Redefining 'Community': The Elusive Legacy of the Dramatists' Co-op of Nova Scotia
Bibliographic record
Abstract
By many indications, playwriting in the Canadian Maritime provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island) has never been more accomplished, diverse, and energetic. At the same time, however, many dramatists in this region experience a distinct and, for some, defining sense of isolation and disconnection from the rest of the country, particularly in terms of production opportunities beyond the East Coast. Aware of the limitations of local production, however enthusiastic the support of regional theatre companies and groups, a significant number of Maritimes playwrights lament the absence of vehicles—such as publication with national distribution—that may lead to increased profile for Maritimes drama within this country and internationally. At this juncture, it is particularly intriguing to consider the precedent of the Dramatists' Co-op of Nova Scotia. A boisterous offspring of the Nova Scotia Writers Federation, the Co-op took upon itself the challenge to foster, promote, distribute, and generally champion Nova Scotian and, ultimately, Atlantic Canadian (including Newfoundland) drama for two decades following its inception in 1976. A fundamental difference between the dominant (although not exclusive) philosophy of Co-op members and their contemporary counterparts, however, is in the definition of the concept of ‘community.' For, unlike the distinctly national and international interests regularly expressed in the current context, the Co-op placed a significant (although, again, not exclusive) emphasis on the establishment of a local community of theatre artists and, even more fundamental, of local theatre audiences. The contrast, while neither simple nor absolute, provides a productive point of entry into the complex reality of contemporary Maritimes dramatic practice. Plusieurs signes nous montrent que l'écriture théâtrale des provinces maritimes canadiennes (Nouvelle Ecosse, Nouveau Brunswick et l'Ile du Prince Edouard), n'a jamais été aussi accomplie, variée et vivante. Mais, en meme temps, beaucoup d'auteurs dramatiques de cette région se sentent separés, sinon isolés, du reste du pays concernant la production de leurs pièces audelà de la côte est. Conscients des restrictions d'une production limitée aux provinces maritimes, malgré l'aide enthousiaste des compagnies et des groupes régionnaux théâtraux, plusieurs auteurs dramatiques se lamentent du manque de publicité et de l'absence de diffusion nationale qui pourrait faire reconnaître leurs pièces dramatiques à l'échelle nationale et internationale. À ce moment, cela nous intrigue de penser au précédent de la "Dramatists' Co-op of Nova Scotia." Progéniture tapageuse de la "Nova Scotia Writers Federation," la Coopérative a pris en charge le défi d'encourager, de promouvoir et de distribuer les pièces de Nouvelle Ecosse, aussi bien que celles de l'est du Canada (y compris Terre Neuve), pendant les vingt années qui suivirent sa conception en 1976. Mais il y a entre les membres de la Coopérative et ses contemporains une distinction philosophique dans la définition du concept ‘communauté' qui va à l'encontre du terme dans les intérêts nationaux et internationaux. La Coopérative a donc insisté sur l'importance de la collectivité, de la localité de la communauté artistique, et encore plus, sur son public potentiel. Le contraste, ni simple ni absolu, permet un point d'insertion dans l'exercice compliqué du théâtre maritime canadien d'aujourd'hui.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.002 | 0.004 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.025 | 0.016 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.009 | 0.002 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.009 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.004 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.004 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".