Gordon Peacock
Anton Wagner, the editor of The Brock Bibliography of Published Canadian Plays in English 1766 to 1978, has given us an attractive book, both in content and in format. It is well organized and easy to follow. Wagner notes in the introduction that this present volume is intended as a companion volume to A Bibliography of Canadian Theatre History 1583-1975 and its 1975-76 Supplement. Thirty-eight pages deal with the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, covering 199 items. The last section handles the 20th century with 2,270 items. A Title Index and Resource List completes the volume. This bibliography is impressive. When one considers that it is breaking a vast amount of ground, there is a small number of omissions or incorrect entries. Very few of them are conspicuous. Any researcher that deals with that elusive concept, the Canadian play, always has a problem in defining what comprises a Canadian play and a Canadian playwright. Editor Wagner and his associates have maintained the definition set out in the 1972 edition of the Brock Bibliography, 'plays written by Canadians, native, naturalized or landed immigrant'. All plays were to have been published, and also written while the playwright was resident in Canada. The term 'published' is very broad: and defined as: 'a work is considered published when copies of it have been issued to the public'. Thus mimeographed and xeroxed scripts are considered published editions. A play is defined as 'a dramatic composition containing dialogue or action by clearly delineated characters'. The dramatic text does not have to have been performed, and may also have been written for radio or television. The limits given are very broad and allow for every kind of dramatic output as long as the author meets the citizenship requirements. However, a peculiar exception is made to the above by applying a Canadian content criteria as a means of including plays written out of the country, or conversely excluding plays written by Canadians in Canada but not about Canada. None of Bernard Slade's plays are present although two by George Hulme are included.
The organization of the sections is efficient, with the entries being alphabetical by author, and under each author the titles are also listed alphabetically. Each entry includes a brief plot outline, the source of the work, and where possible the date, the producer and the place of the first production. Some intriguing entries are of necessity sparse and cry out for further research. From a random sampling it appears that there are not too many errors or important omissions, but a few did turn up. One wonders why Le Théâtre de Neptune was included under the 17th century listing when the first English translation was in 1926. American playwright E.P. Conkle is included even though he meets none of the requirements. Robert Gard's Johnny Dunn is listed even though Gard spent only two years in Canada.
For teachers in universities and colleges, for those concerned with theatre research, for journalists and librarians, or indeed anyone interested in the development of Canadian plays written in English or from translation, the new Brock Bibliography should prove a gold mine. Editor Wagner and his compilers have achieved a landmark in the documentation of the theatre in this country.