Stars in the Sky Morning

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

It would be hard to imagine a better selection of collective plays than
this one. Helen Peters, editor of The Plays of CODCO (1992), is part of
the performing arts community of Newfoundland and Labrador where the
collective phenomenon has retained its cultural vitality to this day.
Peters brings to her editorship here impeccable academic credentials. In
her introduction, a model of clarity and authority, she provides a
succinct history of the collective experience and outlines the vision
and development of the major companies and players that contributed to
it. She also discusses the specific role or importance of each of the 10
scripts included in the anthology.

More than 100 pages are devoted to the musical scores for songs
contained in the pieces. The scripts, all but one of which are drawn
from transcriptions of live performances, reflect a wide range of
themes, genres, and integrated elements: folklore, magic, dance,
political satire, union politics, attitudes to confederation, family
dysfunction, Aboriginal issues, and music both traditional and
contemporary. They have been produced in a wide range of venues,
including private homes, bars, wharves, streets, community halls, indoor
and outdoor festivals, and the LSPU (Longshoremen’s Protective Union)
Hall in Saint John’s. Similar anthologies are likely to follow in the
wake of this superb example.