Dominion Drama Festival

Prizes were awarded for the best performance of a full-length play in either English or French, for best director, visual presentation, best actor and best actress.

One of the founding members was Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough, the Governor General of Canada, who announced its creation at a ceremony at Rideau Hall.

Other notable founding members included the heiress Martha Allan,[1] along with playwright Herman Voaden, Vincent Massey, and Rupert Harvey, a British actor-director who became the Festival’s first adjudicator.

By the 1950s, the social aspects of the annual competition had almost eclipsed the plays, with balls and receptions, and dinner parties in formal attire.

Recurring financial problems necessitated the controversial patronage of Calvert's Distillers (1952–60) and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (1961–65), which in turn allowed an Ottawa office and the hiring of a permanent director.

In 1970 the DDF was renamed Theatre Canada, showcasing amateur productions without the element of competition, but, these fringe-like innovations were cancelled in 1973 for financial reasons.

Each regional finalist would also win a grant; $150 for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, $200 for Manitoba, $300 for Alberta, $350 for Saskatchewan, $400 for British-Columbia.