In Hot Thespian Action! Robin Whittaker argues that new plays can thrive in amateur theatres, which have freedoms unavailable to professionalized companies. And he proves it with ten relevant, engaging playscripts originally produced by one of Canada’s longest-running theatres, Edmonton’s acclaimed Walterdale Theatre Associates. This collection challenges notions that amateur theatre is solely a phenomenon of the pre-professional past. In this, the first North American anthology in eighty years, Whittaker makes an important contribution to Canadian theatre studies. Plays by: Brad Fraser, Mary Glenfield, Warren Graves, Gordon Pengilly, Barbara Sapergia & Geoffrey Ursell, Trevor Schmidt, Jonathan Seinen, Scott Sharplin, Mark Stubbings, and Wilfred Watson.
Robin C. Whittaker is associate professor of drama at St. Thomas University. He has written extensively on theatre in Canada and has taught, directed, and dramaturged at universities across the Canada.
"As a contribution to Canadian theatre, Hot Thespian Action! deserves notice, not just for the novelty of the subject, but for the perceptive commentary in the critical materials and the eclectic collection of undiscovered plays."