OTTAWA, April 9, 2018 – Mélanie Dumont, Associate Artistic Director of Youth Programming, has concocted a season of seven shows for all audiences, particularly young people, from toddlers 18 months old to teens age 14 and older.

This versatile approach joyfully expands the range of possibilities to include such uniquely creative theatre works as Mile(s)tones, by our Belgian buddies from Zonzo Compagnie, an interactive musical show that draws us in through the universal language of Miles Davis’s jazz; Petite sorcière, a zany project by Nini Bélanger and Pascal Brullemans that delivers two separate shows with the same title … and the same script; and Le cheval de bleu, directed by Milena Buziak and featuring a hearing actress and a deaf actor.

“Theatre adds depth to our experience of the world! MULTIDIMENSIONAL: thanks to artists’ talent for discovering unexpected angles, finding new ways to tell stories, and rekindling the performer–audience relationship. Not to mention the presence on stage of flesh-and-blood beings, sometimes just a few centimetres away …”

Mélanie Dumont
Associate Artistic Director, Youth Programming

 

LES CHOSES BERÇANTES

November 3 & 4, 2018, in the Azrieli Studio – For ages 18 months to 5 years
Created, written and directed by: Véronique Côté // Produced by: Le Théâtre des Confettis

Unravelling sadness
If you have an immense sadness, tightly wrapped in a ball of wool, what does it take to unravel it? The basic props are obviously multicoloured ribbons, paper birds, a guitar, and sandwiches to be cut. And then there’s the essential one: a sister with whom to watch the clouds drift by, a sister who knows that spring will return.

This gentle show for two endearing actresses whispers in our ears that time heals all wounds, even the deepest sorrows, because in the end, tears make the flowers grow!

 

DIS MERCI

December 1, 2018, in the Azrieli Studio – For ages 14 and up
Conceived, designed and directed by Catherine Bourgeois // Written collectively, with the assistance of Pénélope Bourque // Produced by Joe Jack et John

Welcome cake and eggshells!
Five apartment neighbours have organized a party to welcome a refugee family: cake, balloons, poems and good intentions. But chaos is waiting in the wings, and things are about to go terribly wrong. What is this elephant in the room?

With bracing humour, incisive language and an inclusive cast (including a charismatic actor with an intellectual disability), theatre company Joe Jack et John forces us to turn out the pockets of our identity to discover the prejudices and crumbs of intolerance lurking within. Joyful, caustic, stunning!

 

PETITE SORCIÈRE

In the Azrieli Studio
Short version: December 15 & 16, 2018 – For ages 5 to 12
Long version: December 15, 2018 – For ages 9 to 14

Written by Pascal Brullemans // Directed by Nini Bélanger // Produced by Projet MÛ

Modern-day fable for cat in pastry and super-cunning witches
One script = two shows! That’s the crazy equation the intrepid Nini Bélanger and Pascal Brullemans have dared to attempt. There’s the one-person version, for ages 5 and up, with clever visual and sound effects and an ebullient actress playing all the parts. (How on earth does she play the ogre?) Then there’s the 4D version, for ages 9 and up, with four high-spirited performers, cats on plasma screens, and lots of plot twists. In both cases, the story is the same: Little Witch loses her mother, and a greedy ogre promises to watch over her … until one day the pact is broken. A celebration of cunning and resilience, this theatrical adventure has all the hallmarks of a young audience classic. Wouldn’t it be great to see both versions?

 

MILE(S)TONES

February 17 & 18, 2019, in the Azrieli Studio – For ages 6 to 12
Music: Miles Davis // Artistic direction and stage design: Wouter Van Looy // Produced by Zonzo Compagnie

Warning: Jazz rhythms ahead!
It’s raining notes. The trumpet is laughing, the piano is crying. Three laid-back virtuosos mix music like dough. Their instruments spout all the colours of the great Miles Davis, while hypnotic videos draw you into the mix. You may even be invited to jump on stage to take a turn as conductor or beatboxer.

This is the third visit from our Belgian friends Zonzo, after Slumberland and Listen to the Silence. Don’t give them a hard time for forgetting (again!) to pack boredom in their luggage!

 

MARCO BLEU

April 13 & 14, 2019, in the Azrieli Studio – For ages 5 to 10
Written by Larry Tremblay // Directed by Martine Beaulne and André Laliberté // Produced by Le Théâtre de l’Œil

The grass is always bluer on the other side of the fence
Marco meets Marco Bleu. He’s a mirror image of Marco, except he’s all blue. On his planet, it’s always a holiday; there are gift machines and a talking candy dispenser. Then, ding! ding!, the bell rings, and Marco has to choose: go back to his exhausted parents and the screaming baby, or stay forever in this fabulous place. A philosophico-spatial dilemma!

The Théâtre de l’Œil’s amazing puppets embrace Larry Tremblay’s writing in this adaptation of the acclaimed children’s picture book Même pas vrai. Like the promise of a starry sky!

 

LE CHEVAL DE BLEU

June 1 & 2, 2019, at La Nouvelle Scène Gilles Desjardins – For ages 5 to 10
Written by Marcel Cremer // Directed by Milena Buziak // Produced by Théâtre de la Vieille 17 and Voyageurs Immobiles, compagnie de création // Associate producer: NAC French Theatre

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.

Suitable for deaf or hearing-impaired audiences (but not bilingual: no simultaneous interpretation)

 

 

A MUST-SEE FROM FRENCH THEATRE’S REGULAR SEASON

PINOCCHIO

May 29–June 1, 2019, in the Babs Asper Theatre – For ages 8 to adult
A theatrical creation by Joël Pommerat // Based on the story by Carlo Collodi // Produced by Compagnie Louis Brouillard

“Nothing is more important than living your truth.”
In this show-event, the space is a dark shape that the magical Joël Pommerat, like a modern-day Geppetto, carves with light and music. Out of the shadows springs the hallucinatory vision of a Pinocchio for an age of disposable pleasures and bling-bling ideals.

 

PSST! WANT MORE? JOIN US FOR PRE-SHOW ACTIVITIES

Forty-five minutes before each performance, kids are invited to participate in activities that reflect the show’s themes (finger painting, bird collages, displays …), and to visit our reading nook, organized in partnership with the Ottawa Public Library and featuring a selection of fun and appealing books.

 

Full season details available online at NAC-CNA.CA/FT

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