Keywords Theatrical Companies & Festivals

The Walker provided generous spaces for the mingling of patrons in elegant lounges. There was also a deep stage area (80 feet wide, 40 feet deep, 70 feet high), a huge fly tower, and broad wings to accommodate the comings and goings of large companies and elaborate stage sets. Behind the stage is the 3-storey block devoted to dressing rooms, property rooms and the scenery dock, with each level having access to a hand-operated elevator. All these appointments set it apart from the typical vaudeville theatre, which usually featured fewer performers, shorter and simpler acts and sets, and a less sophisticated clientele that was encouraged to arrive and leave with dispatch.

The Walker was built to resist fire, its owner having been impressed by a 1903 theatre fire in Chicago that saw much loss of life. A steel cage system was employed, with many structural members encased in concrete or terra cotta. Concrete floors (covered with fire-resistant wool carpet), fire-retarding metal doors between spaces, brick and terra cotta firewalls, and slate-covered metal stairways were incorporated, all lending credence to Walker's claim that it was the first fireproof theatre in Canada.

Walker carried on his theatre operation until 1933, shifting the nature of entertainment from time to time in response to changing conditions, especially the decline of available attractions when American talent and investment shifted into the motion picture industry in Hollywood. Increasingly, more British touring companies were engaged, leading to a second period of exciting legitimate theatre at the Walker. Non- theatrical events have contributed to its distinguished history, including a 1918 political meeting of the Winnipeg Trades and Labour Council and the fledgling Socialist Party of Canada, which led to the infamous WINNIPEG GENERAL STRIKE. The theatre also hosted debates and a mock parliament in which Nellie MCCLUNG took part and which advanced the cause of women's suffrage. Harriet WALKER, wife of Corliss and a former New York actress herself, was instrumental in these latter occasions.

Walker Theatre
An interior view of the Walker Theatre, 1907 (courtesy Provincial Archives of Manitoba/N13272).

Mock Parliament at Walker Theatre
An advertisement for the mock parliament held at Walker Theatre, January 1914, in which Nellie McClung took part and helped advanced the cause of women's suffrage (courtesy Government of Canada).

Author JOAN MATTIE

Links to Other Sites
Playwrights Guild of Canada
The website for the Playwrights Guild of Canada. Search for brief profiles of Canadian playwrights and information about programs that offer assistance to playwrights.

Parks Canada 3-D Tours: Walker Theatre
Take a tour of Winnipeg's Walker Theatre, where, on January 28, 1914, a group of female suffragists staged an evening of satire, poking fun at the politicians and others who would deny women the voting rights that most men enjoyed.