≈ 1 hour and 45 minutes · No intermission
Last updated: March 8, 2019
Artistic Director’s Notes
Historical fiction has often played out on our stages here at the NAC – Chasing Champions, Silence, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, to name just a few recent examples. Some have more truth in them than others. This play is singular because of the amount of accuracy in the work that we might wish wasn’t true. Two years ago, before I saw this powerful work in Montreal, I would have unwittingly defended Canada (or what was to become Canada) as a haven for escaped slaves, not a place where they endured the same terrors and powerlessness that they experienced south of the border.
With Angélique, Lorena Gale creates a deep and complex character, brought to life by the extraordinary Jenny Brizard. Remarkably, Angélique is not defined by slavery; this is her brutal reality and lived injustice, but not her identity. She is a fierce and witty woman, beautiful and clever, at once resigned and defiant as she needs to be.
I am thrilled to welcome back to the NAC English Theatre’s mainstage Black Theatre Workshop, with whom we last partnered on The Adventures on a Black Girl in Search of God, and delighted to welcome their co-producers, the always inventive Table D’Hôte Theatre, with their necessary and beautifully told story.
Director’s Notes
Lorena Gale’s proposal in re-imagining and embracing the legacy of Angélique is to place her and her story in a world where now is then, and then is now. Through the backdrop of 18th century Nouvelle-France, she asks us to recognize the cyclical and systemic nature of the oppression inflicted on those who are perceived as other – stripped of their power, discarded or silenced, and ultimately tortured for their otherness.
This is not a history lesson about slavery. We know that history, some of us intimately, others just from (a few) history books. What I find uniquely compelling in Gale’s investigation is her dissection of the humanity within those who were born into privilege and power set against the humanity of those who do not have that luxury. What is it about us that makes us think monstrous thoughts, or worse, act on them? And further, what is it about Quebec and Canada which feeds the denial of our sordid history of oppression? Gale is unapologetic, begging for discourse and empathy, while calling oneach of us to deeply consider the social and cultural realities that make this piece as urgent as it was twenty years ago.
I am reminded every day of the power of theatre and the arts during times of uncertainty, rage and questioning. We are lucky to have a community of brave artists who challenge, who provoke, who use their abilities to speak out. Thank you to the artists and production team, and to Jillian and the NAC for riding the wave of Lorena’s audacious piece, and being unabashedly creative, courageous and collaborative. And thank you, dear audience, for the wealth you bring to the theatre with your presence, and for sharing this offering with us.
Black Theatre Workshop
Artistic Director, Quincy Armorer
General Manager, Adele Benoit
Outreach and Marketing Coordinator, Kym Dominique-Ferguson
Artist Mentorship Program Coordinator, Warona Setshwaelo
School Tour Coordinator, Christine Rodriguez
Box Office Coordinator, Darren Schilling
Event Coordinator, Abena Bentley
Tableau D’Hôte Theatre
Co-founder, Artistic and Executive Producer, Mathieu Murphy-Perron
Associate Producers, Paul Brian Imperial, Michelle Rambharose, Liz Valdez
Resident Designers, Audrey-Anne Bouchard, Rob Denton, Lara Kaluza, Noémi Poulin
Graphic Design, Phil Malizia
Photography and Video, Jaclyn Turner
Co-Founder and Previous Artistic Director, Mike Payette
Produced by arrangement with Catalyst TCM, Toronto.
Angélique was first produced by Alberta Theatre Projects as part of the PAN-Canadian playRites ’98 Festival, January 1998.
Thank you from Black Theatre Workshop / Tableau D’Hôte Theatre: The tour of Angélique was made possible thanks to funding from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.
Artists
Artistic director of Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre, Mike Payette is an actor and director whose work has appeared at some of Canada’s finest theatres as well as many great companies in his hometown of Montreal. Prior to joining Tarragon, this two-time Montreal English Theatre Award (META) recipient, was the Artistic and Executive Director of Geordie Theatre, and was earlier the co-founding Artistic Director of Tableau D’Hôte Theatre and past Assistant Artistic Director for Black Theatre Workshop. Frequent guest artist at the National Theatre School of Canada, he has served on several board including the Quebec Drama Federation, la Maison Théâtre, MAI and on the Executive of PACT.
Omari Newton is an award-winning professional actor, writer, director and producer. As a writer, his original Hip Hop theater piece Sal Capone has received critical acclaim and multiple productions, including a recent presentation at Canada’s National Arts Center. He has been commissioned by Black Theater Workshop (BTW) in Montreal to write a companion piece to Sal Capone entitled Black & Blue Matters. Omari and his wife, fellow professional playwright Amy Lee Lavoie, have received commissions from The Arts Club Theatre to co-write a new play: Redbone Coonhound. A bold and innovative satirical comedy that confronts instances of systemic racism in the past, present and future. Omari is co-directing the first in a series of rolling world premiere at The Arts Club Theatre in October of 2022. The play will then open in Montreal (Imago Theatre) & then Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. The husband and wife duo also just completed "Black Fly," a satirical adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus that centers on Aaron and Lavinia. Newton’s work in Speakeasy Theatre's production of Young Jean Lee's The Shipment earned him a 2017-2018 Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor, as well as a nomination for Best Direction. He has recently completed directing critically acclaimed productions of "The Mountaintop" by Katori Hall, and "Pass Over" by Antoinette Nwandu. Notable film & TV credits include: Lucas Ingram on Showcase’s Continuum, Larry Summers on Blue Mountain State and lending his voice to the Black Panther in multiple animated projects (Marvel). Most recently, Omari has a recurring role as Nate on Corner Gas (the animated series) and a recurring role as Corvus of Netflix’s hit new animated series The Dragon Prince.
