Shakespeare in Canada: A Cultural Map

Shakespeare in Canada: Exploring Our Cultural History through Digital Humanities

A project to create an online interactive cultural map of the presence of the Bard and the way in which his works have shaped Canadian culture.

The Canadian North and amateur performance

Title

The Canadian North and amateur performance

Description

The tradition of amateur performance of Shakespeare is a venerable one that goes back to the 18th century and includes ship-board performances in the high Arctic.

Contributor

Maggie Kendall
Andrea Zehr
Krystyna Dodds

Collection Items

Shakespeare and amateur performance in the Canadian North
A digital archive of the only recorded evidence of Shakespeare performed by amateurs in the Canadian North. Crews sailing under the command of Sir. Edward Belcher in the 1852 expedition to find the lost Franklin ships performed Shakespeare's Hamlet…

Katharina and Petruchio
Engraving of a scene from The Taming of the Shrew. Petruchio standing to left, right hand on his hip, holding up a new cap in his left and mocking its shape, before giving it back to the waiting haberdasher despite Catherine's protestations that…

Amateur Actors Performing Hamlet
Colour lithograph of politicians playing the roles in the play within Hamlet; a presentation cartoon from the "St. Stephens' Review."

Captain Franklin, F.R.S.
Captain Franklin, Commander of the land Arctic expedition

William Shakespeare
Poster depicting various characters from William Shakespeare's plays and Globe Theatre.

Poster for the £20,000 Reward for the Discovery of the Missing Franklin Expedition
W.A.B. [William Alexander Baillie] Hamilton, Secretary of the British Admiralty, authorized the publication of this broadside in March of 1850. It was part of the effort to find the crew and vessels connected to Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition to…

The situation of H.M.S. Resolute and H.M.S. Intrepid as they appeared in the Arctic Sea
Print of H.M.S. Resolute and H.M.S. Intrepid stuck in the ice while looking for Sir John Franklin.

The story of the arctic ship Resolute
Hand-coloured illustration of the story of the H.M.S. Resolute.

Departure of the traveling parties from the H.M.S Resolute and H.M.S. Intrepid
Image depicting H.M.S. Resolute from George F. McDougall's book The Eventful Voyage of HM Discovery Resolute to the Arctic Regions.

Map of the Arctic Sea, Baffin Bay and Melville Island
Image depicting coasts explored by the H.M.S. Assistance, H.M.S. Resolute, H.M.S. Intrepid, and H.M.S. Pioneer.
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