What's old and new again at Cercle Molière

Winnipeg Free Press

5 days ago

The oldest theatre company in Canada will begin its 100th season with a new artistic director and co-executive director at the helm.
Last month, Théâtre Cercle Molière introduced Marie-Ève Fontaine as successor to Geneviève Pelletier, who led the trailblazing company for a dozen years.
Raised in St. Boniface, Fontaine credits her early exposure to Théâtre Cercle Molière for inspiring her appreciation for theatre and creative arts, calling Pelletier an artistic innovator and tireless community builder.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES
New Cercle Molière leader Marie-Ève ​​Fontaine credits her early visits to the theatre for her appreciation of the arts.
'Le Cercle was always a North Star for me in my professional life,' says Fontaine, a multifaceted performer and theatre creator who has mostly lived and worked in Ottawa throughout the past decade.
'This is a huge opportunity for me to work with the team and keep the vision going. I would like for Le Cercle to become a great gathering place.'
As a performer, Fontaine has appeared in several Cercle Molière productions, including Gilles Poulin-Denis' Dehors, Éric Plamondon's Inédit and Mani Soleymanlou's Un. Deux. Trois, and on television's Le monde de Gabrielle Roy.
In 2023, her puppetry-driven adaptation of Roy's personal writing, Cet été qui chantait, played at the theatre before embarking on a national tour.
When she officially starts her new role in July, Fontaine will inherit the reins of a company on the verge of history: as the oldest continually operating theatre company in Canada, it is the only professional theatre group in the country, in any language, thus far to reach the occasion of its centenary.
Fontaine will share executive directorship with Ramatoulaye Cherif, the company's administrative director.
Though the company has existed for 100 years, Fontaine will be only the sixth person to hold the company's artistic directorship since its founding in 1925, joining André Castelin de la Lande, Arthur Boutal, Pauline Boutal, Roland Mahé and Pelletier.
'Serving Théâtre Cercle Molière has been one of the greatest adventures of my life: dreaming, creating and building with and for it,' Pelletier said in a release announcing Fontaine's appointment.
'Today, I feel immense pride and deep joy in passing the torch to Marie-Ève Fontaine. With her boundless energy, imaginative spirit and love of theatre, I know she will invigorate our stages with a new strength — with boldness, authenticity and passion.'
On May 21, ahead of last week's announcement of the centennial season's program, the theatre received a City of Winnipeg community service award, presented by Mayor Scott Gillingham.
Appropriately, the company's upcoming season begins with a nod to a historic figure who shaped it into the cultural powerhouse it is today.
Written by Lise Gaboury-Diallo, Pauline Boutal, entre les toiles et les planches (Oct. 22 to Nov. 1) tells the story of Boutal, who led the company from 1941 to 1968, earning a reputation as the 'grande dame' of Cercle Molière.
An illustrator, painter and creator, Boutal is a legendary figure in St. Boniface, considered a woman ahead of her time with her finger on the pulse of cultural history.
Next in the season comes Bonnes Bonnes, a reinvention of Jean Genet's The Maids (Les Bonnes) centred on three women of Chinese descent that explores childhood memory, their love-hate tug-of-war with whiteness, chili sauce and bullies who made fun of their school lunches. Written by Tamara Nguyen and Sophie Gee, who directs, the production runs from Nov. 19 to 29.
Fontaine's Cet été qui chantait returns from Jan. 14 to 24, bringing audiences back to Roy's retreat at Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, where interactions with the natural world infuse her writing with a sense of magic and possibility. A co-production with Flammèche Théâtre, a company based in the Northwest Territories, the lyrical performance will be directed by Pierre Robitaille.
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A school bus trapped in a blizzard on a rural road is the setting for Ô Canada, té qui toi?, a story of national identity written by Alison Palmer and Lacina Dembélé.
On board are Amina, who refuses to assimilate; Louis, a Métis teen, and Jen, a well-integrated daughter of refugees. Behind the wheel is Ousmane. Co-produced with Afrik'kadi, there are only two opportunities (Feb. 6 and 7) to find out what happens next.
Amber O'Reilly writes and Danielle Sturk directs the family dramedy Soutension (March 18 to 28), a birthday party lit up by candles and long-simmering disagreement.
Closing the season is a one-night performance on June 13, 2026 of Isabelle Payant's 45, de la Taupinière, co-created with student performers in collaboration with Théâtre des Petites mes and Collectif de la colline, Collège Lionel-Groulx, the City of Blainville, and Petit Théâtre du Nord.
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Ben WaldmanReporter
Ben Waldman is a National Newspaper Award-nominated reporter on the Arts & Life desk at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ben completed three internships with the Free Press while earning his degree at Ryerson University's (now Toronto Metropolitan University's) School of Journalism before joining the newsroom full-time in 2019. Read more about Ben.
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