Politics and the Playwright: George Ryga

Toby Rupert was a librarian living in Toronto.

Since 1961, George Ryga has written over ninety scripts for radio, television and film, three published and six unpublished novels, sixteen short stories or novellas, a volume of poetry, two oratorios, two folk song albums, and a documentary travelogue. But his real importance comes from his fifteen stage plays, and it is these that are the focus of this book. Innes gives a biographical sketch of Ryga, showing how his background influenced his choice of themes. He then goes on to discuss the early Ryga work — poetry, short stories, and television plays — leading up to a discussion of Ryga’s best-known work, The Ecstasy of Rita Joe. There is also a discussion of Ryga’s vision of his art as a catalyst for social change, as shown in different dramatic scripts. Innes concludes with a brief overview of the main lines in Ryga’s artistic development and an evaluation of his contribution to twentieth century drama as well as his significance in the Canadian theatre. An appendix gives a chronological list of Ryga’s works, including those unpublished or unproduced.