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Biography & Autobiography Personal Memoirs

Life Before Stratford

The Memoirs of Amelia Hall

edited by Diane Mew

by (author) Amelia Hall

Publisher
Dundurn Press
Initial publish date
Jan 1990
Category
Personal Memoirs, General, General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781550020625
    Publish Date
    Jan 1990
    List Price
    $14.99
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781459714458
    Publish Date
    Jan 1990
    List Price
    $7.99

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Out of print

This edition is not currently available in bookstores. Check your local library or search for used copies at Abebooks.

Description

By the time Amelia Hall died suddenly in December 1984 she had become one of Canada’s most respected and well-loved actresses. In this book she has left an incomparable record of her early years in the professional theatre in Canada. In particular, these memoirs chronicle the history of the Canadian Repertory Theatre of Ottawa, one of the first professional repertory theatres in Canada. Under Amelia Hall’s direction in the late forties and early fifties, the CRT gave a start to the careers of such notable Canadian actors as Christopher Plummer, Eric House, William Hutt, Ted Follows and William Shatner.

In these days of long-running corporate subsidized extravaganzas, it is instructive to read of the struggles and accomplishments of these pioneers of theatre in Canada, performing weekly repertory on a shoestring budget, with few facilities adn minuscule salaries. Yet it was these enthusiasts who provided the basis for the flowering of the Canadian theatrical scene in the 1960s and 1970s. It is appropriate that these memoirs should culminate in Amelia Hall’s portrayal of the Lady Anne in Richard III opposite Alec Guinness at the first Stratford Festival in 1953, making her the first Canadian and the first woman to speak on the Stratford stage.

This book is lavishly illustrated with photographs from Amelia Hall’s personal collection, now housed at the National Archives of Canada.

About the authors

Diane Mew's profile page

Born in England, Amelia Hall emigrated to Canada at the age of five. In 1948 she made her stage debut in a production of Robertson Davies' "Eros at Breakfast" with the Canadian Art Theatre. She later founded the Canadian Repertory Theatre in Ottawa. She was the first woman to appear and speak on Stratford's stage, and rarely missed a season in the 30 years that followed.

Amelia Hall's profile page

Editorial Reviews

"A warm, generous, revleaing book."

Ottawa Citizen