During the early part of the twentieth century, Biddeford’s theater scene was particularly lively, owing in large part to the efforts and talent of Joseph Jovite Salvas. For nearly 40 years, Salvas produced, directed, and acted in plays targeting the Franco-American population all around Southern Maine.
Salvas began his theater career at an early age when he worked with Walter Perkins, a Biddeford comedian. The Perkins troupe traveled around York and Cumberland Counties on a “rotary tour,” continuously circling around small towns where they were well-received. In 1908, Salvas started presenting plays on his own for French-speaking audiences.
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J. J. Salvas and Franco actors, Biddeford, ca. 1925
The success of Salvas’s productions was dramatic, and his plays at the City Theater were sold-out social events. It was not unusual for French-speaking audiences of 1100 to be entertained at one of Salvas’s plays. One group of very versatile actors worked not only with Salvas, but also with two other directors, J.B. Joncas and Joseph Bonneau. Often they would be performing simultaneously in a play by each director, having to memorize lines in French from three plays at a time, and sometimes performing fifteen plays in a single season.
J.J. Salvas often directed and performed in the same play, such as “Les Devoirs Du Medicin,” in which he played the leading role. According to a Biddeford Journal article about this production, he was “considered by critics to be an actor of exceptional talent, and to have unusual ability as a director.” In this play he was supported by his wife, Marie Ella, “a young woman of winning personality, who can always be depended upon to assist in the artistic success of any production in which she appears.” Another popular play which Salvas directed was “Tonkourou,” or La Vengeance Indienne (Indian’s Vengeance), in which he played the title role of Tonkourou, Chief of the Hurons.
Joseph Jovite Salvas directed his last plays in 1947. He died in 1970 at the age of 75, survived by his wife, four daughters, and one son. His obituary noted his insurance and real estate business, but made no mention of his extensive theater career. Salvas should be remembered for the forty years of entertainment he brought to life in Biddeford and for the lasting influence he had on the community’s Franco-American culture.
