Mummering on Trial: Custom and Controversy
Date: Dec 7
2:30 pm
- 3:30 pm
Where: Theatre
Mummers Festival
In the 1800s, mummers in Newfoundland had a reputation for rowdy and violent behaviour that threw the custom into controversy. Local men regularly appeared in court accused of committing assaults and other offences while disguised as mummers. Commentators hotly debated the custom’s role in society, how it influenced Newfoundland’s reputation in the world, and what should be done about it—the kind of questions that still spark discussion around mummering today!
The Rooms Provincial Archives holds records of more than 30 criminal cases involving mummers, most dating from the 1830s to the 1870s. In this presentation, Joy Fraser explores the stories they tell about the custom and the controversy it created.
This is a free event but a ticket is required. Please reserve your free ticket online or by calling (709)757-8090.
This program is in collaboration with The Mummer’s Festival.
Events & Programs
Have you ever wondered about the connections between creativity and neurodivergence, such as autism, ADHD, or dyslexia? From attention to detail to pattern recognition and language originality, neurodivergent artists can display talents that could be considered advantages.
Join us for a moderated panel discussion with Dr. Andreae Callanan and Dr. Kate Lahey, who will talk about how neurodivergent people express creativity in unique, unconventional ways.
Part of the discussion will address some challenges for neurodivergent artists during and following the creative process, such as executive functioning, sleep disturbances, and burnout. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions following the presentation.
Cost: $12 plus HST. Free for Rooms members. Register online or by calling (709) 757-8090.
About the Panelists:
Andreae Callanan holds a PhD in English from Memorial and serves as co-convener of the Research and Knowledge Exchange on Critical Disability Studies at the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research. Her debut poetry collection, The Debt (Biblioasis, 2021), was shortlisted for the E. J. Pratt Family Poetry Prize and was a runner-up in the Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry. Andreae’s creative and critical writing has been published in Riddle Fence, The Walrus, Newfoundland Quarterly, Canadian Notes & Queries, Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, and in Best Canadian Essays 2026. She lives in St. John’s.
Dr. Kate Lahey holds a PhD from the University of Toronto, is the front person of the band Weary, and writes arts criticism. As a musician, writer, scholar, community organizer, and postdoctoral fellow at Memorial’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, her research centers on trauma-informed values such as healing, care, empathy, and social justice.