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Herman Voaden

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Herman Arthur Voaden
Born(1903-01-19)January 19, 1903
London, Ontario, Canada
DiedJune 27, 1991(1991-06-27) (aged 88)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
GenrePlaywright
Notable awardsOrder of Canada

Herman Arthur Voaden, CM FRSA (19 January 1903 – 27 June 1991)[1] was a Canadian playwright.[2]

Life and work

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Born in London, Ontario,[1] he received a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in 1923 and a Master of Arts degree in 1926 from Queen's University.[3] He also studied at the University of Chicago and at Yale University.

His father, Dr. Arthur Voaden, pioneered vocational teaching in Ontario. His mother, Luisa Bale Voaden, was also a teacher. Voaden studied modern drama at Queen's University, 1920–1923, and wrote his 1926 Queen’s M.A. thesis on Eugene O’Neill.[4]

In 1928 Voaden became head of the English department at the Central High School of Commerce (now the Central Toronto Academy),[3] where he worked for decades. In 1960 his work there was described as "pioneer[ing] in progressive education methods, including the 'play approach' to drama.'"[5]

A member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation,[4] he ran for the House of Commons of Canada in the western Toronto riding of Trinity in the 1945 elections, 1949 elections, 1953 elections, and a 1954 by-election. He lost each time.

Voaden was a member of Toronto's Arts and Letters Club, the Dominion Drama Festival, and a founding member and first president of the Canadian Arts Council (which became the Canadian Conference of the Arts in 1958).[1] As president of the CAC, he was one of several Canadian representatives to the first UNESCO conference, held in Paris in 1946.

Honours

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In 1974, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honor, "in recognition of his contribution to the performing arts as a playwright, producer and teacher, and his services in fostering support for all the arts and crafts".[6] He was made a Fellow in the Royal Society of Arts in 1970.

Following his death, Queen's University created the Herman Voaden Playwriting Competition to honour new works by emerging playwrights.[7]

Works

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  • The White Kingdom (1928)
  • Northern Storm (1929)
  • Northern Song (1930)
  • Western Wolf (1930)
  • Fragment (1931)
  • Wilderness (1931)
  • Earth Song (1932)
  • Rocks (1932)
  • Hill-Land (1934)
  • Murder Pattern (1936)
  • Ascend As the Sun (1942)
  • Libretto for the opera The Prodigal Son (music by Frederick Jacobi) (debuted 1945)
  • Emily Carr: A Stage Biography with Pictures (first performed 1960)[8]

Notes

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References

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  • Burliuk, Greg (16 August 1997). "Workshops focus on two winning plays". Kingston Whig-Standard. p. 30. ProQuest 353109238.
  • Voaden, Herman, ed. (1960). Four Plays of Our Time. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada.
  • Wagner, Anton (11 June 2021). "Voaden, Herman". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12 April 2024.


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