127:, which was started in 1957, funded only professional involvement. Recurring financial problems necessitated the controversial patronage of Calvert's Distillers (1952–60) and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (1961–65), which in turn allowed an Ottawa office and the hiring of a permanent director. From 1960 Canadians were engaged to adjudicate preliminary runoffs and, after 1965, the finals as well. There was a massive success with the All Canadian Festival during centennial year, but this didn't help with the DDF's growing debt.
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regional competitions, judged by a travelling adjudicator, would move on to compete in the national festival. To be as fair as possible, a separate judge would preside over the festival at the national level. Prizes were awarded for the best performance of a full-length play in either
English or French, for best director, visual presentation, best actor and best actress. Prizes were also awarded at the regional level, including best presentation of a play written by a Canadian.
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However, it also fostered a conservative approach to theatre, favouring productions of foreign plays and discouraging the participation of politically or socially disruptive plays. But this also led to remarkable standards, and attracted loyal and fashionable audiences. By the 1950s, the social aspects of the annual competition had almost eclipsed the plays, with balls and receptions, and dinner parties in formal attire.
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The
Dominion Drama Festival (DDF) was devised in 1932 as a way to promote the theatre that was being created in Canada. It was an annual event held each spring in a different city across the country. It would begin with small competitions in various parts of Canada, whichever were chosen from these
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The DDF played a role in the construction of a national identity and a national theatre, through its insistence on retaining a bilingual mandate and fostering the writing of original plays and providing coast-to-coast training for hundreds of career-oriented actors, directors and technicians.
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As of 1937, a regional contest was held in 11 divisions to elect finalists to be part in the national final contest. The divisions were; Nova Scotia and PEI, New-Brunswick, Eastern Quebec, Western Quebec, Eastern
Ontario, Western Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta and British-Columbia.
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In 1970 the DDF was renamed
Theatre Canada, showcasing amateur productions without the element of competition, but, these fringe-like innovations were cancelled in 1973 for financial reasons. By 1978 the Ottawa office had closed, and with it the DDF.
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and once it was resumed following the war, the development of professional theatres began to challenge the primacy of the DDF in the theatre culture of Canada. Professional actors no longer worked in amateur productions, and the newly formed
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Registration cost was $ 20 per company. Each regional finalist would also win a grant; $ 150 for New
Brunswick and Nova Scotia, $ 200 for Manitoba, $ 300 for Alberta, $ 350 for Saskatchewan, $ 400 for British-Columbia.
111:’s birthday, with companies from eight provinces presenting one-act plays and excerpts from full-length plays. The first 5 festivals (Apr 1933-37) were held in Ottawa, after which they rotated among different cities.
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After the collapse of
Theatre Canada, Canada's amateur theatre was represented, both in Canada and internationally, by the National Multicultural Theatre Association (1975–1987).
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2. Betty Lee. Love and
Whiskey: The Story of the Dominion Drama Festival. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1973.
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1. Herbert
Whittaker, The Oxford Companion to Canadian Theatre. Toronto: Oxford, 1989.
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across the country. It lasted, in one form or another, from 1932 until 1978.
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The
Dominion Drama Festival - Theatre Canada fonds (R5415)
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and a founding member of the
Dominion Drama Festival.
167:"Shipping heiress kept theatre alive in Montreal"
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45:Vere Brabazon Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough
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241:Recurring events disestablished in 1978
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57:Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough
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194:The Gazette, January 2nd 1937, p. 5.
103:The first DDF was naturally held in
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246:Theatrical organizations in Canada
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118:The DDF was suspended during the
261:1978 disestablishments in Canada
165:KALBFLEISCH, John (2009-03-29).
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256:1932 establishments in Ontario
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266:Festivals established in 1932
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231:Theatre festivals in Canada
217:Library and Archives Canada
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61:Governor General of Canada
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173:. Canwest. Archived from
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152:References and notes
135:Rules and operation
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107:in April 1933 on
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120:Second World War
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69:Martha Allan
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109:Shakespeare
65:Rideau Hall
225:Categories
181:2009-03-29
144:Epilogue
32:Founding
99:History
85:Britain
105:Ottawa
89:France
79:, and
59:, the
22:Canada
16:The
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