Fonds contains the following series: papers relating to the constitution and structure, 1935-1976; papers relating to the Board of Governors, 1939-1978; individual officers' files, 1960-1974; papers relating to officers, 1959-1971; papers relating to the executive committee, 1935-1978; papers relating to committees, 1939-1978; Spensley Report, 1969-1974; briefs, 1949-1973; papers relating to finances, 1934-1978; correspondence, 1929-1978; papers relating to the training program, 1959-1978; papers relating to the regions, 1933-1978; papers relating to the regional and final festivals, 1955-1959; papers relating to the final festivals, 1932-1975; papers relating to the Multicultural Festival, 1974; scripts, 1969-1974; Love and Whisky (by Betty Lee), 1933-1975; subject files, 1933-1978; publications, 1934-1977; scrapbooks, 1905-1974; clippings, 1933-1953; and the John Hill papers, 1969-1970. Microfilmed material includes scrapbook of the Theatre Guild of Brockville, 1930-1950; scrapbooks of the Grey Musical and Dramatic Trophy Competition, 1906-1911; papers relating to the Drama League and the Ottawa Little Theatre, 1928-1961, and other theatrical material (microfilm reels M-590, M-1655 to M-1657, M-1896, M-1902, M-1909, M-1940, M-2303). Also included in the fonds: A proclamation about the celebration in 1964 to commemorate the first Confederation conference at Charlottetown. Graphic material consisting of a poster advertising the Dominion Drama Festival; posters of Theatre Canada productions; posters of the Guelph Spring Festival; cartoon drawings and set designs for The Prince and the Pauper (1976). Medallic items: 100th Anniversary Charlottetown Conference medal, 1964; medals created for the centennial of the First Confederation Conference of Canada, 1964; Dominion Drama Festival pin; City of Monaco 5th World Amateur Theatre Festival/ Festival Mondial du Théâtre Amateur medal, 1973. Photographs including portraits and various depictions of the activities of the Dominion Drama Festival and its successor, Theatre Canada. Two films depicting a theatre workshop, and a news service film depicting drama festival footage from the late 1950s as well as footage from regional and local festivals. Sound recordings consisting of oral interviews, commentaries, adjudication of plays, proceedings of meetings and discussions, radio programs, a piano recital and opening ceremonies. Drawings pertaining to theatres and auditoriums in Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Ottawa, Windsor, Sherbrooke, Charlottetown and St. John's. Performance spaces include the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (Edmonton), the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (Calgary), the Saskatoon Centennial Auditorium, the National Arts Centre Theatre and the National Arts Centre Studio (Ottawa), the Cleary Auditorium and Memorial Convention Hall (Windsor), the Séminaire Saint-Charles-Borromée auditorium (Sherbrooke), the Confederation Centre Theatre (Charlottetown), and the Arts and Culture Centre (St. John's).
Theatre Canada : The Dominion Drama Festival (DDF) was founded by the Governor General of Canada, Lord Bessborough, in the 1930s to showcase and promote Canadian amateur theatre across the country. The DDF was incorporated in 1936. Its organization consisted of a board of governors and an executive committee. Its officials included a president, an honorary chair and a director, selected by the board of governors. Except during the war years, the DDF held regional competitive festivals, along with a final festival, annually. This programming encouraged artists, actors and playwrights, and contributed to the cultural development of the nation. From this festival would emerge a number of Canada's most renowned professional stage artists of the mid-twentieth century, many of which would be at the forefront of, notably, the Stratford Theatre Festival (Amelia Hall, Christopher Plummer, James Gardner, William Hutt) and the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (Jean Gascon, Gratien Gélinas, Huguette Oligny, Jean-Louis Roux). As Canadian professional theatres expanded in the 1960s and 1970s, the DDF gradually became inactive. In the 1970s, it morphed into Theatre Canada, which promoted amateur theatre productions without the competition element. Funding problems forced the organization to fold in 1978 after 46 years of service to amateur theatre in Canada. One of its components, the National Multicultural Theatre Association (1975-1987), continued to produce national festivals reflecting Canada's cultural diversity (this included amateur theatre productions).
