Audrey Johnson was an observer and participant in the Victoria arts scene for nearly forty years. As a columnist for the Victoria Times and then the Times-Colonist, she covered the development of the arts from a unique vantage point. Intimately involved with the creation of the Langham Court Theatre, the New Bastion, the Phoenix Theatre and the Pacific Opera Society, Audrey knew the characters, the secrets, and the behind-the-scenes politics. This book is a personal history of the contemporary arts scene in Victoria and how it evolved. It looks at the ups and downs of the arts—theatre, music, visual arts and dance—in what was a critical time in Victoria’s emergence as a city.

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Born in Toronto in 1919, dramatist, actor, director, composer, producer, critic and teacher, Mavor Moore wrote more than 100 works for stage, radio and television. He was CBC-TV’s first chief producer, first chair of the Canadian Theatre Centre, founding director of the Charlottetown Festival and Toronto’s St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, and was the first artist to chair the Canada Council (1979-1983). He was a Companion of the Order of Canada, and among other honours held the Molson Prize and the Canadian Conference of the Arts Diplôme d’honneur. Moore passed away in December 2006. A collection of his plays, Six Plays by Mavor Moore was published by Talonbooks in 1989.

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