Drama

drama 255 university of toronto quarterly, volume 72, number 1, winter 2002/3 Morton, Wendy. Private Eye. Ekstasis. 64. $14.95 Murray, George. The Cottage Builder=s Letter. McClelland and Stewart. 102. $16.99 New, W.H. Stone Rain. Oolichan. 88. $14.95 Norman, Chad. These Are My Elders. Broken Jaw. 80. $13.95 Norris, Ken. New and Selected Poems. Talon. 154. $16.95 Outram, Richard. Dove Legend. Porcupine=s Quill. 184. $14.95 Owen, Catherine. The Wrecks of Eden. Wolsak and Wynn. 88. $14.00 Pearson, Miranda. Prime. Beach Holme. x, 110. $12.95 Quan, Andy. Slant. Nightwood. 112. $16.95 Robertson, Lisa. The Weather. New Star. 80. $16.00 Roorda, Julie. Eleventh Toe. Guernica. 62. $12.00 Ruzesky, Jay. Blue Himalayan Poppies. Nightwood. 96. $16.95 Sacuta, Norm. Garments of the Known. Nightwood. 96. $16.95 Schmidt, Brenda. A Haunting Sun. New Leaf. 64. $9.95 Sherman, Joseph. American Standard and Other Poems. Oberon. 96. $13.95 Sinclair, Sue. Secrets of Weather and Hope. Brick. 92. $14.00 Sloate, Daniel. Of Dissonance and Shadows. Guernica. 164. $15.00 Solie, Karen. Short Haul Engine. Brick. 84. $14.00 Solway, David. The Lover=s Progress. Porcupine=s Quill. 76. $14.95 Sorestad, Glen. Leaving Holds Me Here. Thistledown. 174. $18.95 Tregebov, Rhea. The Strength of Materials. Wolsak and Wynn. 76. $14.00 Villegas, Halli. Red Promises. Guernica. 62. $12.00 Watada, Terry. Ten Thousand Views of Rain. Thistledown. 100. $12.95 Weiss, Adrienne. Awful Gestures. Insomniac. 60. $9.95 Wolff, Elana. Birdheart. Guernica. 62. $12.00 Zieroth, David. Crows Do Not Have Retirement. Harbour. 126. $18.95 Drama BRUCE BARTON Following a banner year for the publishing of dramatic texts in Canada in 2000, leading to the review of some forty-seven texts and seventy-five plays in the pages of this journal, 2001 represents something of a retreat. While the overall number of plays reviewed remains practically unchanged, the number of texts has dropped to thirty (three of which are anthologies). Some of the reasons for the reduction are easily identified. Many of the country=s most recognizable playwrights are absent from the review package, including Judith Thompson, George F. Walker, Sharon Pollock, John Murrell, and David French. Among the regular publishers of drama in Canada, Blizzard remained sidelined in 2001 by internal and external administrative difficulties, and NeWest contributed only a single title to the review package. Talon added just three new plays, in addition to a revised 256 letters in canada 2001 university of toronto quarterly, volume 72, number 1, winter 2002/3 edition of an anthology (although it is reassuring to note that the same publisher has already announced eight new plays for 2002). And the ongoing Indigo!/Chapters saga cast a shadow over the entire book industry throughout the year. However, Canada=s largest publisher and distributor of dramatic texts, Playwrights Canada, continued to lead the market, and Scirocco maintained its considerable presence with new titles from both firmly established and beginning writers. Welcome additions to the review package were two handsome volumes from the restructured Coach House Press, as well as promising single contributions from a variety of smaller, independent publishers. Also, Canadian Theatre Review continued its valuable service of including at least one full-length script in each of its four yearly issues. (Unfortunately, the copies of CTR were acquired too late for inclusion of the published scripts in this review article; however, each script is listed individually at the beginning of the Works Received section.) Overall, the diversity and range of the drama received suggests considerable vitality and innovation within the artistic community. More evenly balanced representation from across the country (e.g., Atlantic Canada) would, no doubt, only add to this perception, and facilitate a more accurate understanding of the state of theatre writing in the nation. For the purpose of this article, the plays received are organized into five categories. 1 The first group is made up of plays that strike me as overtly selfconscious in their use of metatheatricality, stage conventions, and/or genre. This group includes new works by Brad Fraser, Sky Gilbert, Daniel MacIvor, Darren O=Donnell, James O=Reilly, Morris Panych, Allan Stratton, Larry Tremblay...