NAC Extends Brigitte Haentjens' Contract as French Theatre Artistic Director to 2021
The National Arts Centre (NAC) announced today that Brigitte Haentjens, Artistic Director of NAC French Theatre, has agreed to extend her contract for three years, from September 1, 2018, to August 31, 2021. This is the second time Ms. Haentjens’ contract has been renewed.
Recipient of the 2007 Siminovitch Prize in Theatre and the 2007 Gascon-Thomas Award, Brigitte Haentjens was named artistic director of NAC French Theatre in 2012 (the first woman to hold the position). For this outstanding artist, acclaimed for her exceptional contribution to Franco-Ontarian theatre, the appointment represented a kind of homecoming and an endorsement of her highly original and compelling artistic practice. A passionate lover of literature, a director keenly interested in issues of female identity, power and sexuality, she is known for dazzlingly innovative productions marked by uncompromising rigour.
“I am delighted that Brigitte Haentjens will continue to be part of the National Arts Centre family,” said Peter Herrndorf, CEO of the National Arts Centre. “This is wonderful news for all of us across Canada – audiences, artists and critics – who continue to be enthralled by her unique artistic vision.”
“I’m thrilled at the prospect of continuing to work with such a committed team,” says Brigitte Haentjens. “The National Arts Centre has given me the freedom to create and the opportunity to collaborate with talented artists from across Quebec and Canada and around the world. What a gift to be able to continue this artistic dialogue, which grows richer every season!”
Under Ms. Haentjens’ leadership, in the last few years French Theatre has participated in several coproductions representing a range of new work and artistic adventures. They include Olivier Kemeid’s theatrical saga Five Kings: l’histoire de notre chute, based on Shakespeare’s “cycle of kings;” Evelyne de la Chenelière’s stunning one-woman show Septembre; the latest creations by two giants of contemporary theatre, Robert Lepage (with 887 and an updated version of Les aiguilles et l’opium / Needles and Opium) and French playwright and director Joël Pommerat (with Ça ira (1) Fin de Louis and La réunification des deux Corées).
French Theatre has also coproduced several plays by artists from Canada’s French-language minority communities, and supported them throughout their creative project development. Among them are Sudbury director Geneviève Pineault (who directed a stage adaptation of Jean Marc Dalpé’s novel Un vent se lève qui éparpille, published in English as Scattered in a Rising Wind); Vancouver couple Esther Duquette and Gilles Poulin‑Denis (with Straight Jacket Winter); and Gatineau actress Magali Lemèle (with Je n’y suis plus).
Brigitte Haentjens has directed many landmark productions, including Une femme à Berlin, based on Marta Hillers’ Journal; Shakespeare’s Richard III; and Molly Bloom, based on James Joyce’s novel Ulysses, to name only a few. She has also raised French Theatre’s profile by programming various theatrical events around the National Capital Region, such as the multidisciplinary ambulatory performance Le promenoir; the Franco-Ontarian “happening” À quoi ça sert d’être brillant si t’éclaires personne, featuring a dozen Franco-Ontarian artists; and a staged reading of Michel Ouellette’s Le dire de Di, starring Céline Bonnier.
French Theatre’s programming and activities reflect the artistic director’s rigorous standard of excellence, and her commitment to supporting emerging and established artists from the region and beyond. As Ms. Haentjens affirms, “French Theatre’s objective is to present artistic projects that are powerful, entertaining and imaginative; to stage works by artists who are in it for the long term, who believe in theatre and its capacity to offer us a unique experience.”
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