Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
- Textual record
- Graphic material
- Sound recording
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- Source of title proper: Title based on the content of the fonds.
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Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
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Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
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Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1914-2001, predominantly 1969-1975 (Creation)
- Creator
- Morter, Mary
Physical description area
Physical description
45 cm of textual material
32 photographs
6 poster
1 sound recording
Publisher's series area
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Lilian Mary Morter (born Jones) was born in London, England, on April 1st, 1924. She was daughter of William Jones, mayor of Gloucester, England, and carpet factory owner. From 1950 to 1987, she was married to the engineer Eric Morter. They had two children, Jennifer and Michael. The family immigrated to Canada in 1957, where they first lived in Toronto, Ontario, before settling in Montreal, Quebec, in 1963.
Morter began her career as actress with the Cheltenham Little Theatre Group in Gloucestershire, where she performed in her youth. When the family settled in Toronto, Morter started playing for CBC television. She founded The Questers, an amateur theatre company, and was president of the Broadview Barn Players. She also was member of the Christian Drama Council of Canada. Shortly after having moved to Montreal, Morter founded the theater group The Unknown Players. The group toured the city and presented plays in the English language, following Morter’s believe that theater should be accessible to everybody. Later, together with Jack Cunningham Morter founded the English lunchtime theatre Instant Theatre in Place Ville Marie, Montreal, which opened its doors on February 1, 1965. Morter was the head of the theatre until 1969. Her successor, Maurice Podbrey, closed the theatre in November 1969, to later reopen it as the Centaur Theatre. In 1971, Morter founded the touring company Pendulum Theatre, which offered performances all over Quebec. The bilingual production of Oskenonton, based on North American Indian legends and played by aboriginal actors, was its main success.
Morter completed a degree in library studies at Concordia University in 1977. From 1979 to 1986, she worked at Alcan Internationa. Following this, she worked as an assistant librarian at McGill University. In the 1990s, she was involved with the Westmount amateur drama group Dramatis Personae.
Mary Morter died on March 28, 2008 in Westmount, Québec.
Custodial history
In February 2008, the fonds was transferred to the Concordia Centre for Broadcasting Studies by Jennifer Cortinas Morter, daughter of Mary Morter, with the permission of Mary Morter. The fonds was donated to the Concordia University Archive, now Records Management and Archives Department, by Harold Fink, director of the Concordia Centre for Broadcasting Studies, on January 7, 2011. The documents were transferred from the Records Management and Archives Department to Concordia University Library's Special Collections on September 6, 2018.
Scope and content
The Mary Morter fond contains documents pertaining to theater in Montreal. More specifically, the fonds is composed of materials concerning the Instant Theatre and the Pendulum Theatre, both located in Montreal and founded and run by Mary Morter in the 1960s and 1970s. The fonds provides an overview of the programming at both theatres. It also provides insight into how the theaters were perceived by the public. In addition, the fonds contains a number of documents focusing on the play North American Indian Legends by Pendulum Theatre. Documents created by other theatres located in Montreal or Toronto provide additional insight into the English-speaking theatre scene in those cities in the 20th century.
The Mary Morter fonds contains theatre programs, photographs, posters, correspondence, magazines, scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, a sound recording, and various plays, among other documents.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Materials are arranged in the order of receipt.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Reproductions are allowed for the purpose of research and private study. Use of material in a publication may only be done with written consent of the copyright owner(s).
Finding aids
Box listings are available.
Generated finding aid
Associated materials
Instant Theatre fonds (R13954-0-3-E) at Library and Archives Canada
Accruals
No further accruals expected.
Rights
Copyright belongs to the creator(s).