Art should force us into the streets !

- André Breton -

Ottawa, 9 April 2015– Last night before an enthusiastic audience the Théâtre français unveiled its program for the 2015-16 season at the NAC Studio. For her 4^th season as artistic director, Brigitte Haentjens has selected plays from here and elsewhere, works by both emerging artists and internationally renowned masters, new pieces plus works from the repertoire that will intrigue and enchant.

Robert Lepage, Joël Pommerat, Shakespeare, Olivier Kemeid, Jean Marc Dalpé,

Ingmar Bergman, Normand Chaurette, Michael McKenzie,

Evelyne de la Chenelière, Simon Boudreault

In an era that favours unanimous opinion and whatever turns a profit, Brigitte Haentjens hopes that theatre will remain a vector of meaning, expression and inspiration. She will thus be presenting in the upcoming season highly original works and styles, strong texts and imaginative presentations that question, disrupt and upend conventional perceptions and established values.

Theatre must cast a personal, critical and sharp eye on the world around us, one that at times changes our perception of society and important issues. The purpose of art is not to support the established order; its role is subversive. It must rouse the audience and drive it forward, straight into life.

Brigitte Haentjens

Return of Three Extraordinary Artists

The Théâtre français team is very pleased to welcome back two former NAC artistic directors with new works. Robert Lepage will be presenting his solo piece 887,created inNantes this spring, while Denis Marleau will be directing L’autre hiver,a phantasmagorical opera that will make its première inMons, Belgium in May. The French writer and director Joël Pommerat will be returning to the NAC for the third time. After dazzling audiences with La réunification des deux Corées and Cendrillon in 2013, he will be presenting Ça ira (1) Fin de Louis, a large-scale piece about the French Revolution in an exclusive North American presentation inOttawa.

The Théâtre français is very happy to make two of it’s major shows accessible to English-speaking audiences next year: 887 by Robert Lepage and Un vent se lève qui éparpille by Jean Marc Dalpé will be presented with English surtitles during their Friday night presentation.

Actively promoting New Works

In 2015-16 the Théâtre fran��ais will be a co-producer and partner in the creation of no less than seven new plays. The team is proud to be working with artists, providing them with significant support in a current context that does not encourage personal artistic development. In that sense, the NAC is an incredible centre for artistic freedom, and we invite spectators to share our passion and promotion of exciting plays.

Splendid New Season for Young Audiences

This year Mélanie Dumont, associate artistic director of Youth Programming, is organizing for young spectators and their parents, grandparents and friends a lively, delightful and enlightening program of plays, with diverse worlds to explore and intriguing artistic forms to discover. The artists being featured delight in reinventing the arts of juggling, puppetry, clowning and storytelling as they charm and move the audience, exploring vibrant themes with work rich in meaning.

Each play is distinct, with its own universe, gallery of characters and particular nuances. No two stories being presented are alike, yet by delightful chance and thanks to a mysterious entwining, what emerges again and again are encounters, friendship and solidarity, like a sensitive, radiant recurrence lodged in the heart of each piece.

Mélanie Dumont

De plain-pied Reloaded!

As an activity in support of the play Ce qui nous relie?, the Théâtre français will be organizing the second edition of the youth event De plain-pied. A space will be set aside for adolescents where they can shift the TF into high gear! They are invited to brainstorm ideas and to take over the stage, expressing their dreams and desires.

Right Place at the Right Time

By purchasing a subscription to the Théâtre français, you can save up to30% on the price of single tickets. You’ll also have first choice of seating, and will receive information on the many activities organized by the Théâtre français, not to mention seeing extraordinary shows! You can save an additional 5% if you subscribe before May 22, 2015. Now’s the time!

For subscriptions:

613 947-7000, ext. 620

1 866 850-ARTS, ext. 620

cna-nac.ca/subscribe in person at the box office in the NAC lobby

2015-16 PROGRAMMING

 

À quoi ça sert d’être brillant si t’éclaires personne

Directed by: Lisa L’Heureux and Gabriel Robichaud

Artistic Direction: Brigitte Haentjens

September 25 and 26  in the Studio 

On September 25, we celebrate Franco-Ontarian Day! French Theatre joins the party with a festive and mordant tribute to Franco-Ontarian writing of yesterday and today. Codirectors Lisa L’Heureux and Gabriel Robichaud pull out all the stops in this literary and musical jam session fuelled by a dozen talented young artists.

Septembre

By: Evelyne de la Chenelière

Directed by: Daniel Brière

October 14 to 17 in the Studio

One September day, a woman goes to pick up her daughter, who has a stomach ache, from school. Parked across from the schoolyard, she watches the children at play, and her imagination conjures up all kinds of possible scenarios, from the hilarious to the terrifying. In a stunning one-woman show, playwright Evelyne de la Chenelière embodies her visionary character.

The NAC Théâtre français is proud to co-produce this show.  

As is (tel quel)

By: Simon Boudreault

October 28 to 31 in the Studio 

When he was 18, Simon Boudreault got a job with the Salvation Army, sorting all kinds of items collected from all over the place. That unusual experience inspired his play As Is (tel quel), a ferociously uplifting saga of stuff that touches on such fundamental values as assistance and compassion.

Five Kings –l’histoire de notre chute

By: Olivier Kemeid, inspired by Shakespeare

Artistique direction : Patrice Dubois / directed by : Frédéric Dubois

November 19 to 22 in the Theatre 

In 1939, Orson Welles cobbled together a motley theatre piece based on the historical saga of Shakespeare’s Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI and Richard III. Now, nearly eight decades later, four Welles admirers (Olivier Kemeid, brothers Patrice and Frédéric Dubois, and Martin Labrecque) have joined forces to revisit his improbable collage from their perspective as Francophones living in North America.

The NAC Théâtre français is proud to co-produce this show. 

Instructions pour un éventuel gouvernement socialiste qui souhaiterait abolir la fête de Noël

By: Michael Mackenzie

Translated by: Alexis Martin

Directed by: Marc Beaupré

December 9 to 12 in the Studio 

A few hours before the 2008 stock market crash, Jason, a ruthless hedge fund manager, gets a surprise visit from his assistant Cass, who has just returned from an enforced sabbatical. Equal parts thriller and Greek tragedy, this modern-day clash of Titans is brought to life by the incandescent Luc Picard and Sophie Desmarais.

Un vent se lève qui éparpille

By: Jean Marc Dalpé

Directed by: Geneviève Pineault

February 10 to 13 in the Studio

With English surtitles on February 12 

Winner of the 2000 Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, Jean Marc Dalpé’s novel Un vent se lève qui éparpille (Scattered in a Rising Wind) introduces a ragged chorus of troubled voices. Geneviève Pineault stages her own adaptation of a raw and compelling tale whose characters are driven by passion, desire and hatred.

The NAC Théâtre français is proud to co-produce this show.

Ça ira (1) Fin de Louis

A Joël Pommerat Creation!

March 16 to 19 in the Theatre 

A North American Exclusivity! 

Just when we thought we had them all figured out, the notions of democracy, society and state have resurfaced as topics of international debate. To shed some light on these contemporary issues, Joël Pommerat revives the myth of the French Revolution, engaging actors and audience in a resolutely modern investigation of political events whose repercussions are felt to this day.

The NAC Théâtre français is proud to co-produce this show.

887

A Robert Lepage Creation!

April 12 to 16 avril in the Theatre

With English surtitles on April 15 

In 887, Robert Lepage draws on his childhood memories to launch a playful, intimate and spectacular foray into the workings of human memory, the stories we tell, and the history we’ve forgotten. Another astonishing one-man show from the creator of The Far Side of the Moon and The Andersen Project.

The NAC Théâtre français is proud to co-produce this show.

Scènes de la vie conjugale

By: Ingmar Bergman

Directed by: Ruth Vega Fernandez and Frank Vercruyssen

April 27 to 30 in the Studio 

An NAC exclusivity! 

Des Scènes de la vie conjugale de Bergman, relatant la vie de couple chancelante de Johan et de Marianne, les acteurs Ruth Vega Fernandez et Frank Vercruyssen tirent un spectacle virtuose. Les enfants terribles de la compagnie flamande tg STAN prennent des libertés avec le script, cultivant une forme d’infidélité qui démultiplie paradoxalement la puissance du chef-d’œuvre du réalisateur suédois.

L’autre hiver

Music by: Dominique Pauwels
Text: Normand Chaurette
Directed by: Denis Marleau et Stéphanie Jasmin

May 25, 27 and 28 in the Théâtre

On the deck of a deserted ship, two poets converse amid a tangle of human voices and video images. As it happens, they are Verlaine and Rimbaud. This fantasmagorical opera by Normand Chaurette and Dominique Pauwels is codirected by the incomparable Denis Marleau and Stéphanie Jasmin, who invest it with the eerie, otherworldly quality that has brought them international acclaim.

The NAC Théâtre français is proud to co-produce this show.

 

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING

Petit Pierre

By: Suzanne Lebeau

Mise en scène : Gervais Gaudreault

November 7 and 8 in the Studio, ages 8 and up 

Petit Pierre tells the amazing true story of Pierre Avezard, a wee slip of a man who invented a gigantic mechanical contraption. Against the backdrop of events that marked the life of this unlikely genius and shaped the 20th century, two storytellers reach out from the present to spin the vast merry-go-round of memory.

Là où j’habite

By:  Nathalie Derome et Steeve Dumais

December 5 and 6 in the Studio, ages 2 and up 

One day, two high-spirited characters, Téoù (“Where-Are-You”) and Téqui (“Who-Are-You”), decide to venture out of their comfort zone and explore the world around them: the house across the street, the next neighbourhood over, the village beyond the forest—even the Milky Way! An ingenious, delightfully funny show that explores the notion of space, from the familiar to the great unknown.

L’après-midi d’un foehn –version 1

By:  Phia Ménard

December 19 and 20 in the Studio, ages 5 and up 

At the edge of the ring, a circle of inward-facing fans; in the middle, a rather odd-looking puppeteer who plays with the currents of air to animate an unusual cast of characters: small, multicoloured plastic bags that catch the updrafts, twirl through the air, and send our imaginations soaring! A graceful and poetic juggling act that reminds us that things aren’t always as ordinary as they seem.

Le cœur en hiver

By:  Étienne Lepage

Directed by: Catherine Vidal

January 30 and 31 in the Studio, ages 5 and up 

One fine morning, Kay decides to leave Gerda. He wants to travel far away, to the magical land where the snowflakes dance and the icicles glitter. But the brave little girl won’t stand for it. Risking her own life, Gerda sets out into the bitter cold on a long quest to rescue her friend. Does this story sound familiar?

Tendre

By:  Estelle Clareton

April 23 and 24 in the Studio, ages 4 and up 

In a show that’s part theatre, part dance and part clown art, two lively characters discover that they have a somewhat “stretchy” relationship. Their absurd situation sets the scene for a playful exploration in movement of the fragile balance of friendship. A sensational performance by two multitalented artists!

Des pieds et des mains

By:  Martin Bellemare

Directed by: Marie-Eve Huot

May 14 and 15 in the Studio, ages 6 and up 

SHE has only one hand. HE has only one foot. Together they are complete, because things often come in pairs. They get an idea … and BRAINWAVE! SHE and HE decide to open a brand new factory to make feet, legs, noses, and other spare parts for anyone who might need them. A show that literally flies in the face of convention!

 

YOUTH PROGRAMMING

Avant l’archipel

By:  Emily Pearlman

Translation: Danielle Le Saux-Farmer and André Robillard

Directed by: Joël Beddows

February 19 in the Studio, ages 12 and up  

Two delightfully energetic performers bring to life two quirky characters who are about to discover the baffling, bewildering and beautiful things that happen when romance is in the air. A whimsical tale of first love in all its unpredictable glory!

Ce qui nous relie ?

By:  Mélanie Dumont et Anne-Marie Guilmaine

Inspired by texts from Sophocle, Anouilh, Cocteau and more

May 6 and 7 in Rehearsal Hall A, ages 14 and up  

Guided by multidisciplinary artist and educator Anne Marie Guilmaine, a group of young people will work with a script that dates back hundreds of years. And right here, right now, in this moment, anything goes! One thing for sure: it will be an amazing, exhilarating creative adventure for everyone involved.