They Were Not What They Were

While studying drama at the University of Lethbridge, I took a range of theatre history courses. These classes included chronicles of live performance across millennia, explorations of international drama practices, cursory overviews of just about every popular theatrical style, and a thorough examination of Bertolt Brecht and his enduring influence. Despite the breadth and depth of my readings, the uncommonly competent and capable professors, and the many opportunities for further research, there was not a single lecture about blackface. So, in 2005, I received an undergraduate degree in theatre with no knowledge whatsoever of minstrel shows or the portrayal of racial stereotypes by white performers on stage.

In retrospect, this omission was a shame, given the subject’s long and multifarious history in Canada and its many connections to social and political developments ripe for scholarly study. An associate professor in performance at Toronto Metropolitan...