III. Drama

272 THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY portrait gallery plus a number of unusual happenings; it is an organic whole that is born out of deep feeling and intense thought. CHECK-LIST OF TITLES BEATTIE (JEANN ), Blaze of noon (Toronto, Ryerson, vi, 353 PP' J $3.50) . CAMPBELL (GRACE), The tower and the town (Toronto, Collins, viii, 342 pp.J $3). CHARACH (PAUL)' Power of a woman (Winnipeg, the author, Room 203, 334 Portage Ave., 1949, $1.50 ). DIESPECKER (DICK ), Elizabeth; with drawings by RON JACKS ON (Toronto and Vancouver, Dent, xii, 170 pp" $3). GUEVREMONT (GERMAINE), The outlander; trans. by ERIC SUTTON (New York, Whittlesey House; Toronto, McGraw-Hill Co. of Canada, viii, 290 pp., $3), Eng. ed., Monk's Reach (LondoD, Evans). HEWITT (FOSTER), Hello Canada, & hockey fans in the United States (Toronto, Allen, 143 pp., $1.25). LEMELIN (ROGER), The Plouffe family; trans. from the French by MARY FINCH (Toronto, McClelland & Stewart, 373 pp., $3.50). MCCOURT (E. A.), Home is the stranger (Toronto, Macmillan, x, 269 pp., $3 ). MILLAR (MARGARET), Do evil in return (New York and Toronto, Random House, viii, 243 pp., $2.50). MOORE (F. S. ), Fair is my love (Avalon books; New York, Bouregy & Curl; Toronto, McLeod, 252 pp., $2 ). MORRIS (E. C.), Trespass against none (Montreal, Whitcombe and Gilmour, 317 pp., $3). NOTA BENE (pseud.), To hell and back (Winnipeg, Mail Order Service, 290 Graham Ave., 1949, 291 pp., $3.50). PLENDERLEITH (W. A.), Conflict (Toronto, Ryerson, x, 328 pp., $3.50). RAoDALL (T. H.), The nymph and the lamp (Toronto, McClelland & Stewart, iv, 376 pp., $3). RUSSELL (S. M.), A lamp is heavy; ill. by JEAN MCCONNELL (Philadelphia, London, Montreal, Lippincott; Toronto, Longmans Green, x, 257 pp., $4 ). SHAPIIl.O (LIONEL)' Torch for a dark journey (New York and Toronto, Doubleday, viii, 246 pp., $3.25 ). STEELE (HARWOOD), Ghosts returning (Toronto, Ryerson, xii, 272 pp., $3.50) . TILLER (S. C. ), Storrnswept (Toronto, Ryerson, viii, 213 pp., $2.75). VACZEK (LoUIS), River and empty sea (Boston, Houghton Mifilin ; Toronto, Allen, xii, 372 pp., $4). WALKER (DAVID), Geordie (Boston, Houghton Mifflin; Toronto, Allen, viii, 209 pp., $3) . WEES (F. S.), Melody unheard (Philadelphia" Macrae Smith; Toronto, Ryerson, 253 pp., $3.25). WESTON (GARNETT) , Legacy of fear (New York, M. S. Mill and William Morrow; Toronto, Collins, viii, 245 pp., $3). WILLIAMS (F. J ), Fold home (Toronto, Ryerson, vi, 265 pp., $3.50). III. DRAMA' VINCENT TOVELL In a short talk prepared as an introduction to the radio version of his "Riel," John Coulter discussed the play's origins. For some years, he explained, he had wanted to write a stage play on the theme of Canada emerging as a nation, on some subject "of the very bone and 1 We might remark at the outset that it is not possible to comment on all the new plays presented in Canada in 1950. Some of the scripts were, regrettably. not availabJe to us. Reasons of space prevent consideration of the one-act plays reported to us by writers such as Margaret Angus, Eric Candy, Agnes S. Binns, Anne Flavell, Mrs. G. W. Moss, William Petty, Gwen Pharis Ringwood, Kenneth A Robertson. For the same reasons it ill not possible to provide a check-list of radio drama. . LETTERS IN CANADA: 1950 273 sinew of Canada." The story of Louis Riel's influence on the development of the Northwest occurred to him as one of the greatest opportunities our history offered for such a play. Until recently Riel's name and career have been clouded by legend and prejudice, but Mr. Coulter saw that as "a sort of John Brown of the North" he could, and should, be revealed as much more than a common criminal, a fanatic rebel, an illiterate half-breed, and whatever else his enemies had called him, since he had been, in fact, a popular leader of uncommon ability and a personality of extraordinary complexity. Moreover , the principles for which he fought and died could be presented as matters of vital importance and interest to any of us today. Mr. Coulter's play falls chronologically into two parts. The first tells of the first rebellion in 1870. The second begins fifteen years later...