News Releases

  1. Denis Villeneuve to receive NAC Award as part of Governor General's Performing Arts Awards celebration

    March 3, 2011

    Toronto (Canada) — Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) announced today it is presenting the prestigious 2011 National Arts Centre Award to Quebec filmmaker and Academy Award nominee Denis Villeneuve. Mr. Villeneuve is one of Canada’s fastest-rising stars on the international film scene, having directed Incendies, one of five nominees in the category of Best Foreign... Read more

  2. ÉCLATS ET AUTRES LIBERTÉS  Studio, March 11–12, 2011 at 8 p.m.

    March 1, 2011

    Constructive, poetic and socially committed experiment by Marie?Josée Bastien, Mathieu Gosselin, Étienne Lepage and Jean?Frédéric Messier, directed by Benoît Vermeulen. With Ève Duranceau, Eve Landry, Kim Lavack?Paquin and Philippe Racine. Artistic contributors: Raymond Marius Boucher,... Read more

  3. VÉRITÉ DE SOLDAT

    February 28, 2011

    VÉRITÉ DE SOLDATExclusive North American engagement.Dramatized docufiction, based on the book Ma vie de soldat (“My Life as a Soldier”) by Soungalo Samaké, adapted for the stage by Jean?Louis Sagot Duvauroux, directed by Patrick Le Mauff, with Adama Bagayoko (Soungalo), Michel Sangaré (Amadou) and Darrah Sanogo (Catherine). Artistic collaborators: Alioune... Read more

  4. MAIS QUE LIT STEPHEN HARPER?(What Is Stephen Harper Reading?)Recommended reading for a prime minister and book lovers of all stripesA literary evening produced by the National Arts Centre French TheatreExclusive engagement, one performance onlyOriginal concept: Wajdi Mouawad and Guy WarinTexts: Letters written by Yann Martel to Stephen Harper and excerpts from selected literary worksText selection, compilation and direction and stage direction: Benoît Vermeulen and Guy WarinMaster of ceremonies: Marcel PomerloPiano and music selection: Jean DesmaraisStage management and lighting: Guillaume HouëtTheatre, February 25 at 7:30 p.m.

    February 14, 2011

    Ladies and gentlemen of the free press, As you know, on March 28, 2007, 50 creators crowded into the Visitors’ Gallery of the House of Commons, personifying the 50 years of existence of the Canada Council for the Arts. No sooner had the Minister of Canadian Heritage concluded her remarks than the House turned to other matters. Yann Martel couldn’t take his eyes off... Read more

  5. WOLFEEmma Haché Studio, February 16–19 at 8 p.m.Poetic and historical reappropriation of an actual event, written and directed by Emma Haché, with Albert Belzile, Kevin Doyle, Diane Losier, André Roy, Caroline Sheehy, Marie?Pierre Valay?Nadeau.Artistic collaborators: Luc Rondeau, Marc Poulin, Jean?François Mallet.Produced by Théâtre l’Escaouette (Moncton, NB) in coproduction with the National Arts Centre French Theatre.Student matinee available.

    February 4, 2011

    Emma Haché’s play invites us to consider history from a very particular angle: Without challenges and trials to demonstrate their valour, who would our mythical heroes be? What if Wolfe were only the shadowy mirror in which we are afraid to look at ourselves? Apolline believes that Jackie Vautour, the last holdout among the expropriated residents of Kouchibouguac Park, is... Read more

  6. Le Voyage Marie-Christine Lê-HuuStudio, January 22 at 1:30 p.m. and January 23 at 1:30 & 3:30 p.m. Zen story with a jazz beat, written and directed by Marie-Christine Lê-Huu, with Caroline Bernier-Dionne, Noë Cropsal, Alexandre Leroux and Félix Monette-Dubeau.-Lacoste, Thomas Godefroid and Simon Lanctôt.Produced by Théâtre de l’Avant-Pays (Montreal).Recommended for ages 5 to 9.Running time: 60 minutes with no intermission.School matinees available.

    January 13, 2011

    Rome wasn’t built in a day… and that’s what makes it so beautiful and so poetic. Marie-Christine Lê-Huu expands on this idea as she talks about her show: “We don’t hear much about perseverance these days. In a world of mass consumerism and instant gratification, the notion seems to have gone out of style. And yet each and every day, children face countless... Read more

  7. MOI QUI ME PARLE À MOI-MÊME DANS LE FUTURStudio, December 8–11, 2010 at 8 p.m.First North-American première. Poetic and surrealistic autobiography, written and performed by Marie Brassard with musician/performers Jonathan Parant and Alexandre St?Onge. Artistic collaborators: Jonathan Parant, Alexandre St?Onge, Mikko Hynninen, Karl Lemieux, Philippe Tremblay and Frédéric Auger. Coproduced by Infrarouge (Montreal), Festival TransAmériques (Montreal), the National Arts Centre French Theatre (Ottawa), the Wiener Festwochen (Vienna), and Theater im Pumpenhaus (Münster). Running time: Approximately 1 hour 15 minutes.

    November 24, 2010

    She is a ferociously original, irresistible artist of the species Unclassifiable. Fearless explorer of our modern times, she reigns supreme and unchallenged over the grassy, arid or semi-desert Quebec plains of a personal alphabet where sound, voice and rhythm have truly royal status!Marie Brassard draws her material from her own experiences, from the events, photographs, short films and... Read more

  8. Nuit d’orageFor ages 5 to 9Studio, December 4 at 1:30 p.m. and December 5 at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Philosophical illustrations by Michèle Lemieux, adapted for the stage and directed by Gervais Gaudreault, with Ludger Côté and Émilie Lévesque.Artistic collaborators: Milena Buziak, Stéphane Longpré, Linda Brunelle, Dominique Gagnon, Diane Labrosse, François Cyr and Géraldine Courchesne.Produced by Le Carrousel, in coproduction with Muni Spec Mont?Laurier and the Théâtre du Vieux?Terrebonne, company in residence at the Théâtre de la Ville de Longueuil.School matinees available.

    November 23, 2010

    Lights up on an anxious little girl and her dog on a wild and stormy night. Produced by Le Carrousel and recommended for ages 5 to 9, Nuit d’orage is a stage adaptation of the children’s book written and illustrated by Michelle Lemieux. Subtle, funny and perceptive, the play explores the age where awareness first starts to intrude on childhood innocence. “One stormy... Read more

  9. LES ZURBAINS 2010 Studio, November 27 at 8 p.m. Tales of the city by 5 adolescent playwrights (Cleo Beland, Alex Carignan, Caleb Guthrie, David Le Quéré and Alex Viens), directed by Monique Gosselin, with Kevin Houle, Milène Leclerc, Julien Lemire, Philippe Robert and Marie-Ève Trudel. Artistic collaborators: Josée Bergeron-Proulx, Marie-Noëlle Klis, Mathieu Marcil, Anne-Marie Levasseur et Caroline Turcot.Produced by Théâtre Le Clou (Montreal). Recommended for ages 14 and older. Running time: 80 minutes. School matinees available.

    November 17, 2010

    Just this once, I’m going to write a press release as a collage of quotations. Don’t worry, I’ve chosen them carefully; and with the same attention to detail, I’ve taken the liberty of offering a few guidelines I hope you won’t find too intrusive. And so, without further delay, let’s dive into the universe of Les Zurbains 2010! And what... Read more

  10. Le Fusil de chasseEpistolary novel written in 1949 by Yasushi Inoué, adapted for the stage by Serge Lamothe and directed by François Girard, with Marie Brassard and odrigue Proteau. Artistic collaborators: Renée April, Joël Bergeron, David Finn, Alexander MacSween and François Séguin.Co-produced by the Parco Theatre (Tokyo), Usine C (Montreal), the National Arts Centre French Theatre, and the Brighton Festival. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes with no intermission. November 23–26 at 7:30 p.m. and November 27 at 8 p.m. in the NAC Theatre.Performed in French only.

    November 15, 2010

    Could the distance from art to reality be but a single step? Could the creative musings of a poet’s imagination inadvertently spark the burning desire to reveal the innermost secrets of an intimate relationship? Almost impulsively, a man publishes a poem in a hunting magazine, The Hunter’s Companion. In it he describes the solitary soul of a middle-aged hunter spotted on a trail... Read more