Setting the Stage

Setting the Stage is the story of Montreal's theatrical cultures and their part in the development of Canadian theatre - a story that only Herbert Whittaker, Canada's first and foremost theatre critic, can tell. Before his long and distinguished career with the Globe and Mail, Whittaker had already had three careers in Montreal - as stage designer, theatre director, and critic for the Montreal Gazette. In Setting the Stage Whittaker recreates the vibrancy of the Montreal theatre scene in the 1930s and 40s and gives vivid portraits of important Canadian actors, directors, and producers. He highlights the enriching interaction and tensions between francophone and anglophone artists and companies at a time when both English and French artists were struggling to establish a professional theatre.

In Montreal Whittaker witnessed the early careers of actors such as Christopher Plummer, Gratien Gélinas, John Colicos, Jean Gascon, Denise Pelletier, and Amelia Hall. He worked in close collaboration with many pioneers of the Little Theatre Movement, the Dominion Drama Festival, and Canadian theatre in general, such as Martha Allan, Charles Rittenhouse, and Pierre Dagenais. His involvement with Dagenais' L'Equipe allows him to report on the early days of francophone theatre in Montreal and the cross-fertilization between Martha Allan's Montreal Repertory Theatre and actor-directors such as Dagenais, Gratien Gélinas, and Yvette Brind'Amour. He also gives us glimpses of the early theatrical spaces in the city that no longer exist, as well as some, such as the Salle de Gésu and the Monument-National, that have survived.

This engaging memoir of exciting times is prefaced by a personal tribute from Christopher Plummer and set in context through an introduction, chronology, and bibliography by Jonathan Rittenhouse. Illustrated with a selection of Whittaker's stage and costume designs as well as photographs, Setting the Stage provides a captivating visual record of the period and is a must for everyone interested in Canadian theatre, Canadian arts, culture, and Montreal.