NAC Foundation
“When I first saw Ma petite boule d’amour, I pictured parents cuddling their children as they watched the show together,” recalls Mélanie Dumont, Associate Artistic Director of Youth Programming for NAC French Theatre. “With its intimate, welcoming atmosphere, the Alan & Roula Rossy Pavilion is the ideal venue for this show: it’s like a cozy cocoon that envelops the audience in this story about fatherhood and adoption.”
On October 28, 2017, French Theatre will inaugurate the new Alan & Roula Rossy Pavilion, a 70‑seat multipurpose space, with this production by Montreal’s Théâtre Bouches Décousues for children ages 3 to 6.
“With this play, writer and performer Jasmine Dubé begins a series she has affectionately nicknamed ‘L’Enfanfreluche’ in honour of Kim Yaroshevskaya, star of the popular children’s TV series Fanfreluche,” Mélanie notes. “It reconnects with the joy of storytelling. Accompanied onstage by a musician, Jasmine narrates the touching tale of a gruff, lonely old bear who goes in search of an orphaned bear cub.”
After a peripatetic year of shows performed in various nearby venues while the NAC underwent major renovations, Mélanie is thrilled to be “back home” to present a luminous season of plays for teens and children as young as 18 months.
“The theatre will always be a special place to take time out from the everyday,” says Mélanie. “A place to think, be amazed and surrender to the experience. We’re constantly looking for ways to surprise our young audiences and appeal to their intelligence. The earlier they are introduced to this art form, the sooner they develop an alert and inquisitive approach to the world. It’s also valuable for the parents who accompany their children. They may never have been to the theatre before, and a whole universe unfolds before their eyes.”
Ma petite boule d’amour show dates are October 28 and 29, 2017, in the Alan & Roula Rossy Pavilion.
