Fallen Empires: Lost Theatres of Edmonton, 1881–1914.

Ian C. Nelson is Assistant Director of Libraries at the University of
Saskatchewan.

The research efforts of Edmonton’s John Orrell that resulted in the milestone publication of The Quest for Shakespeare’s Globe (Cambridge University Press, 1983) eventually led to his being named advisor to the architect in the reconstruction of that theatre on London’s South Bank. The new Globe opened in 1996 and Orrell was posthumously given the Sam Wanamaker Award in 2004.

He had, in fact, shown his historical chops as early as the 1970s when he began investigating the early Edmonton theatre scene, particularly the performance venues and the local response to the touring playbills that made up the most esteemed presentations on those stages between 1881 and 1914. His research naturally unearthed the beginnings of Edmonton-based community and professional theatre as well.

The original publication in 1981 of Fallen Empires was hailed as a rich and detailed cause for celebration. It included archival photographs of buildings where these were available, and six of Orrell’s own drawings as renderings of other described sites. Orrell took careful note of building locations and dimensions, signage, hangings and ornamentation, and—alas—the all-too-frequent fires and urban rebuilding that put an end to these venerable pioneer social monuments. He often provided telling quotations from local newspapers describing both the entertainments (the touring vaudeville circuit provided quite a mixed bag) and audience reactions to the performances that they housed during various spurts of activity and popular trend over the period.

The new edition includes the original text and illustrations plus an updated author biography by Wendy Orrell. The postscript and a succinct introduction by Diane Bessai, doyenne of Canadian theatre research, provide an assessment of the import of early foundations (both the structures and the organizations) on the development of modern professional theatre in the Alberta capital. The current publication coincides with that of Stewart Lemoine’s script, At the Zenith of the Empire, fittingly inspired by Orrell’s book.