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A letter from Catherine Vidal, artist in residence
January 29, 2023Dear friends of French Theatre, My name is Catherine Vidal and I’m a director. At the invitation of the NAC’s new artistic director, Mani Soleymanlou, I’ll be the NAC French Theatre artist in residence this season and next. Is it because I’ve been inspired by my reading of Anton Chekhov’s…
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Un. Deux. Trois. Go!
November 23, 2022It was full speed ahead for NAC French Theatre’s first season, fully programmed by Artistic Director Mani Soleymanlou. Un. Deux. Trois., an epic performance written and directed by Mani, opened at the NAC in September 2022 before going on tour to eight other Canadian cities—Sudbury,…
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Special projects
May 17, 2022The French Theatre Collective One of Mani Soleymanlou’s first initiatives as artistic director of French Theatre is to open up a horizon for the next generation of performers. He wants to offer them hope, but above all a genuine work opportunity, by mounting an annual production steered by…
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G’zaagiin - Je te promets une forêt
July 23, 2021*English and French subtitles available An Abitibi experimental cellist, an Anishinabeg actress and traditional musician, and a Polish-born director, guided by the seasons and the Indigenous Medicine Wheel, to create an immersive space full of sounds, textures and poetic movement, where…
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A Performance-Filled Celebration of Mois de la Francophonie
April 12, 2021With the support of generous donors like you, Francophone artists were centre stage at the NAC throughout March in celebration of Mois de la Francophonie. A diverse virtual program of music, theatre, dance and more drew thousands of visitors, offering Francophiles and Francophones the…
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Finding Our Light - World Theatre Day
March 23, 2021On this World Theatre Day, NAC Indigenous, English and French Theatres join with artists and audiences from coast to coast to coast to celebrate the many exciting ways theatre stories have been shared during the past year of profound change. On stage and off, we are finding our…
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A theatre project about the French language
December 7, 2020In 2019, Zones Théâtrales presented Oh! Canada : un forum sur la langue, a project led by Nicolas Gendron and Danielle Le Saux-Farmer. This workshop launched a vast research project on the state of the French language. From November 23 to 27, Zones Théâtrales welcomed Danielle and Nicolas…
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La Queens: Podcast mini-series
December 2, 2020In the depths of winter, the owner of La Queens breathes her last, leaving her remote northern Ontario motel to her two daughters. Marie-Thérèse Fortin and Dominique Quesnel play the central pair in this story with echoes of identity, written by Jean Marc Dalpé. Episode 1 Episode…
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C’est la faute de Jean Marc Dalpé
November 23, 2020It’s Jean Marc Dalpé’s Fault It’s his fault that I took the biggest risk of my life. There were 15 of us gathered in a room under harsh fluorescent lights; everyone was tense, especially me. It smelled like burnt coffee and dirty carpeting. This interview, for an academic position, was…
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Partir ou rester
November 20, 2020To leave or to stay. The dilemma runs through much of Franco-Ontarian dramaturgy, including some of its most iconic texts: André Paiement’s Lavalléville (premiered in 1974), Jean Marc Dalpé’s Le chien (premiered in 1988), Michel Ouellette’s French Town (premiered in 1993), and, more…
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A conversation with Brigitte Haentjens about Pour en finir avec Octobre?
November 16, 2020October 2020. On the stage of Le Diamant in Quebec City, it’s a rare day of activity in this fall of cultural scarcity. For the past week, the set has felt like a radio studio, with 20-odd microphones set up to capture the epilogue of Pour en finir avec Octobre?, an eight-episode podcast…
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Dear you,
October 23, 2020Dear You, I’ve been thinking about the last time we saw each other at the theatre. When was that, do you remember? Do you remember the show you came to see that day? Perhaps you’ve carefully preserved an image or sound from that experience in your memory. Close your eyes and…
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Ersatz
August 28, 2020ERSATZ, adj. (Of a product) Made or used as a substitute for a product that has become rare. An interview with Mélanie Dumont about a mysterious theatrical product to be launched in mid-October. What is Ersatz? Concretely, it’s a web platform, an all-terrain, multidisciplinary…
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Meet the Next Artistic Director of NAC French Theatre: Mani Soleymanlou
August 18, 2020Theatre director, playwright and actor Mani Soleymanlou will be the next Artistic Director of NAC French Theatre, effective September 1, 2021. Mani will take over from Brigitte Haentjens at the conclusion of her nine-year term. NAC audiences will have already seen some of…
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Les ballets de ci de là
May 22, 2020Ultimately, we strive to share the things that consume us: love, death, fear, solitude.” — Alain Platel (2005) An exclusive online screening: LES BALLETS DE CI DE LÀ* (click here to watch) directed by Alain Platel Belgium | 2006 | 110 minutes *In French and Flemish with French…
