James S. Moy
The second half of the nineteenth century witnessed significant theatrical development in the North American frontier regions. While in the past ten years a great deal of attention has been given to such developments in the United States, these developments in Canada have been largely ignored or treated merely as offshoots of developments in larger urban areas. Chad Evans's Frontier Theatre, then, is a welcome first treatment of this long overlooked area.
Written in an engaging style, Evans's text is clearly the result of extensive research. To begin with one is introduced to early amateur theatricals, British shipboard productions, private entertainments, and finally the more civic-minded performances offered to raise money for various causes. Woven into the text throughout is a deep awareness of the political and social influences which shaped these first theatrical enterprises on the frontier.
Chapters two through four detail the changes in the theatrical situation brought about by the gold rush. The great increase in population connected with the Fraser River gold rush brought with it an ethnic mix such as the area had not seen before. Professional theatre companies were established and the area's first legitimate theatre constructed in British Columbia. Evans examines the music hall/variety theatre as separate from the legitimate houses. Included is an insightful treatment of the audiences and how the professional companies often diversified to satisfy unique needs of the different transplanted cultures. Individual chapters devoted to the Cariboo and the Kootenays show a similar pattern of development, though due to their remoteness the legitimate stage did not find a home here. Accordingly, saloon entertainments flourished here where only the sturdiest of entertainers ventured.
The period from 1872 to 1884 Evans characterizes as a period of dark change. During this time the earlier locally formed companies gave way to the increasing managerial domination of eastern interests which mounted elaborate touring combination shows as the reality of the frontier was transformed into the myth of the wild west shows. Subsequent theatrical growth is linked to the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad to Seattle, which spurred a period of even more impressive road shows and theatre construction. With audience tastes thus elevated to the level of eastern offerings, the far west began to develop its own identity when the new wealth brought in by the Klondike gold rush began to patronize the local theatre. Chapter eight examines in some detail these uniquely far-western dramas which emerged including In the Cariboo, The Castaways, and On the Klondike.
The last three chapters provide a chronology of significant appearances of the opera, Minstrel Show and circus in the region. These chapters are the weakest as they do not provide as satisfying a background for the entertainments treated as those earlier in the book. Oddly placed throughout the text are groupings of illustrations of theatre buildings, performers and representative playbills. While these provide a strong sense for the flavour of the period, individual illustrations could be more appropriately placed. In addition, some concluding statement tying together the many strains of theatrical development would have softened the rather abrupt end of the book.
Still, Chad Evans's lively yet scholarly survey, Frontier Theatre, provides a strong first attempt at a comprehensive treatment of late nineteenth-century theatrical entertainments in British Columbia. Indeed, because of its ambitious scope, it should prove very useful as a reference tool for the framing of future detailed research.