Canadian drama was unquestionably stimulated by the issue of two books containing collections of plays by Canadian playwrights. The more important was Canadian Plays from Hart House Theatre, Vol. I., edited by Hon. Vincent Massey, with plays by Merrill Denison, Duncan Campbell Scott, Marian Osborne, H. Borsook, Isabel Ecclestone Mackay and Britton Cooke. The second, edited by Nancy Rankin, was entitled One-Act Plays by Canadian Authors, and contained 19 plays of which five had been acted. The authors included T. M. Morrow, Stuart Armour, Mazo de la Roche, Pauline B. Perrigard, Leslie Gordon Barnard, Nancy Rankin, Mary Wallace Brooks and others. This was published by the Montreal Branch of the Canadian Authors Association for the benefit of community theatres throughout Canada. Competitions for plays, such as that held by the I.O.D.E., in which Merton Stafford Trefall of St. Lambert won the $100 prize offered by Preble McIntosh of Montreal, also encouraged native authors to write plays. The Ottawa Drama League, with its 1,502 members continued to be, after Hart House Theatre, the strongest organization in Canada. During the season 1926-27, under the presidency of Duncan Campbell Scott, it laid out $23,000 on a building at the corner of King Edward Avenue and Besserer St; and here it presented eight plays including Noel Coward's Hay Fever, Frederick Lonsdale's The Last of Mrs. Cheney, Mazo de la Roche's Low Life, and Sir James Barrie's The Old Lady Shows her Medals. Because of the unfavourable situation of Ottawa for touring companies, it was, as in former years, largely left to the League to supply whatever demand existed for "legitimate" drama, and this, by no means small responsibility, was adequately borne by the League during the season. The strong Winnipeg Community Players had a successful season in Shaw's Getting Married, and several other plays were produced. The sixth season of the Vancouver Little Theatre organization opened with The Torch-Bearers by George Kelley, and continued with plays by Barrie and others. A specially interesting performance was that of Eternal Verities, written by Marjorie M. Reynolds, a local playwright of ability. The Regina Community Players, under the presidency of J. R. C. Honeyman, and the directorship of George A. Palmer, produced Twelfth Night only. In Montreal, the Dramatic Society of the Young Men's Hebrew Association, which did good work, produced a Jewish mystic play called The Dybbuk. Canadian actors and actresses distinguished themselves at home and abroad during the season 1926-27. In April, 1927, Miss Margaret Anglin was awarded the Laetare Medal, granted annually by the University of Notre Dame to "an American lay Catholic distinguished in literature, science, art, commerce, philosophy, sociology, or other fields of beneficial activities." She was the ninth woman and forty-fifth person to receive the honour. On May 3 and 4 she thrilled a large audience in the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, in the Greek drama, Electra, by Sophocles. Mr. Matheson Lang, Canadian-born favourite of the London stage, made a coast-to-coast Canadian tour, playing in The Wandering Jew. Madame Edvina re-appeared advantageously in light opera in London. Miss Camille Bernard, of Montreal, made her debut in musical comedy in February, 1927, at the Theatre Femina, Paris. Miss Florence McHugh of Calgary enjoyed a success of the first rank when, at the Everyman Theatre, London, she appeared for the first time on any stage. The opera was Mr. Pepys. When Mr. Cameron Matthews took his company of English Players away from Toronto on tour, two local actresses-Miss Nella Jefferis and Mrs. Jean Mallett-accompanied the troupe as active members. Frank H. Norman, Senior, was entrusted with the entire direction of the Canadian History in Pageant spectacle arranged for the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation celebrations at Ottawa. It was to include seven inspiring episodes, fifteen patriotic tableaux, and ten appropriate ballets, all symbolic of Canada's sixty years of Confederation, with national music and song, employing a cast of 1,200. In May, 1927, this enormous pageant was put on for the benefit of Montrealers in the Princess Theatre. Other performances of interest during the year were: a musical comedy presented in Montreal in March, 1927, music, libretto, costumes and acting being all by undergraduates of McGill University; a performance of The Merchant of Venice by Loyola College Dramatic Society in the Princess Theatre, Montreal; and the première in Edmonton of a farce called So this is Canada, written by W. S. Atkinson of Vernon, B.C., the players being Canadians and the scene of the action of the play being the lovely Okanagan Valley. The art and industry of the moving picture continued to be a negligible factor in Canadian dramatic life; but the screening this year by the Yale University Press of Professor George M. Wrong's The Conquest of New France, with the most exact historical and archeological accuracy, was an event of moment. Here, for the first time, was told in pictures the eventful story of the struggle of France and England for Quebec, with proper attention to the scheming of William Pitt and Lord Anson in London. The film was made in connection with the publication of The Chronicles of America, a series of historical books. Policing the Plains, a film depicting Canadian pioneer life, was completed at Victoria, where the final scenes were "shot." The Canadian Moving Picture Digest was sold by the Moving Picture Theatre Owner's Association of Canada to the Exhibitors' Daily Review of New York for a reputed price of $40,000. Publication continued at Toronto under the same editor, Miss Ray Lewis, the wife of the well-known Canadian portrait painter, Joshua Smith, R.B.A. CANADIAN BOOKS OF 1926 By George H. Locke, M.A., Ph.D. CLASSED BOOKS Dorchester. (Makers of Canada series; anniversary ed., v. 3). London, Oxford university press. Brann, Esther. A Quebec sketch book. Quebec, Chateau Frontenac. Brown, Alan. Common procedures in pædiatrics, by A. Brown and F. F. Tisdale. Toronto, McClelland & Stewart. Bryce, George. Mackenzie, Selkirk, Simpson. (Makers of Canada series; anniversary ed., v. 9). London, Oxford university press. Burpee, Lawrence Johnstone. On the old Athabasca trail. Toronto, Ryerson press. Burpee, Lawrence Johnstone. The Oxford encyclopaedia of Canadian history. (Makers of Canada series; anniversary ed., v. 12). London, Oxford university press. Call, Frank Oliver. The spell of French Canada. Boston, L. C. Page. Cameron, William A. No room in the inn. Toronto, McClelland & Stewart. Cameron, William Bleasdell. The war trail of Big Bear. Toronto, Ryerson press. Carman, Bliss. Talks on life and poetry. Toronto, Ryerson press. Casgrain, Henri Raymond. Wolfe and Montcalm. (Makers of Canada series; anniversary ed., v. 2). London, Oxford university press. (The) Christian and the war, (an appeal), by M. F. McCutcheon, Allan P. Shatford, W. A. Gifford, Richard Roberts, W. D. Reid, T. W. Jones. Toronto, McClelland & Stewart. Coats, Robert Hamilton. Sir James Douglas, by R. H. Coats and R. E. Gosnell. (Makers of Canada series; anniversary ed., v. 9). London, Oxford university press. Cochrane, Charles Norris. This Canada of ours; an introduction to Canadian civics, by C. N. Cochrane and W. S. Wallace, with an introduction by the Hon. Vincent Massey. Toronto, National council of education. Coleman, Arthur Philemon. Ice ages, recent and ancient. Toronto, Macmillan. Deacon, William Arthur. Ottawa, Graphic publishers. Poteen. anniversary ed., v. 1). London, Oxford university press. Doherty, Alexandrina (Woods) (Alexandrina Woods, pseud.) Little grey doors. Springfield, Mass., Bradley co. (Juvenile.) Drouin, Henri. Judicial guide, guide judiciaire. Quebec, The author. Duggan, J. J. The unforgotten valley. Toronto, Ryerson press. Dundonald, Douglas Mackinnon Baillie Hamilton Cochrane, 12th earl of. My army life. London, Edward Arnold & co. Dunham. Eileen. Political unrest in Upper Canada. Toronto, Longmans, Green & co. Edgar, Matilda (Ridout), lady. General Brock. (Makers of Canada series; anniversary ed., v. 4). London, Oxford university press. Edgar Pelham. Henry James, man and author. Toronto, Macmillan. Falconer, Sir Robert. The United States as a neighbour. Toronto, Macmillan. Fetherstonhaugh, Frederick Barnard. Law and practice of letters patent of invention in Canada, together with a full set of forms to be used in pleading, both from the standpoint of Patent office practice and of litigation, by F. B. Featherstonhaugh and H. G. Fox. Toronto, Carswell. Fewster, Ernest P. My garden of dreams. Ottawa, Graphic publishers. Fortier, Cora B. (Maxine, pseud.) Unknown fairies of Canada; twelve fairy stories. Toronto, Macmillan. (Juvenile.) Foster, Kate A. (Pattullo.) Our Canadian mosaic. Toronto, The Dominion council, Young women's Christian associations. French, Donald Graham. More famous Canadian stories. Toronto, McClelland & Stewart. (Juvenile.) Garvin, Amelia Beers (Warnock) (Katherine Hale, pseud.) CanaIdian houses of romance. Toronto, Macmillan. Glynn-Ward, H., pseud. see Howard, Hilda (Glynn). Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Faust, done into English verse in the original metres with commentary and notes, by W. H. Van der Smissen, with an introduction by Sir Robert Falconer. Toronto, J. M. Dent. Hague, Dyson. The story of the English prayer book. Toronto, Longmans, Green & co. Hardy, Edwin Austin, comp. The Ontario library association; an historical sketch, 1900-1925. Toronto, University of Toronto press. Harvey, Daniel C. The French régime in Prince Edward Island. New Haven, Yale university press. Hassard, Albert Richard. Not guilty, and other trials. Toronto, LeeCollins co. Heap, F. Canadian decisions as to sales of land. Winnipeg, The author. Hodgson, Robert G. Silver fox ranching. Oshawa, Fur trade journal of Canada. Hooke, Samuel Henry. Christianity in the making. Toronto, Macmillan. Housser, Frederick B. A Canadian art movement; the story of the group of seven. Toronto, Macmil lan. Howard, Hilda (Glynn) (H. GlynnWard, pseud.) The glamour of British Columbia. Toronto, Macmillan. Jackman, William T. Economics of transportation. Toronto, University of Toronto press. Jelfs, George Frederick. Man's natural, moral and social duties; words of wisdom and good counsel, selected and compiled from the writings and sayings of eminent authors, ancient and modern. Hamilton, Cloke's bookstore. Jérémie, Nicolas. Twenty years of York factory, 1694-1714; Jérémie's account of Hudson Strait and Bay, tr. from the French ed. of 1720, with notes and introduction by R. Douglas and J. N. Wallace. Ottawa, Thorburn & Abbott. Jordan, William George. History and revelation, the individuality of Israel. London, James Clarke & CO. Lon Kennedy, William Paul McClure. Lord Elgin. (Makers of Canada series; anniversary ed., v. 6). don, Oxford university press. Kilpatrick, Dorothy Hamilton. The romance of Prince Rama and other Indian tales. Toronto, 538 Confederation Life Building. World friendship press. King, William Basil. Faith and success. London, Allen & Unwin. Langton, John. Early days in Upper Canada, letters of John Langton from the backwoods of Upper Canada and the Audit office of the province of Canada, ed. by W. A. Langton. Toronto, Macmillan. Lavell, Alfred E. The convicted criminal and his re-establishment as a citizen, with special reference to the province of Ontario, Canada. Toronto, Ryerson press. Leacock, Stephen Butler. Mac kenzie, Baldwin, Lafontaine, Hincks. (Makers of Canada series; anniversary ed., v. 5). London, Oxford university press. Leacock, Stephen Butler. Winnowed wisdom. Toronto, Macmillan. Lefferts, Charles Mackubin. Uni forms of the American, British, French and German armies in the war of the American revolution, 1775-1783, painted and described by the late Lt. C. M. Lefferts, ed. by A. J. Wall. New York, New York historical society. LeSueur, William Dawson. Count Frontenac. (Makers of Canada series; anniversary ed., v. 2). London, Oxford university press. Lewis, John. George Brown. (Makers of Canada series; anniversary ed., v. 7). London, Oxford university press. Llwyd, John Plummer Derwent. Mysticism, and other essays. Toronto, Macmillan. Locke, George Herbert. Builders of the Canadian commonwealth; new ed. Toronto, Ryerson press. Longley, James Wilberforce. Joseph Howe. (Makers of Canada series; anniversary ed., v. 8). London, Oxford university press. Longley, James Wilberforce. Sir Charles Tupper. (Makers of Canada series; anniversary ed., v. 8). London, Oxford university press. Loudon, William James. Studies of student life, v. 3. Toronto, Macmillan. Macbeth, Roderick George. The burning bush and Canada. Toronto, Westminster press. Macbeth, Roderick George. Policing the plains; new ed. Toronto, Musson book co. Macdonald, Helen Grace. Canadian public opinion and theAmerican civil war. (Columbia university. Studies in history, economics and public law, v. 124, no. 2). New York, Columbia university press. McIlwraith, Jean Newton. Sir Frederick Haldimand. (Makers of Canada series; anniversary ed., v. 3). London, Oxford university press. MacInnes, Thomas Robert Edward. Chinook days. Vancouver, Sun publishing co. MacIver, Robert Morrison. The modern state. London, Oxford university press. Mackay, Robert Alexander. The unreformed Senate of Canada, with an introduction by G. M. Wrong. London, Oxford university press. Macnaughton, John. Lord Strathcona. (Makers of Canada series; anniversary ed., v. 10). London, Oxford university press. MacNeill, John. Many mansions. Toronto, McClelland & Stewart. Mair, Charles. Tecumseh, a drama, and Canadian poems, Dreamland and other poems, The American bison, Through the Mackenzie basin, Memoirs and reminiscences, with introduction by Robert Norwood. (Master works of Canadian authors, ed. by J. W. Garvin). Toronto, Radisson society of Canada. (The) Makers of Canada series; anniversary edition with extensive revisions, W. L. Grant, editorin-chief, 22v. in 12. London, Oxford university press. Maxine, pseud., see Fortier, Cora B. Moberly, Walter. The rocks and rivers of British Columbia. London, H. Blacklock & co., 1885; a photographic reprint. Ottawa, R. Douglas, Royal bank chambers. Munro, William Bennett. The governments of Europe. London, Macmillan. Newbigin, Marion I. Canada, the great river, the lands and the men. London, Christophers. O'Brien, Arthur Henry. Cyclopedia of conveyancing. Toronto, Canada law book co. O'Hagan, Thomas. The genesis of Christian art. Toronto, Macmillan. |