Theatre of Canada

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The contemporary theatre scene in Canada revolves around companies and summer festivals based at facilities in Canadian cities.

Prominent playwrights, practitioners, and contributors

• Pol Pelletier
• Roy Mitchell
• David Fennario
• Herman Voaden
• George F. Walker
• Dora Mavor Moore
• Tomson Highway
• Christopher Newton

Early Canadian theatre

Plays

• Lescarbot’s Neptune Theatre 1606
• Moliere’s Tartuffe Scandal 1693
• Halifax Prologue 1776
• Sullen Indian Prologue 1826
• Eight Men Speak 1933 (at Toronto’s Standard Theatre)

Events

Garrison performances were private shows for troops, publically performed by officers, which helped bridge theatre and war during its initial stages of development. It was welcomed by the populaces and distracted soldiers from war and routine military protocol.

Theatre Royal (Montreal) built 1825 by John Molson presented Shakespeare and Restoration authors. It was also used for circus and concerts. It went bankrupt in 1826 and was subsequently taken down.

Theatre of the 1950s

Plays

• Teach Me How To Cry 1955 Patricia Joudry

Theatre companies and groups

• Theatre du Nouveau Monde 1951 Jean Gascon (Montreal)
• Manitoba Theatre Company 1958 John Hrisch (regional)
• Toronto Workshop Productions 1958 George Luscombe (Alternative)

Theatre of the 1960s

Plays

• Ecstasy of Rita Joe 1967 George Ryga
• Fortune and Men’s Eyes 1967 John Herbert
• Les Belles-Souers 1968 Michel Tremblay

Theatre companies and groups

• National Theatre School of Canada 1960
• Neptune Theatre 1963 Tom Patterson (Nova Scotia) (regional)
• Vancouver Playhouse 1963 (regional)
• Globe Theatre 1966 (Saskatchewan) (professional)
• Lorraine-Kimsa Theatre 1966
• Theatre New Brunswick 1968
• Theatre Passe-Muraille 1968 Paul Thompson (Toronto) (alternative)
• Centaur Theatre 1969 (Montreal)
• National Arts Centre 1969 (Ottawa)

Theatre of the 1970s

Plays

• Leaving Home 1972 David French
• 1837: Farmer’s Revolt 1974 Rick Salutin
• St. Nicolas’ Hotel 1974 James Reaney
• Zastrozzi 1977 George F. Walker
• Billy Bishop Goes to War 1978 John Gray
• Balconville 1979 David Fenarrio

Theatre companies and groups

• Factory Theatre Lab 1970 Ken Gass (Toronto) (alternative)
• Tarragon Theatre 1971 Bill Glassco (Toronto) (professional)
• Toronto Free Theatre 1971 directed by Guy Sprung
• 25th Street Theatre 1972 (Toronto) (alternative)
• Black Theatre Workshop 1972 Errol Sitahal (Montreal)
• Persephone Theatre 1974 (Saskatoon) founders Janet Wright, Susan Wright, Brian Richmond
• Green Thumb Theatre 1975 (Vancouver) Denis Foon
• Theatre Network 1976 (Edmonton)
• Northern Light Theatre 1977 Scott Swan (Edmonton)
• Buddies in Bad Times 1979 Sky Gilbert (Toronto) (queer)
• Nightwood Theatre 1979 (feminist/professional)
• Workshop West Theatre 1979 Gerry Potter Artistic Director (Edmonton)

Theatre of the 1980s and 1990s

Plays

• Doc 1984 Sharon Pollock
• Drag Queens on Trial 1985 Sky Gilbert
• Occupation of Heather Rose 1986 Wendy Lill
• Bordertown Café 1987 Kelly Rebar
• Polygraph 1988 Robert Lepage
• Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing 1989 Thomson Highway
• Lion in the Streets 1990 Judith Thompson
• Harlem Duet 1997 Djanet Sears

Theatre companies and groups

• Cirque du Soleil (Quebec) (early 1980s)
• Windsor Feminist Theatre 1980
• Native Earth Performing Arts 1982 (Toronto)
• Soulpepper Theatre Company 1997
• Broadway North Theatre (community)

Western Canadian theatre

British Columbia

• Northwest of Armstrong is the Caravan Farm Theatre, a professional outdoor theatre company.
• Chemainus hosts the annual Chemainus Festival.
• The heritage village of Fort Steele includes the Wild Horse Theatre, which produces a historic revue starring professional actors during the summer months.
• Gabriola Island is home to the Gabriola Theatre Festival, which produces twelve shows over one weekend in August.
• Kamloops is home to Western Canada Theatre.
• North Vancouver has Presentation House Theatre and Centennial Theatre.
• Prince George is the home of Theatre North West.
• Vancouver is home to, among others, the Vancouver Fringe Festival, the Arts Club Theatre Company, Carousel Theatre, Bard on the Beach, Theatre Under the Stars, the Metro Theatre, Studio 58, Pacific Theatre, and the Firehall Arts. Vancouver had also been home to the now-defunct Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company, which had been Vancouver's oldest professionl theatre company.
• Victoria has a major regional theatre, the Belfry Theatre, as well as a professional company, Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre. Intrepid Theatre is a local alternative company and organizes both the Uno Festival and the Victoria Fringe Festival.

Alberta

• Calgary is home to Theatre Calgary, a mainstream regional theatre; Alberta Theatre Projects, a major centre for new play development in Canada; Vertigo Mystery Theatre; and One Yellow Rabbit, a touring company. Calgary is also home for expert marionetteer, Ronnie Burkett. Calgary is the base of operations of Loose Moose Theatre, which performs improvisational theatre. Other companies, some of which specialize in new plays, include Sage Theatre, Downstage Theatre, and Lunchbox Theatre.
• Edmonton is best known for the Edmonton International Fringe Festival, the first and largest fringe theatre festival in North America. The major live venue is the Citadel Theatre. The neighborhood of Old Strathcona contains the Theatre District, where Catalyst Theatre, Walterdale Playhouse, and the Varscona Theatre (home of several companies: Teatro la Quindicina, Shadow Theatre, Rapid Fire Theatre, Die-Nasty, and Oh Susanna!) are located. Other well-known companies, some of which specialize in new plays, include Workshop West Theatre, Northern Light, and Theatre Network. Edmonton is also known for its prestigious BFA conservatory acting program at the University of Alberta
• Lethbridge is the home of New West Theatre, a professional theatre company.
• Rosebud, located one hour east of Calgary, is home to Rosebud Theatre, Alberta's only rural professional theatre.

Saskatchewan

• Regina features Saskatchewan's largest professional theatre and Canada's only permanent arena theatre, the Globe Theatre.
• Saskatoon is home to Persephone Theatre, as well as Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan.

Manitoba

• Winnipeg is the home of Le Cercle Molière (the oldest continuously running theatre company in Canada), the Manitoba Theatre Centre (Canada's oldest English-language regional theatre), the Pantages Playhouse, Fantasy Theatre for Children (Manitoba's oldest children's theatre), Merlyn Productions, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Rainbow Stage, Theatre Projects Manitoba, the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, and the Winnipeg Fringe Festival.

Northwest Territories

• Yellowknife is home to the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre, a small theatre with just over 300 seats.

Central Canadian theatre

Ontario

• Thunder Bay has Magnus Theatre, The Dr. S. Penny Petrone Centre for the Performing Arts, a regional professional theatre company.
• Sudbury has the regional theatre companies Sudbury Theatre Centre and Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario.
• Blyth is the home of the Blyth Festival Theatre and Centre for the Arts.
• London is home to the Grand Theatre.
• Stratford is best known for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.
• Niagara-on-the-Lake is best known for the Shaw Festival.
• Toronto has a large and vibrant theatre scene, with many different companies, some producing large-scale Broadway-style productions (produced by companies like Mirvish Productions), and others producing smaller-scale plays by Canadian and other playwrights. Some of the major theatre companies of Toronto include: Canadian Stage Company, Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe-Muraille, the Factory Theatre, Soulpepper Theatre Company, Buddies in Bad Times and Alumnae Theatre. Toronto has several theatre festivals during the year, including Summerworks and the Toronto Fringe Festival. Important smaller companies include Native Earth, Nightwood Theatre, Necessary Angel, Crow's Theatre, DNA Company, Lonely Cake and Volcano.
• Kingston is home to its own professional company, Theatre Kingston, the Vagabond Repertory Theatre Company, as well as many amateur and student theatre groups. In nearby Gananoque, the Thousand Islands Playhouse features professional productions in two venues.
• Ottawa is home to the multi-venue National Arts Centre and the smaller Great Canadian Theatre Company, and holds the Ottawa Fringe Festival. The Ottawa Little Theatre, founded in 1913, is the longest-running community theatre company in Canada.^{[citation needed]}

Quebec

• Montréal's theatre scene is split between French and English language theatre. The National Theatre School of Canada is based there, and the Montréal Fringe Festival is held there every June.
• Québec City is the home of Robert Lepage's company Ex Machina.

Atlantic Canada

New Brunswick

• Moncton has the restored Capitol Theatre, one of only eight theatres of the ca. 1922 Pantages/Vaudeville design in the nation.
• Saint John has the restored Imperial Theatre, an historic ca. 1913 modern adaptation of the Italian Renaissance.
• Fredericton is host to The Playhouse, a gift to the people of New Brunswick by Lord Beaverbrook in 1964.
• Theatre New Brunswick is a provincial theatre company.

Prince Edward Island

• Charlottetown is home to the Charlottetown Festival and the Confederation Centre of the Arts, with its 1,100 seat mainstage theatre being one of Atlantic Canada's pre-eminent performing arts facilities.

Nova Scotia

• Halifax has the Neptune Theatre, Shakespeare by the Sea and Canada's longest continuously running community theatre The Theatre Arts Guild, as well as the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium. See Culture of the Halifax Regional Municipality#Theatre.
• Wolfville was home to the Atlantic Theatre Festival.
• Glace Bay has the Savoy Theatre, a cultural centre for Cape Breton Island.
• Antigonish has Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre, and Theatre Antigonish Antigonish.

Newfoundland and Labrador

• St. John's has the RCA (Resource Centre for the Arts), an artist-run company that is based at the LSPU Hall. It also has the St. John's Arts and Culture Centre, with a 1,000 seat main theatre.
• Clarenville, Newfoundland is the home to The New Curtain Theatre Company, which operates as a year-round professional theatre based out of The Loft Theatre at the White Hills Ski Resort in Clarenville (2 hours west of St. John's).

Summer Festivals

Major summer theatre festivals include:

• Gabriola Theatre Festival (Gabriola Island, British Columbia)

Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

• The Blyth Festival Theatre, based in Blyth, Ontario
• The Stratford Festival of Canada, based in Stratford, Ontario.
• The Shaw Festival, based in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
• The Thousand Islands Playhouse, based in Gananoque, Ontario.
• The Charlottetown Festival, based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
• Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre, based in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
• Shakespeare by the Sea, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
• The Magnetic North Theatre Festival, based in Ottawa, Ontario and held annually, alternating between Ottawa and another Canadian city.
• The Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan Festival in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Canada also has more fringe theatre festivals than any other country,^{[citation needed]} forming a summer fringe circuit running from the St-Ambroise Montréal Fringe in June and heading westward to the Vancouver Fringe Festival in September. The circuit includes the two largest fringe festivals in North America, the Winnipeg Fringe Festival and the Edmonton International Fringe Festival. Other fringe theatre festivals include the Saskatoon Fringe Theatre Festival, the Calgary Fringe Festival, the London Fringe Theatre Festival (Ontario), the Toronto Fringe Festival and the Atlantic Fringe Festival.

See also

• List of Canadian playwrights
• List of Canadian plays

Further Reading

• Bhabha, Homi. Editor's Introduction: Minority Maneuvers and Unsettled Negotiations. 
• "Cosmopolitanisms." Public Culture 12.3. 2000. pp. 577–89. 
• Critical Inquiry 23.3. 1997. pp. 431–50. 
• Robinson, Amy (1994). "‘It Takes One to Know One’: Passing and Communities of Common Interest." Critical Inquiry 20. pp. 715– 36. 
• "Summary," In Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade/Ministère des affairs étrangères et du commerce international. Canada in the World. 1999. Rpt. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade/Ministère des affairs étrangères et du commerce international Home Page. 2001. 
• Young, Robert (2001). Postcolonialism: an Historical Introduction. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. 

External links

• Globalization Theory
• ArtsAlive.ca|Théâtre Français
• Playwrights Canada Press
• Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
• The Canadian Theatre Record
• L.W. Conolly Theatre Archives at University of Guelph, Archival and Special Collections, which holds more than 120 archival collections related to Canadian theatre
• SIBMAS: International Directory of Performing Arts Collections and Institutions
• The Canadian Adaptations of Shakespeare Project