In Montreal Whittaker witnessed the early careers of actors such as Christopher Plummer, Gratien Gélinas, John Colicos, Jean Gascon, Denise Pelletier, and Amelia Hall. He worked in close collaboration with many pioneers of the Little Theatre Movement, the Dominion Drama Festival, and Canadian theatre in general, such as Martha Allan, Charles Rittenhouse, and Pierre Dagenais. His involvement with Dagenais' L'Equipe allows him to report on the early days of francophone theatre in Montreal and the cross-fertilization between Martha Allan's Montreal Repertory Theatre and actor-directors such as Dagenais, Gratien Gélinas, and Yvette Brind'Amour. He also gives us glimpses of the early theatrical spaces in the city that no longer exist, as well as some, such as the Salle de Gésu and the Monument-National, that have survived. This engaging memoir of exciting times is prefaced by a personal tribute from Christopher Plummer and set in context through an introduction, chronology, and bibliography by Jonathan Rittenhouse. Illustrated with a selection of Whittaker's stage and costume designs as well as photographs, Setting the Stage provides a captivating visual record of the period and is a must for everyone interested in Canadian theatre, Canadian arts, culture, and Montreal.

Herbert Whittaker, drama critic emeritus of The Globe and Mail, has spent over fifty years in the service of Canadian theatre. Beginning as a stage designer and director in Montreal, in 1949 he became drama, film, and dance critic for The Globe and Mail in Toronto.

Herbert Whittaker's profile page

Jonathan Rittenhouse's profile page

"For all of us young writers and actors, he helped lay the ground rules, he was there when we needed him ... Whittaker had nothing tangible to endorse when he began. He had to get behind a whole country largely Calvinist in its indifference to things artistic and convince it that within its boundaries such a thing as art actually could exist ... I don't think there is anyone who has done more to free our country of its old prejudices toward homegrown talent than Herbert Whittaker." Christopher Plummer, from the Preface. "Herbert Whittaker was Montreal's quintessential man of theatre." William Weintraub in City Unique: Montreal Days and Nights in the 1940s and “50s. "Setting the Stage is a rich and valuable work in which readers will discover forgotten or unknown chapters of Quebec and Canadian theatre. Whittaker introduces us to forgotten theatre companies and organizations and bears witness to the vitality of a particularly fertile period." Jean-Marc Larrue, Theatre Department, Collège de Valleyfield. "an interesting book on a major figure in Canadian theatre." Anton Wagner, Anton Wagner Productions.