As you may recall, David Gardner published a short piece in an earlier
Newsletter entitled "British Garrison Theatre in Canada during the
French Regime," ACTH Newsletter 8 (Fall 1984), 11. This material by
Patrick O'Neill builds upon David's earlier entry, and I hope will be the
first of a regular series of brief articles by members. The editor invites
your contributions.
Comme vous pourriez vous rappeler, il y a quelques années David
Gardner a publié un petit article entitulé "British
Garrison Theatre in Canada during the French Regime" (Bulletin de
l'AHTC 8: automne 1984, p.11). L'article présent, contribué
par Patrick O'Neill, ajoute à celui de David, et j'espère
qu'il y aura une série de ces petits articles. L'éditeur
invite vos contributions.
The production of Le Theatre de Neptune en la Nouvelle France by the inhabitants of Port Royal on 14 November 1606 by Marc Lescarbot is well known; now, thanks to the recent CD-ROM, The Performing Arts in Colonial American Newspapers, 1690-1783 (University Music Editions, 1997), published accounts are readily available of the English language theatrical productions staged at Fort Anne in 1733 and 1748. The Annapolis Basin in Nova Scotia undoubtedly served as the cradle for both French and English language theatre in Canada.
Under the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, France conceded mainland Nova Scotia to England, and Port Royal became Fort Anne. Some 20 years after the treaty and 127 years after the production of Marc Lescarbot's play at the mouth of the Annapolis River, the first recorded newspaper account of theatre in Canada was published. The Boston Gazette (4-11 June 1733) reported that George Farquar's The Recruiting Officer was produced on Saturday, 20 January 1733 by the officers of the garrison to mark the birthday of Frederick, Prince of Wales. (Curiously this same play was also the first play produced in Australia on 4 June 1789 by a cast of convicts.) The newspaper account reveals that the evening ended with fireworks and a ball in Lieutenant-Governor Armstrong's residence.
In 1983, we learned from Dr. Gardner's fine doctoral thesis, "An analytic history of the theatre in Canada: the European beginnings to 1760," that Paul Mascarene, who succeeded Armstrong as Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, translated Moliere's Le Misanthrope and then staged at least two productions of the work at Fort Anne during the winter of 1743-1744. The second performance on 20 January 1744 had also coincided with celebrations in the colony to mark the birthday of Frederick, Prince of Wales. Dr. Gardner included in his thesis the Prologue to Moliere's play as published in The American Magazine and Historical Chronicle, Boston. The text of the first three acts are contained in the Mascarene Papers, British Library.
Four years later on 20 January 1748, Major Phillips and Captain Floyer continued what appears to have been a tradition at Fort Anne and also produced a play in honour of the Prince of Wales' birthday. Unfortunately the Boston News Letter (3 March 1748) fails to indicate the title of the play. It does reveal, however, that the same play was staged a second time on 2 February 1748 at the request of Captain Winslow after the colony received the news of Admiral Edward Hawke's success during a battle against the French fleet, under Admiral de l'Etenduere, in October of 1747.
In 1749, 3000 settlers left England bound for Annapolis Royal under the new governor, Edward Cornwallis. The ships, however, put in at Chebucto, where the settlers disembarked and established Halifax. Over the years, the garrison at Fort Anne was decreased in favour of the new Citadel fortifications, and Halifax became the centre for theatre in Nova Scotia. The birthplace of French and English language theatre in Canada, however, occurred on the Annapolis Basin.
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