James Reaney Memorial Lecture November 3 at Museum London

Join us at Wordsfest on November 3, 2018 at 1:00 pm at Museum London to hear James Stewart Reaney, James Reaney’s son, speak about James Reaney’s plays for children: Names and Nicknames, Ignoramus, Geography Match, and Apple Butter, a marionette play.

October 1963 Manitoba Theatre Centre production of James Reaney’s Names and Nicknames — Martha Henry (seated) with Heath Lamberts.

About the speaker:  Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, journalist James Stewart Reaney wrote for the London Free Press and now contributes to London Fuse.  He has been a witness to — & occasional participant in — London’s creative community since the 1960s. In 1977 he wrote a book about his father’s plays for the Profiles in Canadian Drama series.

James styles his lecture as “I Was So Much Older Then: A reconsideration of Jamie Reaney’s Plays for Children … starring Apple Butter, Hilda History, Amelia (Baby One), Tecumseh & many more”.

By special arrangement with the Canadian Museum of History, Moo Cow and Tree Wuzzel, two of the marionettes from James Reaney’s play Apple Butter, will be on display.

“Moo Cow” courtesy Museum of Canadian History, Gatineau, PQ.
“Tree Wuzzel” courtesy Museum of Canadian History, Gatineau, PQ.

When: Saturday, November 3 at 1:00 pm

Where: Museum London’s Lecture Theatre, 421 Ridout Street North, London, Ontario

Admission is free!

Our thanks to Wordsfest and the London Public Library for their support of this event. The annual lecture series celebrates the life and work of Southwestern Ontario poet and dramatist James Reaney, who was born on a farm near Stratford, Ontario.

August 1965 in Leith, Ontario: James Reaney holds Apple Butter with his children James Stewart, John, and Susan.
July 1967 in Stratford, Ontario: The Alphabet Players with the marionettes from Apple Butter, James Reaney (centre, seated) is holding some of the Red Riding Hood marionettes. Allan Stratton (far right) is holding Apple Butter, and James Stewart Reaney (second in on the left) is holding Solomon Spoilrod.
James Stewart Reaney outside the Avon Theatre in Stratford, Ontario beside the James Reaney sidewalk star (April 2010).