Whittaker’s Theatricals

Herbert Whittaker, drama critic emeritus of The Globe and Mail, has spent over fifty years in the service of Canadian theatre. Beginning as a stage designer and director in Montreal, in 1949 he became drama, film, and dance critic for The Globe and Mail in Toronto. From his position in the audience and backstage, he watched, praised, cajoled, and championed Canadian theatre during its impressive flowering.

Along the way, he met and became friends with international stars and promising beginners on their way to stardom. In Whittaker’s Theatricals, he shares some memories from personal encounters and draws on historical records to demonstrate Canada’s long connection to world-class theatre.

These lively theatrical portraits include such varied performers as The Divine Sarah and Richard Burton, America’s Sweetheart and Christopher Plummer, Edmund Kean and Kate Reid. Designers like Tanya Moiseiwitsch, directors from Fyodor Komisarjevsky to Tyrone Guthrie and Robert Lepage and influential friends of theatre such as Ed Mirvish and Robbie Ross also find their place in this intriguing collection.

Name-dropping at its best!