≈ 2 hours and 50 minutes · No intermission
Last updated: September 29, 2021
“To imagine 2042 is a pretext. The goal is really to try to push back the horizon a bit and to allow artists to dream, to project themselves and to see what the aftermath might, pandemic included or not.”
Artists
A 2008 graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, Mani Soleymanlou has lived in Tehran, Paris, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, and has worked with such acclaimed directors as Alice Ronfard (Les pieds des anges), Brigitte Haentjens (L’opéra de quat’sous), Claude Poissant (Rouge gueule, The Dragonfly of Chicoutimi), Serge Denoncourt (Projet Andromaque, Les trois mousquetaires), Olivier Kemeid (Furieux et désespérés), Denis Bernard (Ce moment-là) and Eric Jean (Variations sur un temps).
He is best known as the founding artistic director (2011) of the Montreal-based theatre company Orange Noyée. His distinctive artistic practice investigates notions of community identity (Un/One, Deux/Two, Trois/Three) and social relationships (Ils étaient quatre, Cinq à sept, 8). He pursued this approach more recently in Neuf [working title] and Zéro presented in fall 2019 in Montreal and Ottawa, and also in various artistic collaborations over the years: Lapin blanc, Lapin rouge, Les Lettres arabes II, and À te regarder, ils s’habitueront. Mani Soleymanlou was part of the impressive team behind Gabriel Dumont’s Wild West Show (premiered at the NAC in October 2017), as director and co-artistic director.
Mani Soleymanlou assumed the position of Artistic Director of NAC French Theatre on September 1, 2021.
Artist Without Borders
As the founding director of the children’s theatre company Voyageurs Immobiles, Polish-born director Milena Buziak delights in inviting people of all backgrounds, cultures and identities to her creative table. In 2020, she was awarded the John Hirsch Prize in recognition of her talent and the uniqueness of her artistic vision.
For young audiences, her directing credits include Estelle Savasta’s Traversée (presented at the NAC in 2017) and Marcel Cremer’s Le cheval de bleu (NAC 2019), both of which featured a mixed cast of deaf and hearing actors. Her latest creation project, Cycle des utopies fertiles, will invite European, African and Indigenous creators to blend their voices in the universal language of art.
Miriam Cusson is a director, actor, playwright, artistic advisor and educator from a large black hole in Northern space. Her creative projects include Tranquillité (2005), Stuff ou les aventures en catalogue (2007), Fara Lifa : Fred et Crudo do Iceland (2010), Nowhere du Nord (2013), Parmi les éclats- Shattered (2018), Nibi. Eau. Water. (2022). She is the recipient of the John Hirsch Prize for Directors (2017), the Sudbury Celebration of the Arts Award (2018), and the Excellence in Teaching Award from a certain university (2019). This fall, Miriam joined the Theatre Department at the University of Ottawa as an Assistant Professor. She is currently working as a performer and translator on the Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario's next creation, Aéroportée, directed by Manon St-Jules.
Actor and playwright Alain Doom was shortlisted for the 2016 Trillium Book Award and received the Prix Émergence for his first play, Un neurinome sur une balançoire. This dramatic monologue was presented in Ottawa (Zones Théâtrales/ZT), Montréal (La Licorne), Sudbury (Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario/TNO) and Toronto (Théâtre français de Toronto/TfT), and was adapted into a web series (Neurinome) by Marie-Claude Dicaire and Jean-François Dubé (Unis-TV5). His second play, Un quai entre deux mondes, was shortlisted for the 2019 Trillium Award and given staged readings at the Festival Quatre Chemins de Haïti, the TNO and Zones Théâtrales, and in Toronto. His most recent play, Le Club des Éphémères, produced in 2020 (TNO and TfT), will be remounted in spring 2022. Alain’s plays are published by Éditions Prise de parole. As an actor, he has appeared in Frères d’hiver by Michel Ouellette (Catapulte), L’École des femmes by Molière (TfT) and Du pépin à la fissure by Patrice Desbiens (TNO).
Emmanuelle Gingras is an illustrator, writer and co-director of the emerging collective Les Frivoles. A graduate of the Centre d’excellence artistique de l’Ontario (CEAO) in theatre and creative writing, she went on to win the Théâtre Action and CEAO scholarships (third place and audience choice award). She is currently studying theatre at the University of Ottawa with a minor in French literature. In 2020, she was seen in Un conte de l’apocalypse, a Théâtre de la Vieille 17 / NAC French Theatre coproduction directed by André Perrier and presented at La Nouvelle-Scène Gilles Desjardins. She is interested in acting, but also in directing and writing: in 2018, she won a competition organized by the newspaper LIAISON for her review “M.I.L.F.: aigre revendication de la beauté maternelle”; and in 2019, her play Tortue, orgasmes et fin du monde won the Best Production Award at the Youth Infringement Festival.
Performer and director Pierre Antoine Lafon Simard is a graduate of the University of Ottawa theatre program (2004), the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Québec acting program (2007) and the National Theatre School of Canada directing program (2009). In October 2016 he was appointed artistic director and general manager of Théâtre du Trillium, where he was also an associate artist for the 2011–12 season. With that company he has performed in and directed several new works, including Taram (2011), based on the universe of artist Marjolaine Beauchamp; Déluge (2012); and Les Mains de Jonathan (2013), a coproduction with Théâtre La Rubrique. While pursuing his own artistic career, he has also held the positions of artistic coordinator of Espace René-Provost in Gatineau; artistic director of the Festival de l’Outaouais émergent; lecturer and teacher; co-founder and artistic director of Creative Mornings in Montréal; and communications officer for the company Porte Parole directed by playwright Annabel Soutar. From 2013 to 2016, he was the assistant programmer at Usine C in Montréal. In 2020, with Julien Morissette, he founded the Scène nationale du son. He directed M.I.L.F. and Néon Boréal, which premiered at Zones Théâtrales 2017 and 2019 respectively.
Lissa Léger studied theatre at the University of Ottawa and made her acting debut in 2009 in the original production of Les Z’aventures de Zozote. Her work is rooted in creation and collaboration. She has appeared in La Chatte et le Hibou, Porc-Épic, Lisa L’Heureux’s Ciseaux (premiered at undercurrents), and Le long de la Principale. She was part of the creative team for #PigeonsAffamés, a multidisciplinary production by Théâtre Trillium. She is an associate artist at Théâtre Rouge Écarlate and is working with Théâtre Catapulte on the project La vitesse des femmes sauvages.
A graduate in theatre theory and dramaturgy from the University of Ottawa, Lionel Lehouillier is a director, writer and actor. Straddling the line between theatre and social activism, he seeks to establish a dialogue between drama and advocacy through non-traditional approaches to theatre. A specialist in object theatre, Lionel created Les enfants valises, L’Iliade pour les nuls and Ce pilon à patate est un demi-dieu grec. As artistic director of Théâtre Tremplin since 2019, he directed Albert N., which was made into a radio play. He has worked for several years with professional companies in the Outaouais region, including Théâtre de la Vieille 17, Théâtre Trillium, Théâtre Catapulte and Théâtre de l’Île. Lionel was also part of the cast of the youth production Dans tous les sens by Vox Théâtre. Recently, he developed the queer theatre production Laitue matinale, co-created with Dillon Orr. An early version of the project was presented at the 2019 Jamais Lu literary festival in Montréal and Zones Théâtrales 2019 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The project also won the RBC National Excellence Award from the Fondation pour l’avancement du théâtre francophone au Canada.
Le R Premier is recognized as one of the most prominent Francophone Afro-Canadian singers. He is the founder of the L’Armure du Son label and the Coeur de Pion brand.
Actor, director, translator and artistic director, Danielle Le Saux-Farmer graduated from the University of Ottawa in theatre and from the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Québec in acting. Since graduating in 2011, she has performed at Théâtre du Trident, La Bordée, Premier Acte, Le Périscope, Théâtre la Licorne, Théâtre Denise-Pelletier, and on tour across Canada. She has been seen, among others, in L’art de la chute, a creation by Nuages en pantalon, a project that includes her as a coauthor, the Projet Laramie at the Théâtre du Trident, in the theatrical adaptation of La Guerre des Tuques by Fabien Cloutier, and more recently in Singulières by Maxime Beauregard-Martin, directed by Alexandre Fecteau at the Théâtre la Bordée in the spring of 2021.
She has translated three plays: Avant l’archipel by Emily Pearlman, a creation in which she acts and which has over 100 performances to its credit, Beyond the Night Sky, a creation by Nuages en pantalon, and The Art of the Fall, a published translation of L’art de la chute. She also directed an adaptation of David Mamet’s Dans le bois in 2013, a production by the Collectif du Vestiaire, Le Jeu, by Pascale Renaud-Hébert, in 2017, and Princesse de personne by Pascale Renaud-Hébert, her first production as Artistic Director of Théâtre Catapulte, in Ottawa. In addition to continuing as Artistic and General Director of the Catapulte for a fourth season, Danielle will be part of the cast of Durant des années by Louis-Philippe Roy, Théâtre du Trillium’s next creation in the spring of 2022.
With the help of her senses and an insatiable and attentive curiosity, Jessica likes to sit back and observe the world as it is, when she can. Initially a student of French literature, she decided to waver towards philosophy which she is currently studying at the University of Ottawa. What captivates her? Thinking and adventurous thought, by nature, always moving, absorbing and transforming itself through time, but also that lively force that characterizes the musicality and scope of words, questions about the inner world that inhabits us and the surrounding world that surrounds us, or the intuitive relationship to words (among others). It is precisely in the context of the performance La Petite Maison (directed by Noémie Avidar), in which she took part in September 2021, at La Nouvelle Scène, that she attempts to "express the inexpressible" through the "experience of the word". Her participation in 2042 constitutes, for her, an opportunity to experiment with her teeth, her thoughts and her words.
Born in Sudbury, Robert Marinier studied acting at the National Theatre School of Canada. He continued his training in dramatic creation at the Ateliers Alain Knapp in Paris. He has been working in the theatre industry for over twenty-five years: he writes, acts, directs and regularly acts as a dramaturgical consultant. He wrote of a dozen plays, including À la gauche de Dieu and L'Insomnie, nominated for the Trillium Award in 1997 and the Governor General Award in 1998.
Most recently, he wrote Un conte de l'apocalypse, a futuristic play with an end-of-the-world feelpresented in early 2020 by NAC French Theatre and Théâtre de la Vieille 17.
Lily Mason is entering her last year of high school. She has been a part of the Writing and Creative Writing concentration at the Centre d’excellence artistique de l’Ontario since 2018. Her participation in 2042 is her second venture into the professional world of theatre, and she remains very grateful for this opportunity! This past spring, she had the chance to write a podcast for Théâtre Catapulte's project Demain, j'étais ici, which was a rewarding experience. In her spare time, Lily volunteers at a senior center and devours fiction novels and poetry collections. On weekends, you can find her in the Byward Market with her friends, or at home, writing drafts of her work! In the future, Lily hopes to continue writing and pursue a degree in science at the University of Ottawa.
A co-founder of Ottawa’s Vox Théâtre (1979), Marie-Thé Morin has written plays, novels, stories, screenplays, adaptations, poetry and songs. She won the 2016 Prix Dramaturgie en chantier for Les couleurs de Floyd, and her first miniseries, Eaux turbulentes, aired on Ici Radio-Canada in 2019–20. Her novel Errances, the first volume of a trilogy, was published in April 2021 by Éditions Prise de parole. Also an actor, singer and puppeteer, she has played several memorable characters, notably in Sauvage, La Miss et la Madame and Oz for Vox Théâtre; in Lavalléville for Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario; and in Maïta for Théâtre de la Vieille 17 and Théâtre de Sable. She also won the 2017 Prix Rideau Award for Performance of the Year for her role in Le gars qui voulait se faire phénix.
Julien Morissette is a filmmaker, sound designer and musician from Gatineau, where he lives and works. Since 2016, his digital art practice has focused on radio creation and storytelling. In addition to doing sound and radio design for the stage, Julien has created and designed audio installations presented in various artist centres. In 2017, he co-founded the Festival de la radio numérique and Transistor Média, a company specializing in documentary podcasting and digital audio fiction. He has designed and produced audio series such as L’heure de radio McGarrigle, La Scène nationale du son and Signal nocturne (Télé-Québec), Synthèses (QUB Radio) and En direct de (Radio-Canada). With his partner Karina Pawlikowski, he is currently working on the audio fiction series Les amours extraordinaires (Radio-Canada) and the stage project Quelque chose de la lenteur.
Originally from the Detroit River Region, Dillon Orr is a Franco-Ontarian stage director. He is a graduate of the Department of Theatre from the University of Ottawa, and the Artistic Residency program at the National Theatre School of Canada. Strongly interested in the development and production of new dramaturgies, Dillon is the recipient of the Paulette-Gagnon (2016) and National Excellence RBC (2019) awards, awarded by the Foundation for the Advancement of Francophone Theater in Canada, as well as the Pauline McGibbon Award (2021) from the Ontario Arts Council. His work and theatrical point of view, characterized by its passion fueled approach to cringe, are exciting new forms of popular entertainment. Anchored in humour and accessibility, Dillon’s unique approach to live art is representative of an intrinsically Franco-Ontarian theatre aesthetic. His many creations include Le club des éphémères (Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario, Théâtre français de Toronto), Ceci n’est pas une lettre d’adieu… (Théâtre Catapulte), Toutou (Vox Théâtre), Jeff Koons (Théâtre du Trillium, Center Phi) and Vaches, The Musical (Creations In Vivo).
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Karina Pawlikowski is an artist and writer with a background in visual arts. Since 2015, her practice has focused on writing and voice. Her work is supported, exhibited and circulated by various institutions in Quebec, in Canada and abroad. Karina’s research questions the norms that frame emotional and relational life. Her work is marked by references to the intimate, to domestic space and to parenthood. With her life partner Julien Morissette, she is currently working on the audio fiction series Les amours extraordinaires and the stage project Quelque chose de la lenteur.
Born in Ottawa, Pier Rodier co-founded Vox Théâtre in 1979 and became its artistic director in 1987. Throughout his career as a multi-talented theatre artist, he has cultivated a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary practice. He devotes much of his energy to the creation, production and presentation of plays for young audiences in Ottawa and elsewhere in Canada. He works diligently in the field of arts education. He has initiated many innovative social projects such as the Série Enfance Jeunesse (2002) and the Tout petit festival (April 2021) at La Nouvelle Scène Gilles Desjardins. In 2020, he received the Victor Tolgesy Award for the Arts, presented jointly by the Ottawa Arts Council and the City of Ottawa, and, in September 2021, the MARCUS - BMO Prize from the Fondation pour l'avancement du théâtre francophone au Canada.
Clémence Roy-Darisse is an emerging writer, actor and director, and co-director and playwright of the poetic theatre collective Les Frivoles. An eco-conscious person, she incorporates her passion for the environment and social justice into the form and content of her work. Initially trained as an actor (Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe theatre school, Danielle Fichaud, Bachelor of Theatre at the University of Ottawa), she appeared in several productions and tried her hand at directing. She obtained two creative residencies for her play Profil, and then a grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for a staged reading of her script Laurence. In 2021, she will be playwright in residence at the Théâtre de l’Île and will perform in a production by Fâcheux Théâtre, in Gatineau. Clémence is currently working on a thesis on the role of theatre in the climate crisis.
Planter of roots
Emily Marie Séguin (she/they) is an emerging performer, musician, theatre creator and visual artist. She is a queer, 2-spirit artist of French and Anishinaabeg descent (Ottawa, Mattawa-Northbay FN) creating work to honor those who walked before her, and to uplift those who will after her.
She primarily works on the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Anishinabeg Nation, Ottawa (and surrounding areas).
Manon has led a bilingual career since graduating from the Acting Program of the National Theatre School. Whether in classical or contemporary pieces, she’s collaborated with companies across the country, specifically in Toronto (Canadian Stage, Festival of Classics, Theatre Direct, Pleiades), Montreal (Denise-Pelletier, Centaur, Segal Centre, Usine C) and Sudbury (Sudbury Theatre Centre, Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario). In Ottawa, she’s performed for French and English Theatre at the NAC, Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC), Arts Court, Théâtre Catapulte, Rouge Écarlate, and Créations InVivo. She’s hosted concerts with the NAC Orchestra, the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Gala, and several corporate events across the country. Her work on-camera includes dramatic and comedic parts in film, television, commercials, and various multimedia projects. Recent credits include Pour toi Flora (Radio-Canada), Eaux Turbulentes (ARTV and Radio-Canada), the feature Noël en boîte, and three seasons of the youth TV series Amélie et Compagnie.
Along with regular voice work, Manon has done extensive work in translating and adapting various artistic and educational projects. She’s translated plays and librettos and been on the script writing team of three youth TV series, most recently the third season of Gang de hockey (TFO). With her teaching experience at the University of Ottawa’s Theatre Department and coaching both student and professional actors alike, Manon is now transitioning into directing. She’s directed a couple of readings, a production of Aéroportée at the TNO, and assistant directed Benevolence with Eric Coates at the GCTC. She’s currently working alongside French actor Caroline Raynaud to develop a one-woman show. Its first incarnation was presented at the TNO in February 2024.
Pop, Groovy, Funk by moment and Soul as a whole, Yao, with his baritone voice, succeeds in charming us with the warm universe of his sweet poetry and his artistic audacity.
Faithful to his pictorial writing – casted in great sensitivity - Yao reminds us of the textual richness of French rap by MC Solaar or Oxmo Puccino. His singularity: his eclectic pop side; Where the musical universes succeed one another and intertwine through the textual escapades of this poet.
After greatly distinguishing himself in the French-Canadian scene with his album Perles et Paraboles, Yao, with his seven nominations at the Trille Or 2015 Awards Gala (by APCM – the Association of Professional Singers and Musicians), was awarded in October 2015, the Édith- Butler Prize of the SPACQ Foundation (Professional Society of Authors and Composers of Quebec.)
His latest project, Lapsus came in at 24th of the Top 200 New releases in Canada in French Pop. A simply personal and captivating creation, that awarded two nominations at the 2017 Trille Or Awards (“Best Author, Composer or Songwriter”, and “Export Ontario (Ontario Artist who Most Illustrated himself Outside of the Province)”.
In 2019, with seven nominations under his belt, he won the top three most coveted awards as “Artist of the year”, “Performer of the year”, as well as the “Media’s favorite” award.
Active on, and off the scene, he received in November 2018, the Commemorative Medal of the Senate, highlighting the 150th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada – a distinction to highlight his accomplishments as well as his involvement in the community, via his art and his work promoting diversity cultural, across the country. And through his work as an artist-educator was awarded in 2018: the Ontario Arts Foundation’s Artist-Educator Award.
Having performed nationally and internationally (France, Madagascar, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, Cape Verde), Yao, with his extraordinary musicians offer you a personal, vibrant and captivating show, that you will want to see more than once.
Following her training in speech-language pathology, Caroline Yergeau completed a bachelor’s degree in theatre at the University of Ottawa. She appeared in Ti-Jean de partout (Cie Vox Théâtre) and Et si un soir (Théâtre Rouge Écarlate). She is the founding artistic director (2010) of Théâtre Belvédère, where her directing credits include Porc-épic (for which she was named “Director of the Year” at the 2013 Prix Rideau Awards gala) and Cinéma (coproduced with Théâtre la Catapulte). She has contributed to several new works: Fucking Carl (Theatre 4.669, Théâtre du Trillium), Parcours Vanier 1 and 2, and Mon corps livré pour vous (Belvédère in partnership with Théâtre du Trillium). Caroline is currently completing her bachelor’s degree in music (vocal performance) at the University of Ottawa.
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees