Thoughts for the New Alternative: Histories, Boundaries and the Space Apart

Abstract

In Canada, underground and alte rnat ive th eatres, driven by the strong cur re nts of a newl y vocal and increasingly nationalistic generation, blossomed in the 1960s, matured in the 1970s, and subsequently found a reasonably assured place in the mainstream over the course of the 1980s. At the foreground of this movement were the theatres and companies of Toronto, such household names as Theatre Passe Muraille (emerging from the contro versial and now-defun ct Rochd ale College), Factory Theatre Lab, Toronto Free Theatre and Tarragon Theatre, in addition to some lesser-known companies such as Global Village Theatre, New Theatre and the Phoenix Theatre. The 1990s thinned their ranks Significantly (one notable loss being the Toronto Free Theatre), but the surviving companies were soon to be counted among the same Canadian theatre establishment to which they had once so effectively provided an alternative. It is now a commonplace for these mid-sized companies and their counterparts across the country to coproduce new works with major regional theatres such as the National Arts Cent re (the old status quo). Yesterday’s alternative is today’s mainstream.