The Theatre Criticism of George Stewart, Jr.

George Stewart, Jr. (1848-1906) was a journalist and conservative theatre critic who published drama reviews over a forty-year period in later nineteenth-century Canada. He grew up in St. John, New Brunswick, and in 1879 moved to Quebec City. Stewart worked for four successive newspapers: the Saint John Daily News, where he was city editor and substitute drama critic from 1872 to 1875; the weekly Watchman in Saint John, where he was literary and drama editor from 1875 to 1877; the Morning Chronicle in Quebec City, where he was editor-in-chief from 1879 to 1896; and the Quebec Mercury, an independent newspaper owned and run almost singlehandedly by Stewart from 1898 to 1902. The author notes that Stewart was typical of his time in preferring legitimate theatre and the plays of Shakespeare, Sheridan and Goldsmith, as well as in looking for naturalness in an actor or actress. Stewart was also an early advocate of the need for critical autonomy and was active in supporting French- as well as English-Canadian theatre.

Theatre Research in Canada / Recherches Théâtrales Au Canada

Vol. 9

no. 2

147-156

1988

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