Oral Stage

This book examines the relationship between orality
and Franco-Ontarian theatre and more specifically
the way in which oral practices (such as traditional
story-telling) have been adapted and transformed by
Franco-Ontarian playwrights, actors and directors,
to produce a specific poetics of performance that
evolved exclusively within Franco-Ontarian society
between its theatre's genesis in 1970 to 2000. The
corpus is drawn from those plays written and/or
performed which exhibit characteristics of oral
culture, as defined by the works of such scolars as
Mercia Eliade, Arnold van Gennep, Richard Turner,
Walter Ong, Richard Bauman and others. Written in
English, the book also provides a sound introduction
to this important facet of French-Canadian
literature that may otherwise be overlooked.