and the almost immediate reversal of this stand in the award of La Plaque du Festival to Le Mouvement Contemporain for Les Bonnes, the only French-Canadian entry could only be interpreted as a discrimination based on a personal bias against John Burgess's play itself, which had been obvious in the earlier adjudication," Mrs. Hogg's letter said. 

HAMILTON (CP) Peter Dearing, artistic director of the London, Ont. Little Theatre called Sunday for a conformity of rules between the" Dominion Drama Festival and ' preliminary regional competition . Speaking to a meeting of Hamilton's Sir Thomas More flayers, Mr.Dearing said a Montreal entry in the 1966 DDF finals at Victoria would not have been allowed in the Western Ontario Drama League Festival." He said Les Bonnes presented by Le Mouvement Contemporain was a one-act play, lasting only 80 minutes. Such an entry, he said, would not be allowed in the western Ontario competition which insists each ' play be at least two acts. Dearing. whose production of Mother Courage placed second in the 1966 DDF, also said there is a tendency for small- drama groups to form strictly for participation in the six zonal competitions which send a winning play to the Dominion finals. The director - also criticized the adjudicator of the 1966 festival, Marius Goring: He said the festival week was ''valueless' as far as adjudication was concerned." Mr. Goring was not interested in technicals,- he said, and he never mentioned an actor by name." 

"Goring Attacked by Drama Buffs." The Ottawa Journal .13 June 1966. 28 . Print. 

< http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/42977092/ > 

Massey Medal Winner, DDF. 1966 

< http://litawards.library.mun.ca/index.php?award=998 > 

"Drawing on new funds available under this section the Council contributed to the programme of prizes for new plays being planned by the Dominion Drama Festival for three of its regions during the1965-66 season. Thirty-seven plays were submitted. In Western Quebec Region, three of these were chosen for inclusion in the Regional Festival and two were recommended in Toronto. Of these two, A Stranger unto my Brethren by John Burgess, won awards for best production and best new Canadian play, thus qualifying for the final Festival in Victoria." 

"The Canada Council Annual Report 1965-66." The Canada Council. 10. Pdf. 

< http://canadacouncil.ca/~/media/files/annual%20reports/1966/1965- 1966%20annual%20report.pdf>. 

Dr. T. Berto 
School of English and Theatre Studies, 
University of Guelph. 
aberto at uoguelph.ca 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Moira Day" < moira.day at USASK.CA > 
To: CANDRAMA at LISTSERV.UNB.CA 
Sent: Tuesday, 27 October, 2015 9:36:34 AM 
Subject: Re: Dominion drama festival archives 

Hi everyone, 

In my own travels around the various archives in Edmonton I’ve been able to track down various programs and minutes - but very few original scripts. The text for Minnie Bicknell’s *Relief* the 1937 winner of the best play award is in the U of A library. I also found Jack Thurrott's *La Tour* the 1938 co-winner in the UNB library/special collections and have a copy of it in my own files. A reworked version of Elsie Gowan’s *Homestead* called *God Made the Country* was done by a U of A group around 1934/35, though it won no awards that year. *Homestead* has been published in *The Hungry Spirit* and I think the other version is in Elsie’s fonts at the U of A Archives. Ringwood’s *Still Stand the House* the 1939 winner has, of course, been extensively anthologized. But all these may be too early for your search period. 

Most groups tended to go with already published and performed scripts. To the best of my knowledge, very few of the Canadian scripts (beyond a few of the late ones by well-known writers) were published or went very far beyond the author’s own files. No-one, to my knowledge, ever decided to publish a “best hits off the DDF Festival” anthology. Maybe a project for the future? 

Moira 

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On Oct 26, 2015, at 3:01 PM, Kathryn Harvey < kaharvey at UOGUELPH.CA > wrote: 

Hi Tony, Robin, all, 

Having worked at Dalhousie University several years ago, I know they have the DDF Nova Scotia region fonds; however, it does not contain scripts, but only administrative and publicity records for the 1950s to early 1970s. 

Robin is right that the best (though not an easy way) to find scripts would be through tracking down the individual companies that mounted DDF productions. The national archival database ( http://archivescanada.ca/ ) turns up a number of hits (search by keyword for "dominion drama festival," using the quotation marks), but I don't think many of the resulting hits contain scripts. 

The U of Guelph archives has amongst its various collections some DDF materials, quite possibly even some scripts in its Charles Palmer and Lillian Graham Collection, though it's difficult to tell without actually doing a bit more sleuthing in the records themselves. 

Who would have thought such an apparently simple and reasonable question could be so difficult to answer?! 

Cheers, 
Kathryn 

Kathryn Harvey 
Head, Archival and Special Collections 
University of Guelph Library 
50 Stone Road East 
Guelph, ON N1G 2W1 

519-824-4120, ext. 52089 (w) 
on Twitter @HarveyKathryn 
http://www.lib.uoguelph.ca/find/find-type-resource/archival-special-collections 

Please note that from January 1 to August 31, 2016, I will be on research leave. During that time, no new archival donations for which there are no existing deeds of gift will be accepted. Accruals of materials covered under an existing deed of gift will be accepted during this period. 

On 21/10/2015 8:35 PM, Robin Whittaker wrote: 

<blockquote>

The DDF turned into “Theatre Canada” in 1970. It continued to showcase plays for a couple of years (but not in a competition format) until it dissolved into an archive of itself, and then dissolved completely 45 years after it began. 

There is a finding aid here: http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000001498.pdf 

Depending on the scope of your project, your best bet may be to contact the specific theatre companies who entered plays in the DDF during the 60s and ask if you can access the scripts you’re looking for. I have some information on a few scripts if you want to contact me off-list. 

I’d be interested to know if you, or anyone else, knows of any other, more thorough, collections. 

Best, 
Robin. 

-- 
Dr. Robin C. Whittaker 
Associate Professor 
St. Thomas University, Fredericton NB E3B 5C3 
Drama Advisor, Department of English http://w3.stu.ca/stu/academics/departments/english_lit/ 
Artistic Producer, Theatre St. Thomas http://wp.stu.ca/tst/ 
Editor, STU Reviews stureviews.wordpress.com 

On Oct 21, 2015, at 5:07 PM, T. Berto < aberto at UOGUELPH.CA > wrote: 

<blockquote>

Dear All: 

Does anyone know where ephemera from the Dominion Drama Festival might be housed? I'm looking specifically for scripts from the 60s. 

best 

TB 

Dr. T. Berto 
School of English and Theatre Studies, 
University of Guelph. 
aberto at uoguelph.ca 

</blockquote>

</blockquote>

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