Hurley, Erin

English

University of New Brunswick: Centre for Digital Scholarship Journals

these facets. He also acknowledges that the list of authorsincluded in this book is not complete; Vern Thiessen as an exam-ple of a non-Jewish playwright writing about Jewish history orculture strikes me as a particular omission. Dr. Glaap’s position as a non-Canadian interested inCanadian drama, and his personal interest in the subject of Jewishculture, elevates this inquiry into Jewish facets of Canadian dramainto a reflection of life in a Germany that is still coming to termswith the legacy of the Second World War and with increasingmulticulturalism. One reason for his writing of this volume is thatwhile the plays “were written in a particular (i.e. Canadian)context […] their issues can be considered metaphors for what ishappening in other parts of the world, especially in Europeancountries” (174). Looking at Canadian drama dealing with ques-tions of self-identity ultimately provides Glaap the chance toreveal something about his Germany. My only two points of criticism are minor: The first is that anumber of the interesting plays mentioned in this book are notpublished, and if that has proved frustrating for me in trying togain access to these plays, I wonder if it will be prohibitive for theEuropean theatre companies who may think of producing them.Might this encourage Professor Glaap to edit a new anthology ofJewish Canadian Plays? My second critique relates to format.Since we read the author’s responses to the questionnaire followedby Dr. Glaap’s overview of the author and his or her work, often-times the information is repetitive as he synthesises material wehave just read, albeit through the lens of their selected plays. Inthe end, this book is a pleasing calling card for Canadian play-wrights and does the country proud.Reviews of the Critical Perspectives on Canadian Theatre in English seriesERIN HURLEY, Book Review EditorDear readers,In these pages and in those of the next two issues of TRiC/RtaC, youwill be able to read reviews of all 21 volumes in the Critical Perspectiveson Canadian Theatre in English series, published between 2005 and2011 by Playwrights Canada Press. In his General Editor’s Preface tovolume 9 (Space and the Geographies of Theatres, edited by MichaelMcKinnie), Ric Knowles describes the goal of the series as follows: 116 • TRiC / RTaC • 33.1 (2012) • Comptes rendus / Book Reviews • pp 106-131Critical Perspectives on Canadian Theatre in English sets out tomake the best critical and scholarly work in the field readilyavailable to teachers, students, and scholars of Canadian dramaand theatre. In volumes organized by playwright, region,genre, theme and cultural community, the series publishes thework of scholars and critics who have, since the so-calledrenaissance of Canadian theatre in the late 1960s and early1970s, traced the coming-into-prominence of a vibranttheatrical community in English Canada. As the last volume in the series was just published, and sincenone of the volumes had yet been reviewed in our journal, wethought it timely and meet to devote the bulk of our review pagesin the next two issues to reviews of this important and usefulseries. In most cases, reviewers address themselves to two or eventhree of the volumes in a single review, grouped according totheme, region, or other synergistic rubrics. In some cases, I’ve alsoturned to international and non-anglophone scholars with partic-ular expertise in the unifying rubric (e.g., space and theatre) andsome familiarity with Canadian theatre but who would notconsider themselves Canadianists. This choice reflects first, thefact that most Anglophone Canadian theatre scholars havecontributed in some way to the series, increasing the difficulty offinding an appropriate, arms-length reviewer. This turn to ourinternational and francophone theatre colleagues also acts on thedesire to invite other perspectives on Canadian theatre scholar-ship, to send our good work into international networks, and tofoster intellectual dialogue across borders. Bonne lecture !BURNETT, LINDA, ed.Theatre in Atlantic CanadaCritical Perspectives on Canadian Theatre in English. Vol. 16.Toronto: Playwrights Canada, 2010. 206pp.LEVIN, LAURA, ed.Theatre and Performance in TorontoCritical Perspectives on Canadian Theatre in English.Vol. 21.Toronto: Playwrights Canada, 2011. 210pp.ANN WILSONRic Knowles, as general editor of Critical Perspectives on CanadianTheatre in English, writes, “Each volume is edited and introduced byTRiC / RTaC • 33.1 (2012) • Comptes rendus / Book Reviews • pp 106-131 • 117

Reviews of the Critical Perspectives on Canadian Theatre in English series

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University of New Brunswick: Centre for Digital Scholarship Journals