Francophone Theater of Western Canada: Dramatic Tales of Disappearing Francophones

One recent innovation in the Francophone theater of western Canada is the use of narrativized dramatic monologues. The monologue form has a long history in Quebec, so it should come as no surprise that western Canadian playwrights have also been drawn to it. What I argue in this article is that the monologue form may signify differently in minority Francophone theater, which has previously been a site for collective expressions of memory and identity. I focus on two works written by playwrights with Saskatchewan roots, but first performed in Alberta – Il était une fois Delmas, Sask … mais pas deux fois! by André Roy and Claude Binet (2006) and Elephant Wake by Jonathan Christenson and Joey Tremblay (1999). I chose these two because they both recount stories of Francophone villages founded, built, and then gradually abandoned or overwhelmed by Anglophones. They are both tales of the missionary zeal of settlement, community cohesion based on church and French heritage, and the slow disintegration of once vibrant rural villages. While the first was written in French with occasional use of English, the second was written in English with occasional use of French.     

当戏楼已成往事

2004年,京剧大师程砚秋诞辰100周年;京剧大师梅兰芳诞辰110周年.2004年6月13日,前门大碗茶戏楼开业两周年纪念,却在准备搬走;同在前门的当年北京外城最早的戏院--广和楼也是门可罗雀.     

见证国家大剧院

在共和国走过55个年头的时候,我们终于拥有了自己的国家大剧院.等待了这么漫长的时间,与其说它一个财力积累的过程,毋宁说它是一个认识的过程.也许至今还有人认为,花几十亿元建一个剧院是一种浪费,但是这种声音毕竟非常微弱了.10月,国家大剧院即将封顶,在此,让我们共同回顾这一神圣艺术殿堂不平凡的诞生经历.     

Indigenous Performing Traditions in Post-Revolutionary Iranian Theater

One of the major trends in experimental theater refashions the representational and presentational techniques of ancient rituals, medieval dramatic forms and popular performing traditions to create new forms of dramatic expression. In pre-revolutionary Iran, the proponents of this trend included those who worked with Iran National Theater and Theater Workshop. The 1979 revolution heralded the arrival of a different kind of drama in response to a host of new subjects and restrictions. However, unlike the political upheavals of previous periods which led to catastrophic discontinuity in the development of Iranian theater, it did not result in a complete breach. The post-revolutionary practitioners continued working with the templates devised by their pre-revolutionary colleagues, creating a dramatic tradition that has produced several masterpieces during recent decades. The purpose of this paper is to put the history of this experimental trend in perspective and examine the works of three of its major post-revolutionary practitioners. As such it will not focus on the history of indigenous forms or western-style theater in Iran, but on the recent history of this experimental mode and how its practitioners have refashioned Iranian performing traditions.     

Young Mr. Lincoln in Ford's Theater

In Young Mr. Lincoln, director John Ford and screenwriter Lamar Trotti engage an issue that is central to Ford's films and to Lincoln's political thought. That issue is the tension between individual greatness and the rule of law, a tension heightened in a democracy by the demos's passion for equality. In the film's portrayal of Lincoln, Ford and Trotti suggest a solution to this tension that is fundamentally consistent with the one Lincoln suggested in the Lyceum Address. To remain within the political community, the great man must hold a sincere reverence for the law and be willing to exhibit humility in declaiming his own superiority. In the context of these characteristics, greatness can be a force that preserves the law and protects the community from harm. The film depicts Lincoln as the paradigmatic combination of these characteristics and alludes to his mature leadership based on these commitments in his later career.     

The Changing Faces of Canada: Images of Canada in National Geographic

Carol Shields, one of Canada's and America's most popular and critically acclaimed writers, is the perfect example of the former permeability of the Canada–United States border. Born Carol Ann Warner in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1935, she married Canadian engineering student Donald Shields and immigrated with him to Canada in 1957, becoming a Canadian citizen in 1971. Between her immigration to Canada and her death nearly half a century later, Shields criss-crossed the 49^th parallel – traditionally known as the world's longest undefended border, until 9/11 drastically changed travel – with ease. Her fictional characters cross the Canada–United States border with equal ease. Shields crosses borders not only literally, but also figuratively, as she travels from genre to genre with ease. Most famous for her fiction, Shields published in many genres, including poetry, drama, short stories, biography, and literary criticism, and she incorporates these other genres in her novels. Thus, Shields shows how art can cross borders with exemplary grace.