National Arts Centre - Centre national des Arts Canada is our stage. Le Canada en scène.

Ages 5 to 10

May 29 - 31, 2019

La Nouvelle Scène Gilles Desjardins 333 King Edward Ave. Ottawa Canada

Français

Performance options	Start time	Language	Availability
Wednesday, May 29, 2019	9:45 am	French	Seats available
Wednesday, May 29, 2019	12:30 pm	French	sold out
Thursday, May 30, 2019	9:45 am	French	sold out
Thursday, May 30, 2019	12:30 pm	French	Seats available
Friday, May 31, 2019	9:45 am	French	Seats available
Friday, May 31, 2019	12:30 pm	French	sold out

“A little girl tells about the appearances of the famous blue horse, a fantastical beast that revives the memory of her beloved grandfather. Once again, Milena Buziak advances Marcel Cremer’s poetic universe and the evocative power of sign language.”

Like galloping stories!

Red horse, green horse, wooden horse, iron horse: you can have a thousand horses, but when all’s said and done, there’s none better than a horse of blue. A single one of his tears can become an ocean, a whale, a school of fish! With passion, a little girl tells us the horse stories her grandfather used to tell her, because even though his rocking chair is now still, something very precious remains.

A hearing actress and a deaf actor perform this sublime theatrical score about memory and legacy, in a symbiotic fusion of the movement of language and the poetry of movement.

Bringing worlds together

A conversation with Milena Buziak

This is the second play by Belgian playwright Marcel Cremer you’ve directed. What excites and inspires you about his writing?

For me, his writing—poetic, enigmatic, and open to interpretation–offers the director a great deal of freedom, even as it constructs a concrete and singular universe in which the characters evolve. Written in a non-chronological way, this work plays with the notion of time, shifting between the present of the performance to the distant past. As with La femme corbeau, it’s a challenge to understand the structure and the issues the characters are dealing with in this play, and another challenge to invest it with our own meaning and bring it to life. I think I like challenges!

This event has passed

This event ended on: Jun 2, 2019

Adults & chaperones

1 Free adult per 15 students

Free admittance for special needs assistants

$ (HST included) for additional chaperons At the discretion of the National Arts Centre

Payment deadlines

3 weeks before the performance

Full payment is required by the payment deadline. The NAC reserves the right to cancel any orders submitted but not paid for by the payment deadline.

Seating

There are no reserved seats for NAC student matinee performances.

Instead of tickets you will receive a letter of admission and groups will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis at the performance.

The letter of admission will be issued upon receipt of full payment.

If you have any questions, please contact us at education@nac-cna.ca

Artists

Written by Marcel Cremer

Written by Marcel Cremer

Activator

Playwright and director Marcel Cremer believed the most interesting thing about an actor was their own life story. And thus, in 1980, in a tiny Belgian town, he founded Agora Theater, which quickly became one of Europe’s leading theatre companies for young audiences. His so-called autobiographical approach consisted of taking actors and designers to unusual places (a wood, a cemetery ...) and inviting them to improvise on various themes. From the individual stories that emerged, he constructed texts of universal poetic appeal. Cremer died in 2009; his artistic legacy includes La femme corbeau (2002), Wanted Hamlet (2008), and Le roi sans royaume (2010).

Déclencheur

Marcel Cremer, auteur, metteur en scène, trouvait qu’il n’y a rien de plus intéressant chez l’acteur que sa propre histoire de vie. C’est pourquoi en 1980, dans une minuscule commune belge, il fonde Agora Theater, qui deviendra rapidement, dans le milieu jeunesse, une des grandes troupes d’Europe. Son approche, dite autobiographique, consistait à entraîner les acteurs et concepteurs dans des lieux inusités (un bois, un cimetière...) pour les faire improviser sur divers thèmes. Des histoires individuelles récoltées, il concoctait des textes à la poésie universelle. Décédé en 2009, il a laissé des œuvres marquantes, dont La femme corbeau (2002), Wanted Hamlet (2008), Le roi sans royaume (2010).

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Directed by Milena Buziak
Directed by Milena Buziak

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.

Artiste sans frontières

Fondatrice et directrice de la compagnie Voyageurs Immobiles, la metteuse en scène d’origine polonaise Milena Buziak prend plaisir à convoquer à sa table de création des gens de tous horizons, cultures, identités. En 2020, elle se voit remettre le prix John-Hirsch, qui souligne son talent et l’unicité de sa vision artistique.

Pour les jeunes, elle crée, entre autres, Traversée d’Estelle Savasta (présenté au CNA en 2017) puis Le cheval de bleu de Marcel Cremer (CNA 2019), qui rassemblaient tous deux une distribution mixte, composée d’actrices et d’acteurs sourds et entendants. Baptisé Cycle des utopies fertiles, son nouveau chantier de création invitera des créateurs européens, africains et autochtones à parler ensemble dans cette langue universelle qu’est l’art.
NAC media featuring Milena Buziak
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with Sounia Balha

with Sounia Balha

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with Jonathan Poulin-Desbiens

with Jonathan Poulin-Desbiens

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With Sounia Balha and Jonathan Poulin-Desbiens
German–French translation Pierre Doome
Quebec Sign Language (LSQ) translation TraduSigne, in collaoration with Jonathan Poulin-Desbiens
Stage design John Doucet, assisted by Julie Vallée-Léger
Lighting design Benoît Brunet-Poirier
Costumes Manon Guiraud
Sound designer Martin Dawagne
Choreography Zurine Orbelzu-Lacoste
French/LSQ interpreter Karine Benard
Stage manager and assistant director Lionel Lehouillier
Production manager Sophie Ducharme
Artistic advisors Esther Beauchemin et Mélanie Dumont
Produced by Théâtre de la Vieille 17 and Voyageurs Immobiles, compagnie de création
In association with Théâtre français du CNA

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Learning and engagement at Canada’s National Arts Centre is made possible through the support of many generous individuals and organizations from across the country. Arts Alive is generously supported by the Azrieli Foundation, the Government of Nunavut, Canadian North, Calm Air, The River Philip Foundation, The Turnbull Family Community Building Foundation, and The Thomas Sill Foundation. Thank you also to Grant and Alice Burton, Canada Life, A Donor-Advised Fund at the Community Foundation of Ottawa, Friends of the NAC Orchestra, Donors to the NAC Foundation's Future Fund, The Janice and Earle O’Born Fund for Artistic Excellence, and the donors and sponsors of the NAC’s National Youth and Education Trust, the primary resource for youth and education funding at the National Arts Centre.

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