Prairie Portraits

The province of Saskatchewan has been known for many things but except perhaps to an avowed provincial chauvinist it has never been known as a major centre of theatre. In recent years, however, the province’s theatres and playwrights have been making themselves felt all across the country. The province’s most well-established theatre — the Globe in Regina — goes back to 1966 when the enlightened Saskatchewan Arts Board gave Sue and Ken Kramer a $3,000 grant to begin operations. Saskatoon’s two major theatres — the Persephone established in 1974 and 25th Street House, established in 1975 — have built on the Kramers’ pioneering work and, of late, have served as a positive kind of prod to the Globe to go even further in its development. The key, of course, to all of this development has been the people involved and in Saskatchewan those people have been professionals who are deeply committed to the idea of theatre that makes connections with its audiences. The result has been a theatre that is and has been very much a part of the social and political fabric of its region. Few provinces — Quebec being the major exception — can boast of theatres so closely connected with the day-to-day realities of their constituency. Perhaps as a consequence of this regional commitment, each of these theatres has taken extraordinary pride in creating and presenting new work to its patrons. The Globe has long been committed to the concept and today remains one of the few major theatres in the country which has on its payroll a playwright-in-residence. That playwright is, of course, Rex Deverell. The whole country is aware of the Ken Mitchell-Humphrey and the Dumptrucks musical, Cruel Tears, a production that began at the Persephone in 1976. Andy Tahn’s 25th Street House last year linked into Saskatchewan audiences as no one had before it with its deservedly-acclaimed production of Paper Wheat, a play that broke records wherever it played in the province and which recently completed a sold-out run at Montreal’s Centaur Theatre. These theatres too are leading the way in establishing effective touring networks which help significantly to make their respective work financially — as well as artistically — viable. Who and what make these companies go? In the following reports from Saskatchewan, writers Jason Schoonover and Lorne Glauser answer just those questions and suggest rather clearly that there is more growing in Saskatchewan today than prairie wheat.