With the death on Tuesday of director André Brassard, the entire Quebec theater community is orphaned, as many of his collaborators and friends testify.
Posted at 9:56 a.m.
Updated at 12:46 p.m.
“André and I have been through a lot together,” says director Alice Ronfard. “I wanted to be there until his last breath and that’s what happened. It’s almost impossible to list everything he brought to Quebec theatre. He completely renewed it. The environment owes him a lot. »
She continues: “We worked together for 7 years at the National Theater School in the 90s. As a teacher, he was always looking to open doors for his students. He blew on the embers to wake up the fire… After his stroke, in 1999, he suffered a lot from not being able to be in the rehearsal room with the actors and actresses he adored… He was very intelligent. With him, you shouldn’t talk bullshit! Frankness and humor were never far away. »
“We also shared several beautiful moments during the project The crossing of the century that I started with him. We saw each other throughout the pandemic, as real delinquents, without a mask! His concentration was lower, but we were able to talk. And cry together. He was a beautiful, complex man who, in his later days, became incredibly gentle and compassionate. »
“In the case of André Brassard, the word ‘genius’ isn’t too big,” says actress and artistic director of the Rideau Vert Denise Filiatrault. I met him when he was 21, at the same time as Tremblay. I wanted to talk to him about the play sisters-in-law that I had read. The actress took on the role of Rose Ouimet in the original production of sisters-in-law. With the repercussions that we know. She was also one of the headliners of the film Once Upon a Time in the Eastproduced by Brassard.
Quebec can be proud of him. He was an uncompromising artist, who knew what he was doing and with whom there was no bullshit.
Denise Filiatrault, actress
“As performers, we knew where we were going with him. And we were having fun. In addition, he was a very good boy, friendly with everyone, but who ended his life very alone, without parents, without brothers or sisters, without children. It’s sad. Despite everything, he kept his sense of humor until the very end. I saw him in the hospital two weeks ago; I was with Michel (Tremblay). Michel fed him and André was still making jokes!
Director and actor René Richard Cyr bluntly admits: “I wouldn’t be who I am without André Brassard. He taught me at the National Theater School and it was a lightning encounter for me. He made his credo from this sentence of Genet: “I am not here to teach you, but to ignite you”. With him, rehearsals were more like discussions. He forced us to doubt all the answers, to find the bone, to connect to the real deal. He had a real pleasure in research. »
“He was a tremendous awareness-raiser who stimulated many acting and actress careers, but also opened up many horizons. Since the actresses of sisters-in-law who were fascinated by the 22-year-old guy he was until his last cohort of students, like Vincent-Guillaume Otis, he influenced several generations of actors, in addition to being the spokesperson for the culture from here. Throughout my career, he remained a figurehead. »
René Richard Cyr has visited André Brassard several times over the past few months. “After his stroke, he no longer had the same life. He kept a great fervor of spirit, but he was imprisoned in a body which prevented him from working. His curiosity allowed him to live 23 years longer. He lived surrounded by books and records. »
Today, it’s up to us to try to live up to the giant. We won’t make it, but we’ll try.
Director René Richard Cyr
Playwright Michel Marc Bouchard worked closely with André Brassard on several of his plays, including The Feluettes. “André was a mentor, a friend and almost an artistic father. As a young author, I had the incredible chance to be taken under his wing. He had a genius for the text and he made me understand that it is often in doubt that the truth is found. »
“As a director, Brassard impressed with his frankness. He was also a real rebel, a rebellious teenager even. It was his nature to be on the sidelines. If he was told that sugar was bad, he took twice as much! He had a great sensitivity to stage marginals. He was a trendsetter for all things LGBTQ theater, even though the term didn’t exist at the time. But above all, he loved actresses. He has directed the greatest actresses in the greatest roles. The spectrum of women he has led is spectacular. »
Violette Chauveau is one of those actresses who worked under the guidance of André Brassard, notably in 1997, during the Urban Tales. “André was a seeker of the human soul. He was someone demanding, passionate, generous. He had a great intellectual intelligence, but also a great heart intelligence. It is rare to find both in the same person. He gave me so much! »
The National Arts Center (NAC), of which André Brassard directed the French Theater from 1982 to 1990, announced Wednesday morning the lowering of its flags for a week.
“André Brassard will be remembered as a great theater man,” NAC President Christopher Deacon said in a statement. His originality, his vision and his passion for theater have had a significant impact on the cultural landscape of Quebec and Canada. »