James Reaney is one of Canada's favourite poets and playwrights. At the intersection of his dramatic and poetic talents is Scripts, a collection of musical writings. There are nine complete works here, including the chamber opera Night-blooming Cereus, the poetry/music collage (and Governor General's Award winner) Twelve Letters to a Small Town, the Canada Dot, Canada Dash trilogy, the detective opera Crazy to Kill, and operas The Shivaree, Taptoo! and Serinette. Many of these pieces have been published individually, but none are in print, and they have never been amassed.
With subjects ranging from the personalities of the Great Lakes to bumblebees to the founding of the town of York, these works show a vibrant, diverse imagination at its finest. Fantastically fun and charmingly Canadian, Scripts finally makes available the musical oeuvre of one of our best writers.