A Vision of Canada: Herman Voaden's Dramatic Works, 1928-1945

Description

424 pages
Contains Photos, Illustrations, Bibliography
$34.95
ISBN 0-88924-244-5
DDC C812'.54

Publisher

Year

1993

Contributor

Edited by Anton Wagner
Reviewed by Ian C. Nelson

Ian C. Nelson is assistant director of libraries at the University of
Saskatchewan and director of La Troupe du Jour, Regina Summer Stage.

Review

Herman Voaden (1930–1991) had two eminent careers. The latter was as
an arts lobbyist, founding president of the Canadian Arts Council, and
national director of the Canadian Conference of the Arts. It is
Voaden’s first incarnation, as a playwright and director, that is
anthologized in A Vision of Canada.

Production notes from Voaden’s own direction of his plays have been
extensively reproduced in order to convey a sense of his peculiar
vision. To this same end, the volume contains a wealth of production
photographs from the York University Archives, and Voaden has written
for most of the works introductions describing the artistic process of
writing and staging them.

The plays appear in chronological order so that one can appreciate the
evolution of Voaden’s art toward a style characterized as symphonic
expressionism. From 1928 to 1945, his productions seem to have captured
amazing (and amazed) critical and public attention, while challenging
adjudicators of the Dominion Drama Festival (“exhibition of advanced
modern stagecraft quite outside the competition”). The 13 plays are
self-conscious and wordy in their thrust toward a transcendental
Canadianism. Their very wordiness, however, makes them a good choice for
technical student practitioners, since they give insight and direction
of intent for every move. Wagner’s critical introduction, chronology
of writings and productions, and primary and secondary bibliographies
are all that one would expect from a founder of the Association for
Canadian Theatre Research.

Citation

Voaden, Herman., “A Vision of Canada: Herman Voaden's Dramatic Works, 1928-1945,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed November 11, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/13438.