Minds on.

It's hard to give a dramatic shape to even the most dramatic life. . . . you are forced not just into selectivity, but into alteration, distortion and outright lying about what did and didn't happen.

James Toback

This is the did you know icon. Did You Know?

Canada has a rich dramatic history, but did you also know that it was a rebellious one, as well? According to the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, “[d]ramatic ritual has been an important aspect of Native ceremonies for centuries before European contact in North America. It involved costumes, masks, dance, and song – fusing myth and reality, and re-enacting the past in the present. During the colonial period, Native ceremony, ritual, and language were repressed: some ceremonies, such as the potlatch in British Columbia and the Sundance on the Prairies, went underground, and others evolved into forms that circumvented the authorities. The dramatic religious rituals and symbols of the Christian tradition were also absorbed and/or challenged in Native dramatic practice, as is evident in Tomson Highway’s plays”.

How Convenient?

Despite Canada’s adoption of the cultural mosaic as a means for establishing identity, you might be surprised at some of the issues Canadian dramatists tackle, both implicitly and explicitly. CBC’s hit sitcom Kim’s Convenience began as an acclaimed stage play that has become an acclaimed TV series. If you’re unfamiliar with the show and its concept, take a moment to watch What is Kim's Convenience about? and read "Breaking new ground: Kim's Convenience to be Canada's first sitcom led by Asians" below.

the mix of ethnic groups, languages, and cultures that coexist within society

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This is the discussion icon. How Convenient?

To what degree are perspectives of diverse people evident in contemporary drama (whether stage or screen)? Research what is on stage and/or screen and see how diverse it is or how diverse it is not. 

Action.

Rewriting the Bard

This is an image of an oil painting of William Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare is one of the world’s most famous playwrights and dramatists. There’s a good chance you’ve had some exposure to Shakespeare in your lifetime - either voluntary or forced! Whether you love or hate the Bard, there’s no denying his influence is still felt today.

Over four hundred years after his death, Shakespeare is still taught in many secondary schools around the world. Many students might argue that his work is no longer relevant, but Stephen Brown asks and answers the question in his "Why Shakespeare? Because it's 2016."

However, much like Hollywood’s decision to remake and reboot movies, many people argue that Shakespeare’s works need the occasional update, as well. Beyond genre, location, and timeline switches (check out Baz Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet for an example of all three), some versions change the story dramatically. Recently, there has been much debate over whether famous contemporary writers such as Margaret Atwood and Jeanette Winterson should be allowed to update and rewrite Shakespeare’s famous plays to suit today’s audiences. Such authors argue that Shakespeare’s themes may be timeless, but they are not always timely. While Shakespeare does address gender, race, and religious relations in his time by portraying them as they were, we may not agree with his conclusions today. Indeed, many reboots use Shakespeare because he was already addressing many issues from today (for example, Taming of the Shrew has been remade a number of the times to reflect the society’s changing attitudes towards women). 

This is the enrichment icon. Enrichment

Of course, if you are able to do so, attending the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario will allow you to see many of Shakespeare’s plays every season. 

Oh, Canada?

It is important to note that, while every culture/tradition often writes about collective ideas (as studied in earlier lessons on Jung), each has their unique perspective. It is, furthermore, important that you are familiar with the dramatic works of your own culture/community to help understand who you are and why you respond to experiences in a particular way. In the upcoming activity, consider using a playwright that comes from or speaks about your cultural background.

This is an image of a fingerprint that forms the Canadian flag.

Our dramatists capture and form our identity.

How many playwrights or screenwriters can you name? Now, from that list, how many are Canadian? If you didn't identify many (or any!) Canadians, why do you think that is the case?

Whether you know it or not, Canada boosts a rich collection of powerful playwrights. In fact, Canada’s dramatists can help us understand ourselves as they write to explain and explore their own experiences.

Writer’s Notebook

To learn more about how these writers use their writing to build and communicate Canada’s identity, research classical and/or contemporary Canadian playwrights. There are resources below to assist you. Try to diversify your choices so that you are exposed to multiple perspectives. Make sure you list your chosen playwrights’ names and works. After reading about their plays’ plots, consider how dramatic writing contributes to identity, both personal and patriotic, in your Writer’s Notebook. Do these writers speak for Canada and/or you?

Resources

Consolidation

This is the dropbox icon. Researching Dramatists

Now that you’ve had a chance to consider dramatic advice, it’s time to learn more about the authors, themselves. Choose the name of a dramatist to research. Then design a presentation. It should include the following list of key information.

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So many choices...

  • Your author’s biographical details.
  • A list of your author’s works.
  • The main genre(s) in which your author wrote.
  • The context in which your author wrote.
  • Your author's beliefs about writing.
  • Specific experiences your author may have had that influenced his/her writing.
  • How did your author’s beliefs, experiences, and the context within which she/he wrote influence her/his writing? Give specific examples from her/his works.
  • An analysis and assessment of the ways your writer uses elements of form and elements of style to communicate meaning.
  • Three famous quotations from your author, along with a brief explanation as to why they are significant.
  • How your author contributed to drama (stage or screen).
  • A brief account of the contribution she/he made to writing as an art, craft, and/or career. How do you feel this could influence your own writing?
  • Optional: If you have read any of your author’s works, provide a brief review of one of them.

Genre means the type of art, literature or music characterized by a specific form, content and style. For example, literature has four main genres; poetry, drama, fiction, and non-fiction.

This is the metacognitive icon. Metacognitive Moment

For this Metacognitive Moment, you have two aspects on which to reflect:

  1. Determine whether - and, if so, to what extent - you believe an author can advise another writer.
  2. In a 2 - 3 paragraph response describe what you’ve learned about different dramatic writing styles. How can reading different authors influence your own writing? Make sure you include specific references to what you’ve learned throughout this activity.
  3. What have you learned about writing as an art, a craft, and a career as a result of your reading?
  4. What new ideas have you encountered that you might incorporate in your own dramatic writing?
  5. You've researched how an author's experiences, beliefs, and the context within which she/he wrote influenced her/his writing. How do your own experiences, values and beliefs influence your personal writing?

This is the enrichment icon. Enrichment

Why not pick some authors to read up on yourself? Not only will you have a chance to read some truly engaging plays and scripts, but also you’ll diversify your own skills and tools, too!

Plus, reading dramatists may help encourage you to move out of your reading and writing ‘comfort zone,’ which will introduce you to new styles and perspectives that you may not have otherwise considered.

This is an image of a person lying on a couch with a soft blue blanket covering everything except their hand and feet. There is a table in front that has a remote control and magazine on it.

Reading can be comfortable, but writing requires change.

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