A cultural giant, Mavor Moore was active in one of the most important periods for the growth of Canadian identity. The years following WWII saw the creation of the CBC, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the centennial celebrations. Moore was a leader in all of these influential events: the first chief producer at CBC Television, the first artist to chair the Canada Council, the first artistic director of the Charlottetown Festival, as well as being an actor, musician, director, producer, composer, librettist, and professor. But, before all of these diverse vocations, Mavor Moore was a writer. In this collection, editor Allan Boss examines eight of Moore's plays and musicals alongside the works themselves, some published here for the first time. From Moore's first play to his most celebrated opera, Boss unearths texts that helped define a national theatre and shape Canadian identity, and by doing so provides an important addition to Canadian studies. Includes the plays Humpty Dumpty, Who's Who, The Ottawa Man, Inside Out, and Customs, and the musicals Sunshine Town, The Optimist, and Louis Riel.

Allan Boss has worked on many projects, both regionally and nationally, as a producer and director for the CBC. Boss worked with Ghost River Theatre on their production of An Eye for an Eye, which was chosen to represent the CBC at Wordplay 2007, and was broadcast internationally. Boss’s Ideas program “Updrafts” was nominated for the Peabody, New York Festivals, Gabriel, and Prix Italia awards. With a Ph.D. in drama from the University of Calgary, Boss has shaped the history surrounding Mavor Moore’s life and work.

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