L.W.Conolly The Shaw Festival: The First Fifty Years

Abstract

L.W. CONOLLY The Festival: The First Fifty Years. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press, 2011. 312 pp. During its first fifty years (1962-2011) The Festival has been blessed with superb photographers. Two in particular have been responsible for creating a stunning visual archive of the Festival's complex production record: Robert C. Ragsdale created most of the images through the 1979 season and since then David Cooper has been the company photographer. Scott McKowen, graphic designer for Festival publications for some twenty-six seasons (including world-class house programs for 200 productions, 40 covers of which are seen on two full pages in the book), had the critical task of selecting the hundreds of photographs for this new publication, The Festival: The First Fifty Years. His design of the book, with the myriad illustrations bringing productions to life (or, for those who have seen productions at the Festival, rekindling memories of these unique theatrical experiences), has contributed enormously to the impact of this record of fifty years. But be not misled: this is not a coffee-table volume of photos, as striking as the visual impression of the book is. Certainly, the text would mean far less without its illustrations; one odd result of the completeness of the photo selection (at least for me) is wanting of them! I suspect all frequent patrons of the Festival will remember stage moments or actors in roles not shown in photographs. But to reiterate, this is not primarily a picture book, as essential as its illustrations are; it is much than that. The Festival: The First Fifty Years is an extraordinary explication and balanced chronicle of each of the fifty years, from its beginning in 1962 with four staged readings of Don Juan in Hell and four performances of Candida in the Court House Theatre by amateurs to 2011 with the Festival's four performance venues and eleven productions; from a relatively unknown regional operation in the 1960s to a world-class institution with one of the finest ensemble acting companies to be found anywhere--and arguably one of the great repertory theatres on the planet. Since its inception the Festival has staged some 400 productions, involving, as the preface notes, more than two thousand actors, directors, designers, stage managers, technical directors, musicians, choreographers, and administrative staff (3). In addition, countless volunteers have made the Festival a crucial part of the Niagara-on-the-Lake community, and seven artistic directors have guided the Festival, with only three (Paxton Whitehead, Christopher Newton, and Jackie Maxwell) collectively responsible for forty-two seasons. In 1965 the Festival's mandate was Shaw and his great contemporaries. In 2000 it was expanded to include plays written about the period of Shaw's lifetime, and, in recent years, especially under Maxwell, emphasis has been given to new plays that might touch on the mandate. The Festival's history is a complex and varied one, with many highs and some definite lows. So who could most effectively tell this fascinating story? One can imagine several potential perspectives: Dan H. Laurence, for years the doyen of scholars and for some time the Festival's literary advisor, would have had no doubt vivid remembrances of his time with the Festival (and in particular his disagreement with Newton's wish to excise Shaw's Epilogue in St. Joan); Ronald Bryden (a former critic), a later literary advisor, would have offered an elegant account thanks to his wonderful prose style (his essays often graced Festival programs) but without the opinionated perspective of Laurence. But both had passed when it was time for this half-century report. Long-time artistic directors like Newton (now retired but still active as a director) could have brought an insider's insights to his twenty years on the scene. …