Gwen Pharis Ringwood at the University of Calgary

Abstract

The Drama Department at the University of Calgary has produced an increasing number of Canadian plays since it was founded in 1967. We have never had an explicit policy regarding the production of Canadian or Alberta plays. The founding principle of Department production choices was to mount four plays per year from the various periods of western theatre history over a four-year cycle and to study these plays in the Dramatic Literature and Theatre History classes. Each year, a modern play and a contemporary play were to be produced, plus two plays from more distant historical periods. Students would, therefore, study theatre history in the context of production and, over four years, would cover all of western theatre history. The reason for establishing this model lay in the antipathy of the early members of the Department toward the typical chronological theatre history survey courses, which usually had no relation to plays being produced. Several of the first members of the Department had an interest in directing plays from all periods of theatre history, so the model worked fairly well for several years. Over time, with faculty turnover and the increasing interest of new faculty in Canadian theatre history, this model began to break down. Another major factor was the introduction of graduate programs in directing and design. Graduate students direct their thesis productions in the department's main season, and they typically are neither prepared for nor interested in directing period pieces. Successive generations of graduate students have demonstrated increasing interest in Canadian theatre. Furthermore, after the Canadian theatre history course was added to the curriculum in 1982, it was taught for many years by scholars who tended not to direct productions in the department.