Even if it celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, the Maison Théâtre retains the enthusiasm of youth, as evidenced by its 2023-2024 programming, unveiled on Monday. The central themes of this season with its surprising proposals? freedom and resistance.
The team at Montreal’s only venue entirely devoted to young people did not have a particular guideline in mind when it came time to choose the 18 shows it will present from September 2023 to June 2024. This “common thread instead appeared after the selection was complete.
“In several shows, you have a character who frees himself from something or who wants to do it. You have the impact of this release on the character, on those around him,” explains the artistic director, Sophie Labelle.
Ariane Moffatt and Fanny Britt
Written by Fanny Britt, the play 176 steps of the Théâtre de l’Oeil is an example. The author, whose pen has been rewarded many times, tells the story of Octave, a young boy for whom the piano is “his buoy and his ball”. “His piano is his comfort zone. But, at the same time, he drags him along, because he has to do his scales. […] It is both a space of freedom and a constraining space. He will succeed in emancipating himself when he leaves his piano”, explains the director, Simon Boudreault.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
The director of 176 stepsSimon Boudreault, with one of the performers of the play, Olena Khomyakova
Music is omnipresent in this puppet show designed for children aged 6 to 10, which will be presented for the first time in November. And it is none other than Ariane Moffatt who will compose the pieces. “It was like a flash. I thought that with Ariane Moffatt, it would be great […] She was very excited,” says Simon Boudreault.
In the programming, the notion of freedom is also manifested through various invitations to appropriate the place that is the Maison Théâtre.
For example, in September, children aged 3 to 7 will be invited to a costume party, The Ball of the Little Souls. An event created especially for them in a room completely transformed for the occasion.
Young people aged 10 to 14 will be able to influence the course of the show Prince Panther, a “dream-like-philosophical cabaret” built around interactions with the public. This intriguing proposal from the Petit Théâtre de Sherbrooke can be seen in November.
A world to transform
The 2023-2024 program also speaks of resistance.
“There is a desire for many artists to say to children: ‘Question things. Do not hesitate to appeal to your critical spirit. […] Transform the world,” says Sophie Labelle.
By addressing the relationship to the norm and the acceptance of differences, Norman it’s normal, one letter echoes this call to reinvent the world. This show filled with humor and puns by the Belgian troupe kosmocompany for 8 to 14 year olds will be in Montreal in May 2024.
On his side, Hegemony by the Trembler Plus company raises questions about contemporary masculinity. This teenage play premiering in February 2024 follows five 14-year-old boys as they ponder what their passions should be at that age.
40 years of living arts for children
Since 1984, the Maison Théâtre has allowed young people aged 2 to 17 to discover the performing arts. In four decades, how has the supply of shows evolved? “Theatre for young Quebec audiences is very much built on the text,” replies the artistic director, Sophie Labelle. There are still a lot of authors who offer new works, but there are also more visual works, others that combine dance and theatre… We have exploded the form a little more in recent years. »
The director general of the Maison Théâtre, Isabelle Boisclair, adds, however, that certain things remain: “There has always been great freedom in theater for young audiences. »
The 2023-2024 program confirms this.
Tickets for the next season will go on sale next Tuesday.