Publications and Conference Papers - St Thomas University

(*Refereed Publications)

Books

*Whittaker, R. C. Nonprofessionalizing Theatre: A First Century of Alumnae Theatre Company. (In Press)

Whittaker, R. C., and Sue McKenzie-Mohr. No White Picket Fence: A Verbatim Play about Young Women’s Resilience through Foster Care. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2019. 73pp.

*Whittaker, R. C., ed. Hot Thespian Action! Ten Premiere Plays from Walterdale Playhouse. General Introduction and Critical Introductions by R. C. Whittaker. Edmonton: Athabasca UP, 2008. 569pp.

Articles and Chapters

Whittaker, R. C., and Sue McKenzie-Mohr. “Verbatim Theatre, Youth in Care, Social Action.” Introduction to Robin C. Whittaker and Sue McKenzie Mohr’s No White Picket Fence: A Verbatim Play about Young Women’s Resilience through Foster Care. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2019.

Whittaker, R. C. “Staging Taxonomies: How Do You Describe Your Theatre Practices?” Theatre Buzz. Theatre Alberta’s monthly eNewsletter. February 2018.

Whittaker, R. C. “Un/Disciplined Re/Collections: Toward an Archeology of Nonprofessionalizing Theatre Practices.” In Canadian Performance Histories and Historiographies. Ed. Heather Davis-Fisch. Playwrights Canada Press. 2017. 161-78.

*Whittaker, R. C. “The Professionalization of a Stage Naturalist, the Making of a Mythmaker: The Theatre Criticism of Urjo Kareda at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Newspaper.” Theatre Research in Canada / Recherches théatrales au Canada 35.2 (winter 2014). 151-68.

*Whittaker, R. C. “T.R.i.C.s of the Trade: There Are No Macrohistories Here.” Theatre Research in Canada / Reserches théatrales au Canada 35.2 (winter 2014). 250-52.

Whittaker, R. C. “80 Years of New Play Production at Alberta’s ‘Nonprofessionalized’ Theatres.” All Stages Magazine: Theatre in Alberta. Winter 2013. 4-5.

Whittaker, R. C. “Ottawa Little Theatre, the ‘Original Regional’: Canada’s Longest-Running English Language Theatre Turns One Hundred.” Canadian Theatre Review 152 (fall 2012). 62-65.

Whittaker, R. C. “The Tent and the Tree: On the Performance of Protest.” the dance current. 15.3 (May/June 2012). 45.

*Whittaker, R. C. “‘Entirely Free of Any Amateurishness’: Private Training, Public Taste and the Women’s Dramatic Club of University College, Toronto (1905-21).” Nineteenth-Century Theatre and Film. Special Issue: Amateur Theatre in the Long Nineteenth Century. 38.2 (winter 2011). 51-66. [published winter 2013]

*Whittaker, R. C. “The Casting and Makeup of Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies in Canada: A Report on the Discipline by the Numbers (and Letters).” Forum. Theatre Research in Canada / Recherches théatrales au Canada 32.1 (spring 2011). 107-32. [published July 2011]

Whittaker, R. C. “Walterdale Theatre Associates and the In(ter)vention of the Audience.” Canadian Theatre Review 140 (fall 2009). 33-39.

*Whittaker, R. C. “Fusing the Nuclear Community: Intercultural Memory, Hiroshima 1945 and the Chronotopic Dramaturgy of Marie Clements’s Burning Vision.” Theatre Research in Canada / Recherches théatrales au Canada 30.1 (spring 2009). 129-51.

*Whittaker, R. “Postmodern Display: Staging the Mind of Marshall McLuhan.” Theatre Research in Canada / Recherches théatrales au Canada 27.1 (spring 2006). 100-22.

Whittaker, R. “Feeling around the Repressed: Performing Uncanny Space in Sally Clark’s Jehanne of the Witches.” Canadian Theatre Review 120 (fall 2004). 5-11.

Whittaker, R. “Divine ‘Northern’ Identity: Herman Voaden and the Spirit of Canadian Theatre.” Ed. Anton Wagner. The Worlds of Herman Voaden [online]. March 2003. <www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/Theatre/voaden/default.htm>

Whittaker, R. “A Role for Community Theatre Today.” Playhouse: A Newsletter for Walterdale Members & Friends. Walterdale Theatre. May 2002. 3-4.

Whittaker, R. “Wilfrid Laurier University.” The Students’ Guide to Canadian Universities. Toronto: Key Porter, 1999. 134-39.

Reviews

*Whittaker, R. C. Review of Jessica Riley’s A Man of Letters: The Selected Dramaturgical Correspondence of Urjo Kareda. In Theatre Research in Canada / Recherches théatrales au Canada. 38:2 (fall 2017). 262-66.

*Whittaker, R. C. Review of Tony Nardi’s book Two Letters … And Counting. In Theatre Research in Canada / Recherches théatrales au Canada 37.1 (winter 2016). 131-32.

*Whittaker, R. C. “Canadian Theatre Quips.” Review of Susan McNicoll’s The Opening Act: Canadian Theatre History 1945-53. In Canadian Literature: A Quarterly of Criticism and Review 221 (summer 2014). 172.

Whittaker, R. C., and Barry Freeman. “Fear of Flight, Fear of Fright: Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland and Eight ‘Trans-Canadian’ Playwrights Touch Down at Factory Theatre.” Canadian Theatre Review 142 (summer 2010). 88-90.

Whittaker, R. C. “Blown Speechless into the Raging Dreams of Children in a Violent Age: Theatre Gargantua’s Persistent Creation in Times of ‘Crisis.’” Canadian Theatre Review 135 (summer 2008). 122-24.

Whittaker, R. “The Very First Elephant on the Very First Day: Nicholas Billon’s The Elephant Song Trumpets at the Stratford Regime.” Canadian Theatre Review 130 (spring 2007). 122-25.

Whittaker, R. “‘Serving the Whole’: An Interview with Ottawa Playwright Peter Froehlich.” Canadian Theatre Review 119 (summer 2004). 85-87.

Whittaker, R. “simpL Politics, Simply Art: Karl Valentin, Peter Froehlich, Troubled Waters.” Canadian Theatre Review 119 (summer 2004). 82-84.

Whittaker, R. “WANTED in Whitehorse: An Interview with Playwright Sally Clark.” Canadian Theatre Review 116 (fall 2003). 96-98.

Whittaker, R. “The Premier of Sally Clark’s WANTED.” Canadian Theatre Review 116 (fall 2003). 94-96.

Whittaker, R. “Carole Pope: Gyrations at Mrs. Robinson’s.” Outlook. 15 January 1997.

Encyclopedia Entries & Book Introductions

Whittaker, R. C. “Silk, Ilkay” (created). Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, 2015. <www.canadiantheatre.com>

Whittaker, R. C., and Rodrigo Flores. “Theatre St. Thomas” (created). Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, 2014. <www.canadiantheatre.com>

Whittaker, R. “Theatre Passe Muraille” (updated). The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2009. <http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com>

Whittaker, R. “Graves, Warren” (updated). Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, 2008. <http://www.canadiantheatre.com>

Whittaker, R. “Saint Frances of Hollywood.” Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama. New York: Columbia UP, 2007.

Whittaker, R. “Forward.” In Sally Clark, WANTED. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2004. 5-6.

Whittaker, R. “Probing McLuhan.” Program notes. The Illumination of Marshall McLuhan. Baffin Island Productions Cooperative. Edmonton, 2000. n.pag.

Whittaker, R. “Dramaturgical Notes.” Program notes. A Chorus of Disapproval. Timms Centre, University of Alberta. Edmonton, 2000. n.pag.

Whittaker, R. “A Note from the EIC.” The Cord Guide 97-98. Ed. R. Whittaker. Waterloo: WLU Student Publications, 1997.

Poetry

Whittaker, R. Happen Stance (poetry/prose chapbook). Waterloo: RW P (self-published), 1998.

Whittaker, R. “sour carmen.” Nepenthe: Poetry WLU. XIX (spring 1998). 6.

Invited Keynote Addresses

“Community Theatre Practices in the Professional Era.” Community Theatre Summit. Theatre Alberta. Banff, AB. 23-25 March 2018.

“From Toad Hall to The Tragically Hip: Pursuing a Life of Art and Creativity.” Festival of the Arts. Rothesay Netherwood School. NB. 27-28 Oct 2017.

Conference Presentations

Whittaker, R. C. “‘On the Verge of Collapse’: Alumnae Theatre Company’s Century of Crises, Flexibility, and Resilience.” CATR/SQET Conference [online]. Jun-Jul 2021.

Whittaker, R. C. “Discourse-Tost: Robertson Davies’s Tempest-Tost and the Amateur Psyche.” Theatre-Fiction: Stages on Pages Panel. MLA Conference. Toronto. Jan 2021.

Whittaker, Robin. C. “‘Too Busy Amateuring’ on the Homefront: Alumnae Theatre Company ‘Climb Aboard the Merry-Go-Round’, ‘Briskly or Painfully’ Knitting (1939-45).” CATR Conference. McGill/Concordia (Montréal). May 2020. [Paper accepted, but I declined to present remotely.]

Whittaker, R. C. “Founding Daughters and Their Philanthropic Modernisms: The Early Years of North America’s Oldest Women-Run Theatre, Toronto’s Alumnae Theatre Company.” CATR Conference. Queen’s U (Kingston ON). May-June 2018.

Whittaker, R. C. “Nonprofessionalizing Practices and Contested Communities: (Re)Collecting the English-Language Premiere of Anne Hébert’s Le Temps Sauvage at Alumnae Theatre Company.” CATR Conference (Congress of the Humanities). U Calgary. May 2016.

Whittaker, R. C. “In an Uncertain World ‘Only an Expert Can Deal with the Problem’: Performance and Protest, Professionals and the Rest.” CATR Conference (Congress of the Humanities). WLU / U Waterloo. May 2012.

Whittaker, R. C. “‘Entirely Free of Any Amateurishness’: The Nonprofessionalized Theatre Practices of the Women’s Dramatic Club of University College.” What Signifies a Theatre? Conference. Royal Holloway University. June 2011.

Whittaker, R. C. “‘Entirely Free of Any Amateurishness’: The Nonprofessionalized Theatre Practices of the Women’s Dramatic Club of University College (1905-21).” CATR Conference (Congress of the Humanities). UNB/STU. May 2011.

Whittaker, R. C. “‘Entirely Free of Any Amateurishness’: The Women’s Dramatic Club of University College.” Northeast Modern Language Association. New Brunswick, NJ. April 2011.

Whittaker, R. C. “Prejudices of Professionalization in Theatre Historiography.” IFTR Historiography Working Group. Munich, Germany. July 2010.

Whittaker, R. C. “Nonprofessionalized Theatre and Its Publics in the Professional Era: Patronage and Philanthropy at Toronto’s Alumnae Theatre Company.” PSi. York University. June 2010.

Whittaker, R. C. “Intellectual and Un/Disciplined: Relocating Toronto’s Alumnae Theatre Company, from Philanthropic Theatre to the Original ‘Alternative.’” CATR Conference (Congress of the Humanities). Concordia University. May 2010. Winner of the Robert Lawrence Prize for outstanding paper by an emerging scholar at CATR’s annual meeting.

Whittaker, R. C. “From Gown to Town in the Professionalizing Era: Patronage, Philanthropy and ‘Intellectual Theatre’ at Alumnae Theatre Company.” Mid-America Theatre Conference. Cleveland OH. March 2010.

Whittaker, R. C. “Toward the Rehistoricization of Amateur Theatre Practice: The (Undisciplined) Case of Edmonton’s Walterdale Playhouse.” Association for Canadian Studies in the United States. The Westin Gaslamp Quarter (San Diego). November 2009.

Whittaker, R. C. “Toward the Rehistoricization of Amateur Theatre Practice: The (Un)Disciplined Case of Edmonton’s Walterdale Playhouse.” CATR Conference (Congress of the Humanities). Carleton University. May 2009. Awarded Honourable Mention for the Robert Lawrence Prize for outstanding paper by an emerging scholar at CATR’s annual meeting.

Whittaker, R. C. “Unusually Relevant Theatre: The (Undisciplined) Case of Edmonton’s Walterdale Playhouse.” Whose Show Is It, Anyway? Community-Engaged Performance and Exhibition Arts in the Small City. Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC. March 2009.

Whittaker, R. C. “Toward the Rehistoricization of Amateur Theatre Practice: The (Undisciplined) Case of Edmonton’s Walterdale Playhouse.” Mid-America Theatre Conference. Chicago, IL. March 2009.

Whittaker, R. C. “Nonprofessionalized Theatre and Its ‘Long Tale’: The (Undisciplined) Case of Edmonton’s Walterdale Playhouse.” Canadian Studies: State of the Art. Centre for Canadian Studies, Mount Allison University. Sackville, NB. February 2009.

Whittaker, R. C. “Toward the Rehistoricization of Amateur Theatre Practice: The (Undisciplined) Case of Edmonton’s Walterdale Playhouse.” MANECCS/SACS Joint Canadian Studies Conference. Washington, DC. October 2008.

Whittaker, R. “Implicating the Nuclear Community: Memoried TimeSpace, Hiroshima 1945 and Marie Clements’s Burning Vision.” Signatures of the Past. University of Brussels. April 2007.

Whittaker, R. “Fitful Lives and Flicked Switches: The Reviewer and Theatrical Professionalization in Edmonton in the 1960s.” ACTR Conference (Congress of the Humanities). York University. May 2006.

Whittaker, R. “Nuclear Families and Burning Re/Visions: Timespace Rehistoricizations in Marie Clements’s Burning Vision.” ACTR Conference (Congress of the Humanities). University of Western Ontario. May 2005.

Whittaker, R. “Illuminating the Postmodern: Staging the Mind of Marshall McLuhan.” ACTR Conference (Learneds). University of Alberta. May 2000.

Creative

DIRECTOR (Selected)

2018 Nov - A Life of Galileo (Brecht/Ravenhill): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2018 Sep - The Great Beaverbrook Caper (Mihan): Beaverbrook Gallery, Fredericton, NB

2018 Jul - The Great Beaverbrook Caper (Mihan): NotaBle Acts, Beaverbrook Gallery, NB

2017 Feb - No White Picket Fence (Whittaker and McKenzie-Mohr): TST, STU, NB

2016 Nov - The Trickster of Seville (de Molina): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2015 Nov - Trudeau and the FLQ (Hollingsworth): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2014 Nov - The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2014 June - Rabbit-town (Ross/Griffith/Whittaker): Solo Chicken/TST, Fredericton, NB

2014 Feb - The Coronation Voyage (M.M. Bouchard): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2013 April - Vanceboro (Chris Fulton): NotaBle Acts / STU / McAdam Station, NB

2013 April - Animating Rabbit-Town: Three Scenes (Ross, Griffith): Drama Production II, NB

2012 July - Vanceboro (Chris Fulton): NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival, Fredericton, NB

2003 - The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare): Walterdale Playhouse, Edmonton, AB

2002 - No/Touching (collective): Third Wheel Productions, Edmonton Fringe Festival

2001 - WORLD: A Passion in One Act (R. Whittaker): Edmonton Fringe Festival, AB

2001 - Saint Frances of Hollywood (Sally Clark): Walterdale Playhouse, Edmonton, AB

2001 - Silicone Valleys (J. McKenzie): Black Wagging Dog Productions, U of A, AB

1999 - The Trial of Judith K. (Sally Clark): University Players, Waterloo, ON

1998 - Olo (R. Whittaker): Laurier Fringe Festival, Waterloo ON

1997 - Landed (R. Whittaker): Laurier Fringe / Laurier Theatre Collective, Waterloo ON

1997 - Americansaint (A. LeFevre): TR347, Laurier, Waterloo ON

1996 - Wearing Thin (R. Whittaker): Laurier Fringe Festival, Waterloo ON

PLAYWRIGHT (Selected)

2017 Feb - No White Picket Fence (Whittaker and McKenzie-Mohr): TST, STU, NB

2014 Nov - “Epilogue” for The Taming of the Shrew: Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2014 Jun - Rabbit-town (Ross/Griffith/Whittaker): York St. Train Station, Fredericton, NB

2013 July - The Fall of the Western Dan, NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival, Fredericton, NB

2012 July - The Stillborne Headlight Game: Masterclass reading led by C. Murphy, UNB

2012 spring - The Fall of the Western Dan: Staged Reading, PARC, Fredericton, NB

2009 - The Fall of the Western Dan: Graduate Drama Centre, U of T, ON

2003 - 3 Snake Leaves. Syncrude Nextfest (workshop, reading): script in progress, AB

2000-01 - WORLD: Edmonton Fringe (script workshops at NeXtFest and U of A), AB

1998 - Olo: Laurier Fringe Festival, Waterloo, ON

1997 - Landed: Laurier Fringe Festival / Laurier Theatre Collective, Waterloo, ON

1996 - Wearing Thin: Laurier Fringe Festival, Waterloo, ON

1995 - The Hunter File: Etobicoke Collegiate Institute, Toronto, ON

1994 - The Sugar Park Problem: Etobicoke Collegiate Institute, Toronto, ON

DRAMATURGE (Selected)

2018 Jul - The Great Beaverbrook Caper (Mihan): NotaBle Acts, Beaverbrook Gallery, NB

2014 Jun - Rabbit-town (Ross/Griffith/Whittaker): York St. Train Station, Fredericton, NB

2004-06 - Script dramaturgy at Ottawa’s Youth Infringement Festival, ON

2005 - The Marivaux Project: Graduate Drama Centre, U of T, ON

2005 - Lavicious: Dark Deeds Theatre, Toronto Fringe Festival, ON

2003 The Taming of the Shrew: Walterdale Playhouse, Edmonton, AB

2002 No/Touching: Third Wheel Productions, Edmonton Fringe Festival, AB

2001 - Agamemnon / Trojan Woman: BFA show, U of A, AB

2001 - Silicone Valleys: Black Wagging Dog Productions, University of Alberta

2000 King Lear: Free Will Players, Edmonton AB

2000 The Special: NeXtFest 2000 public reading, Edmonton AB

2000 - The Illumination of Marshall McLuhan, Edmonton AB (Sterling nominated)

2000 - A Chorus of Disapproval: Studio Theatre, U of A, AB

1999 - The Fifth Chamber: Urban Tales, Northern Light Theatre, Edmonton AB

CO-SET DESIGNER (Selected)

2018 Nov - A Life of Galileo (Brecht/Ravenhill): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2017 Feb - No White Picket Fence (with Chris Saad): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2016 Nov - The Trickster of Seville (with Chris Saad): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2015 Nov - Trudeau and the FLQ (with Chris Saad): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2014 Nov - The Taming of the Shrew (with Chris Saad): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2014 Jun - Rabbit-town (with Chris Saad): Solo Chicken Productions, Fredericton

2014 Feb - The Coronation Voyage (with Chris Saad): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2013 April - Vanceboro (with Chris Saad): NotaBle Acts / STU / McAdam Station, NB

ARTISTIC PRODUCER OF PLAYS AND EVENTS FOR TST (Selected)

2019 May - #Swipers (Nowlan): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2019 Mar - Acts of Kindness (AOK) Festival new play readings: TST, STU, NB

2019 Feb - Montreal Shtetl play readings (Abramson/Lynch): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2019 Jan - The Importance of Being Earnest (Wilde): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2018 Dec - “What’s Next? Professionalization of Your Artistic Practice,” TST, STU, NB

2018 Nov - A Life of Galileo (Brecht/Ravenhill): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2018 Oct - I Am Rohingya (Zine) film screening: Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2018 Jan - What’s Next? new play festival: Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2017 Nov - Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Stoppard): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2017 Feb - No White Picket Fence (Whittaker and McKenzie-Mohr): TST, STU, NB

2016 Nov - The Trickster of Seville (de Molina): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2016 Feb - The Bacchae (Euripides/Johnston): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2015 Nov - Trudeau and the FLQ (Hollingsworth): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB

2014 Nov - The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare): Theatre St. Thomas, STU, NB