Ottawa, August 19, 2021 — This year, NAC French Theatre’s Enfance/jeunesse season of programming for children and youth offers some surprising experiences ranging from the touching to the unusual. Onstage, off-site and online, performances, activities and more await children, teens and their families. 

Among the new features: programming for teenagers, theatre for young audiences and its universes at your fingertips, and a redesigned Nos ébranlements series of creative encounters. 

Working with a multitude of wonderful and unclassifiable creative partners, Mélanie Dumont, French Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director of Youth Programming, has put together a season of shows to colour our interiors, stretch our minds, and direct our hungry eyes toward multiple and shifting landscapes. Visit secret places, boogie to the rhythm of crazy costumes, tour a museum at night, shrink to the size of ants to enter a miniature theatre, catch the thousand whispers of a forest, and ride the sound wave of the BIG BANG Festival.

"After these long months of forced seclusion, it seems vital to gather in a group of fifty, a hundred or a thousand to share the same wavelength and take care of our imaginations." 

—Mélanie Dumont, Associate Artistic Director 

 

Will teenagers hold their breath as they listen to Audrey Talbot, will they project themselves into the future with Joël Pommerat, will they be attracted like moths to the light by the words of Jonathan Roy? 

 

BINGO COSMIQUE 
For ages 5+ 
October 2, 2021 
(Limited seating) 
Produced by NAC French Theatre 

It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, we’ve been dreaming of a very special reunion. And so we welcome you to a dynamic universe, possibly neo-fluo, post-rococo or a bit electro. Picture this: The year is 2042. Remnants of an ancient game have been found within the NAC: the game is bingo! A master of ceremonies, a card you make yourself, and surprise guests will accompany you on a journey to the future to play a family game of cosmic bingo! 

 

KALÉIDOSCOPE 
For ages 3+ 
Saturday, October 16, 2021 
Produced by Bouge de là 

The whole family is invited to safely attend and participate in this lively outdoor dance-theatre performance choreographed by Hélène Langevin! Four performers in crazy stretchy costumes invade the space and form a kaleidoscope of colours and movements. After their performance, come strut your stuff on the open-air dance floor! 

 

CHANSONS POUR LE MUSÉE 
For ages 7 to 14 
December 11 & 12, 2021 
Produced by Mammifères 
Production partners: Maison Théâtre, Théâtre Aux Écuries, Le CUBE, NAC French Theatre, Productions Recto-Verso, Mois Multi, La Chapelle – scènes contemporaines, Les Coups de théâtre, Maison de la culture Pointe-aux-Trembles. 

A beautiful hybrid creation imagined by Karine Sauvé to make a dramatic case for the importance of art and its amazing healing powers! Alone, in the middle of the night, Karine-Pas-Sauvé (“Karine-Not-Saved”) wanders through a museum and observes the strange sculptures. A mysterious skeleton–psychologist has told her to sing at the top of her voice to the ones that appeal to her, as an antidote to the pain of her separation and a shattered family cocoon. Dynamic and breathtaking! 

 

HUSH: Henry’s Dream Machine 
For ages 6 to 12 
February 19 & 20, 2022 
Produced by Zonzo Compagnie 
Coproducers: Les Festivals de Wallonie, Opéra de Lille, Concertgebouw Brugge and Het Laatste Bedrijf 
Partners: La Maison qui Chante, the Flemish authorities, the Government of Quebec and the European Union’s Creative Europe Programme 

After Bach and Miles Davis, it’s Henry Purcell’s turn to get a “makeover” from the renowned Zonzo children’s theatre company. Put on your finest silk stockings, board a ghost ship and discover the bewitching world of HUSH, an off-the-wall concert-performance about Henry Purcell, the Shakespeare of English music. But wait—there’s more to it than meets the ear! The stage becomes a magical box that shifts and changes before your eyes …. 

The performances of HUSH are part of the BIG BANG Festival, which will take place on February 19 and 20, two days of adventure and sound experimentation for the whole family. Complete program to come: bigbangfestival.ca. (But sshhhhh, you didn’t hear it from us!) 

 

LA CHAMBRE DES ENFANTS 
For ages 6 to 11 
April 9 & 10, 2022 
Produced by L’eau du bain 
Production partners: NAC National Creation Fund, École supérieure de théâtre de l’UQAM, Hexagram-UQAM, University of Ottawa Theatre Department, Productions Recto-Verso and NAC French Theatre. 

The creators of L’eau du bain repurpose the impressive set of White Out in a play for young audiences. The result is a landscape play that confounds the senses and where anything can happen. It’s a mysterious room, basically, with no walls or ceiling, where a group of children in pyjamas seem to have lived forever. Yes, real children on stage, and no sign of an adult to lay down the law. Make way for chaos and tangles of sheets! 

 

G’ZAAGIIN – Je te promets une forêt  
For ages 18 months to 5 years 
May 22 & 23, 2022 
Produced by Voyageurs Immobiles, Cie de création 
Coproducer: NAC French Theatre 
Production partners: Maison Théâtre and City of Val d’Or 

A Polish-born director, an Indigenous performer and a musician from Abitibi: three creative women who join forces to invent an enthralling forest show. Guided by the wisdom of the traditional medicine wheel, the artists will weave seasons of sound filled with textures and flavours to be experienced with all five senses. At the foot of the majestic trees, we are all children of the world. 

 

To learn more about this season, click here 

 

PERFORMANCES … AND MORE! 

 

NOS ÉBRANLEMENTS 

The past year has weakened our ties and undermined our social contacts. Multidisciplinary artist Judith Poitras and documentary photographer Jonathan Lorange, curators of this third edition of Nos ébranlements, are inviting a dozen young people between the ages of 14 and 18 to reconnect with each other and the outside world. These teenagers haven’t met before, but they open a dialogue, and by speaking out and taking creative micro-actions, they weave a multiform collective video work to be widely shared on our online platforms. 

 

PROGRAMMING FOR TEENS 

Your sofa and your computer thank you for all the love and attention you gave them in 2020 and early 2021. Now it’s time to reconnect with real life! This season, French Theatre invites teens between 14 and 18 years old to take a low-cost plunge into its general audience programming, with three shows that appeal to both adults and young people: There’s a show for every personality type! 

Savèches, une fragmentation contemporaine en trois mouvements 

Corps titan (titre de survie) 

Contes et légendes 

 

ERSATZ 

Born out of the pandemic, Ersatz is a multidisciplinary platform that gives you access to the world of youth theatre from every angle. Activities, unusual careers, creative missions and even sports. New content will be posted in September. It’s absolutely free and available at your fingertips anytime! 

 

TICKETS 
Tickets for NAC performances taking place up until November 30 are on sale as of 10 a.m. on August 19th. Later this fall, the NAC will announce additional programming and ticketing information for Winter 2021-2022. 
 
To purchase tickets to upcoming NAC performances, visit Ticketmaster to purchase tickets online or call 1-888-991-2787 (ARTS). In-person purchases at the NAC Box Office are suspended until further notice. For more information, please visit www.nac-cna.ca/season.  
 
As the NAC transitions back towards an in-person performance model, we continue to monitor evolving public health circumstances. The upcoming 2021-2022 season will feature works that can be experienced safely and comfortably, congruent with public health guidelines. The well-being of audiences, artists and staff remains the NAC’s highest priority. Health and safety protocols, including seating capacity in the halls, will reflect ongoing public health guidelines. To prepare for your (re)awaken in-person experience, visit https://nac-cna.ca/en/visit.  
 

ABOUT NAC FRENCH THEATRE 

NAC French Theatre presents theatre in step with the times, theatre that reflects and responds to emerging artistic trends both at home and abroad and actively contributes to advancing contemporary stage writing and directing. This artistic trajectory is expressed through national and international co-productions, new works and touring productions. French Theatre offers audiences shows that stand out for the diversity of the forms they present and the emotions they trigger. Its programming is rich in original writing and vision, in brilliant staging, and in the powerful words of artists who enchant, challenge or unsettle audiences, but never leave them indifferent. French Theatre audiences have come to expect an emotional and intellectual adventure that is profoundly and authentically human. 

 

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INFORMATION: 

Camylle Gauthier-Trépanier 
Communications Officer 
camylle.gauthier-trepanier@cna-nac.ca 
450-209-7136 
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