Newfoundland / 2: Giving Culture a Shape

• Published in: Canadian Theatre Review
• Main Author: Borlase, Tim
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) 1986
• Subjects: Visual Arts and Performing Arts; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/ctr.48.002; https://ctr.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/ctr.48.002

Over the past number of years the performing arts in Labrador have stimulated a small but significant cultural revolution. The formula has been simple: where there was an idea, a crisis, or a way of life that needed to be explored, disentangled, or re-discovered, the creation of original dramatic material has provided a safe but captivating way to come to grips with it. This transmission through drama of indigenous culture in Eastern Labrador has directly benefited its creators and has also done a good deal to raise public awareness of social and cultural issues. As people witness and examine the issues that affect others, they at the same time identify the issues that are of artistic and intellectual significance to their own lives.