Alumnae Theatre Company

""Robin Whittaker's meticulously researched study of Toronto's Alumnae Theatre is more than an exquisitely crafted love letter to North America's oldest women-run theatre. Its extensive historical overview of Alumnae's fortunes from 1918 through to 2018, as augmented by four additional chapters focusing on specific areas of its evolving operations, is a powerful plea for the need to constantly document and reassess the work of companies prone to 'disappear' from critical consideration because of shifting currents in social, aesthetic, and ideological thought and practice. Ultimately, Whittaker also makes a compelling case for scholars and practitioners alike to remain open to the 'nonprofessionalizing practices of past, present, and future' as another way of revolutionizing contemporary theatre theory and practice beyond Alumnae's centenary of achievement.""--Moira Day, Professor Emerita of Drama, University of Saskatchewan ""In this lively and provocative study of Canada's oldest theatre company, Robin Whittaker shows how and why Alumnae Theatre has survived as a hotbed of theatrical creativity for over a century. He has given us a benchmark work of brilliant archival research, in an engaging narrative voice. Whittaker's focus on the centrality of what he reclaims as 'nonprofessionalizing' theatre overturns the narrative precepts of Canadian theatre historiography's foundational focus on the development of a professional theatre industry and dramatic canon. A monumental work of theatre scholarship!""--Alan Filewod, Professor Emeritus of Theatre Studies, University of Guelph ""Comprehensive, thoughtful, always engaging, and superbly well-structured, Whittaker's book allows the reader to feel the atmosphere and concerns of each era of Alumnae Theatre, and to appreciate the motivation and enthusiasm for generations of Toronto women to create high quality theatre experiences for themselves and for their audiences. Whittaker demonstrates how such a wide range of theatrical activity is intrinsically bound up with the conviction to remain nonprofessionalized, allowing this female-led company to remain both resistant and resilient. He does not shy away from the difficulties of constructing the history (and microhistories) of any theatre company, especially the loss of institutional and individual memory, and his book is a remedy against that loss.""--Shelley Scott, Professor of Drama, University of Lethbridge