Prairie Report

Andrea Geary is an agricultural reporter for The Manitoba Co-operator.

In this play, Moher goes inside the newsroom of a weekly newsmagazine
based in Edmonton, and reveals the quirks of its reporters, editor, and
publisher, who deliver the news—with a Christian perspective—to
Western Canadians. The action begins when a takeover by Eastern-Canadian
interests throws everyone into confusion.

This is Moher’s eighth play, first performed in 1988. It is based on
his experiences during a three-year stint as books editor for the
Alberta Report, a weekly newsmagazine with a Christian outlook, based in
Edmonton. Sound familiar? In a lengthy preface, Moher recounts the
history of the Alberta Report, and tries to interpret the role its
editor, Ted Byfield, plays in determining the future of Alberta and
Western Canada.

With his theme of Western versus Eastern Canada, Moher has the
opportunity to show his audience how Westerners really do or do not
differ from their Eastern compatriots. Unluckily, Moher lets this chance
slide into a morass of stereotypes and stilted dialogue. His characters
are made of cardboard: they are one-dimensional and inflexible. The
self-doubting, socialist female reporter; the ambitious, back-stabbing
young male reporter; the dull-witted publisher’s son; the failed
farmer turned reporter; the lesbian reporter from a small town; the
mean-spirited, alcoholic British editor; the frustrated publisher; and
the ruthless Ontario businessman—none is truly brought to life. They
lack whatever spark is needed to allow the audience to become
emotionally involved with them.

The outcome of Moher’s play really does not matter, since there is no
underdog to root for and no hero to cheer on. Maybe the Prairie Report
and its staff being absorbed into Maclean’s would not be a bad thing
after all.