Scrapbook

This scrapbook contains various printed ephemera chronicling the activities of The Westmount Thespians between 1922 and 1934. Organized by type of document, the scrapbook includes press clippings, ticket stubs, programs, props lists, lighting plans, dance cards, governing documents, correspondence, and photographs of troupe members.

Among the press clippings preserved are several announcements of upcoming plays, along with several newspaper reviews praising the talents of the actors and their credible performances despite the group's amateur status. One such review from 1923, speaking of the plays Beauty and the Jacobin, A Scene in Bagdad and The Masterpiece, noted: "The boys, all of whom are under fourteen years of age, had made their own scenery and costumes, organized their own orchestra, and produced and mounted the plays themselves [...]. The performances were marked by enthusiasm and unusual sincerity, and in several instances strangely promising talent was revealed." The ticket stubs also indicate that, although most of the shows were presented in Westmount, some evenings took place elsewhere in the Montreal area and in other Quebec cities. This was notably the case with the play Adam’s Apple, which in 1926 was also presented at Grace Church in Point St. Charles, the Rosemount First United Church and in Shawinigan. The troupe's production of The Dover Road was staged at All Saints Church in Montreal’s Plateau-Mont-Royal neighbourhood and at the Château Frontenac in Quebec City in 1930 and 1931. In addition, the scrapbook contains fake mustaches (made from human hair) used by the actors as part of their costumes. Handwritten notes near these hairpieces, "Shades of Monty! Also Wilson B." indicate that they were worn by Montague (Monty) Willis, one of the club's founding members, and Wilson Becket.

Although no one is identified as the author or authors of the document, there is a full-page portrait of Theodora Mary McConnell, the wife of Rodolph Ferdinand Leopold Picard and mother of Robert I. C. Picard, at the very beginning of the scrapbook. Given her prominence, it is possible that the scrapbook was produced by her or for her, by her son.