History

The First STAGE

In 1992, a two-day workshop on theatre research in Newfoundland, held at Memorial University, led to a renewed commitment to reach people involved in all types of theatre in all parts of the province. A funding proposal was submitted to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC) and in 1994 STAGE obtained a three-year grant, allowing us to get the process started. After that initial grant ran out, student aid programs enabled us to continue hiring Memorial University students part-time to carry out interviews and conduct transcription work in St. John's. For several semesters we were able to extend the program to the Sir Wilfred Grenfell College campus, interviewing many people in the Corner Brook area. Isolated jaunts were also made to St. Lawrence, Hillview, Clarenville, Gander, Grand Falls -Windsor, Stephenville, Labrador City and Happy Valley – Goose Bay.

The Second STAGE

In 1998, the project received a second three-year SSHRCC grant with which students were hired to work in their home communities (outside St. John's and Corner Brook) during the summer, interviewing people involved in community, school and church concerts. A sample of communities surveyed thus far into the STAGE project include:

Change Islands
Happy Valley-Goose Bay (Labrador)
Joe Batt’s Arm

The Third STAGE

Dr. Denyse Lynde, Dr. Rob Ormsby and Colleen Quigley restarted the STAGE project in 2011 with support from the university’s MUCEP program, after the project had been in hiatus for several years. In 2012, we partnered with The Rooms, the Resource Centre for the Arts, the Arts and Culture Centres of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Queen Elizabeth II Library to strengthen the project and help promote it. That same year, the project received funding from the Harris Centre that allowed us to:

hire a project manager
purchase video equipment as we migrate from audio interviews to audio-visual interviews