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Nathan Cohen is for Mourning: A Cape Breton Play in Toronto, 1953 by Ashley Harding Bachelor of Arts, Cape Breton University, 2008 A Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Graduate Academic Unit of History Supervisor: David Frank, PhD, History Examining Board: R. Steven Turner, PhD, History, Chair Gregory S. Kealey, PhD, History Len Falkenstein, PhD, English This report is accepted by the Dean of Graduate Studies THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK September 2009 ©Ashley Rhonda Harding, 2009 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-80695-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-80695-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciaies ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada DEDICATION For my mother n ABSTRACT An era is never solely defined by its successes, but on the contrary it is the combination of its successes and its failures that creates a true picture of the time. This report looks in detail at the origins of Nathan Cohen's play "Blue is for Mourning" and its production by the Jupiter Theatre in Toronto in 1953. Considered an unmitigated disaster in its time, the play survives in only one known copy at the Toronto Reference Library and it has been more than fifty years since the play was first produced. However, it is time for a reassessment of this play. It was a Canadian play produced at a time when few original Canadian plays were seen on stage. Moreover, it was a play about an industrial community in eastern Nova Scotia produced in downtown Toronto by people who, with the exception of the playwright, had little knowledge of the social background of the play. Also, in the early years of the Cold War it was a play on a labour theme by a writer who had for several years written for leftist newspapers before gaining his somewhat severe reputation as a drama critic. For these and other reasons, it is worth looking again at this play. The production of "Blue is for Mourning" represents one of those failed points in history that should be revisited because, despite its supposed deficiency, the origins and production of this play shed light on the period in which it was produced as well as the early work of a leading figure in the history of Canadian theatre. in ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing this report has been a journey, and my passage from the beginning to the end would have been impossible to navigate by myself. I would like to thank Dr. David Frank for accepting me as a report candidate and offering valued guidance and assistance. For their financial support, I would like to acknowledge the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I am grateful for a travel grant from the H. H. Stuart Fund which enabled me to travel to Toronto for research. I would like to thank Professors Greg Kealey and Len Falkenstein for reading this report and to acknowledge the History Department and the University of New Brunswick for their support. I am grateful to my history professors at both the University of New Brunswick and Cape Breton University for offering their support for the last five years. I am very appreciative of the help I received in locating and accessing sources from the staff of the Harriet Irving Library, the Toronto Reference Library, and the estate of Nathan Cohen, with special thanks given to Bill Hamade, Department Head, Special Collections, Genealogy and Maps at the Toronto Reference Library who helped me in gaining permission to place "Blue is for Mourning" in the appendix of this report. I would like to thank my family, especially my mother for her continued support and for inspiring my curiosity and encouraging me in my university education. Finally, a heartfelt thanks to the friends I made while completing this report, especially my fellow history graduates and drama friends, who listened to me ramble, became the scaffolding for my sanity and gave me a creative outlet and a place of acceptance. iv Table of Contents DEDICATION ii ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv Table of Contents v List of Images vi Introduction 1 Chapter One: Canadian Theatre at the Time of the Massey Report 8 Chapter Two: Nathan Cohen's Journey: Cape Breton to Toronto 25 Chapter Three: "Blue is for Mourning": A Play In Three Acts 49 Epilogue 75 Bibliography 81 Appendix: "Blue is For Mourning" by Nathan Cohen 86 Curriculum Vitae v is for • »«w comady Nathan Cohen- SMMWG DONALD McKEE Crtc MmMw * * Jan* Ofah**t rf*««ciarf jfivtf J*ra>aB)* mmjfmr Optnfng FRIDAY. FES. 13 Seats en Sate Monday 1 Monday*!, E«t«n'i htlormitton tmrecut, MaMam ({•?) Reservations: Kt; 3748 ^qr^^in,« Source: G/o6e and Mail, 7 February 1953, Entertainment Section. Introduction Bound in red morocco with fine gold leaf lettering, the only surviving copy of Nathan Cohen's play "Blue is for Mourning" has sat in the Toronto Reference Library for more than fifty years since the play was first produced. At the time Cohen's play was considered an unmitigated disaster, and the general view was that the play should better collect dust on the shelves than ever see the light of day again. However, it is time for a reassessment of this play. It was a Canadian play produced at a time when few original Canadian plays were seen on stage. Moreover, it was a play about an industrial community in eastern Nova Scotia produced in downtown Toronto by people who, with the exception of the playwright, had little knowledge of the social background of the play. Also, in the early years of the Cold War it was a play on a labour theme by a writer who had for several years written for leftist newspapers before gaining his somewhat severe reputation as a drama critic. For these and other reasons, it is worth looking again at this play. "Blue is for Mourning" represents one of those failed points in history that 1 should be revisited because they have much to tell us about the history to which they belong. In seeking to explain Canadian culture in its widest context during the mid- twentieth century no document is more representative of the era than the Report of the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences (commonly referred to as the Massey Report). The Massey Report was a government report commissioned to consider the cultural state of Canada in the emerging society after the Second World War. The five-member committee embarked on a two-year country­ wide information-gathering tour.1 All this was in an effort by the Canadian government to consider culture not just as a leisure activity but as a nation-building tool. With this in mind it is no wonder that the mass communication tools of radio and television were of the greatest concern and given the most access to public money. However, this meant that other cultural activities, especially theatre, suffered. Canadian theatre was recommended by the Massey Report to receive no public monies for its future growth.2 Despite this the Massey Report inspired the theatre community to pursue nationalistic themes in their art. In looking at such influential play troupes and festivals of the period as the New Play Society, the Dominion Drama Festival, and the Jupiter Theatre, it can be noted that theatre undertook other goals than just nationalistic pursuits. Some theatrical efforts in Albert Shea, Culture in Canada A Study of the Findings of the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences (1949-1951) (Toronto: Canadian Association for Adult Education, 1952), 10. 2 Report Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences 1949-1951 (Ottawa: Edmond Cloutier, 1951), 199. 2 this time also desired to showcase socially relevant drama and to professionalize the art.3 Social relevance was accomplished through the use of art inspired by the style of social realism, which used themes and mediums directed to the working class.

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