Harlequin in Hogtown : George Luscombe and Toronto Workshop Productions

From the beginning, Luscombe envisaged his new company as part of an international contingent of artists determined to further the cause of socialism through art. He saw himself as part of a tradition which sought to bring about change by 'educational' rather than political or revolutionary means ... Unfortunately, Canadian audiences, unlike their counterparts in Russia, Germany, or England, appeared to be stubbornly indifferent to live theatre.
The challenge facing the new company, therefore, was how to break through that indifference and make their audiences look at themselves and their country with new eyes. Ideally, what was needed was original Canadian plays ... Until such new works were available, however, Luscombe and his actors would have to make up their repertoire from the existing stock of world dramatic literature. But instead of treating these 'masterpieces' of bourgeois theatre with the respect normally paid to them, Luscombe intended to follow the example of Vsevolod Meyerhold, Erwin Piscator, Bertolt Brecht, and Joan Littlewood. Those directors had shown how the classics of earlier periods could be made relevant to contemporary audiences.