THREE ONE-ACT PLAYS: THE GRAND BANK ROBBERY; ALL FOR A WHITE COAT; HOME BEFORE LONG. Stagg, Bruce. St. John's, Jesperson Press, c1985. 111pp, paper, $7.95, ISBN 0-920502-43-1. CIP Grades 10 and up Reviewed by Louise Griffith Volume 14 Number 2 1986 March Bruce Stagg's Three One-Act Plays is a collection of three one-act plays that vividly reveal the life of the fishermen and their families in the outports of Newfoundland. In The Grand Bank Robbery, a fisherman's daughter leaves her native village to live in St. John's in a house bought by high wages earned on an oil rig. Conflicts include those between city and country, oil and fish, the generation gap, even new markets for squid and the effects of inflation. All for a White Coat (seal) deals with the sealing industry and conflict between hunters and Greenpeace. The latter's ignorance causes a tragedy on an ice pack. For this reviewer, the play has too much coincidence and horror. My favourite is Home Before Long, a tale of how a mute teenager recovers his speech and a lost fisherman returns. All the characters, including the neighbours and the Anglican minister, are portrayed realistically. There is great suspense as the mute lad looks into the coffin of his dead father and encounters the unexpected. Home Before Long would make a good play for class study, especially in Newfoundland, but all Canadians would enjoy its depiction of community concern for sorrow and disability. It would make a fine play for inclusion in a literature course depicting different regions of Canada. The settings are described in detail and might present a problem for mainlanders to produce. Authenticity comes from the use of Newfoundland dialect throughout the plays, such as "Poor Jake, his last words before every trip was, Til be home before long-don't worry.' Well Jake boy, dis time you're home to stay." Probably school and public librarians will want this for their Canadiana shelves. Department heads may want to include a play in their courses because of the Newfoundland touch and sense of human emotions. Actors seeking a play for production may be delighted to encounter a new choice. I look forward to reading more good plays by Bruce Stagg. Louise Griffith, Agincourt, Ont.