Cultural return | The performing arts… from home

Are you a fan of the performing arts, but have taken a liking to online broadcasts? Here are some suggestions for recordings or podcasts that you can watch or listen to from home this winter.

Michel Tremblay: crossing the century

This six-part podcast traces the history of Quebec through the work of Michel Tremblay and three of his characters – Victoire, Albertine and Thérèse. Among other things, she tackles the themes of the place of women in society, homosexuality and the desire for emancipation of Quebecers. A colossal audio work of 40 episodes produced by Alice Ronfard. The first seven episodes were released on January 2, the next six on January 11, and the remaining nine will be released on January 18. The last three parts (15 episodes) will be released in the spring. Also, in the documentary Michel Tremblay in eighty beats, scheduled for March on Télé-Québec, director René Richard Cyr revisits the many characters in Tremblay’s work.

Michel Tremblay in eighty beats : on Télé-Québec, March 4, at 9 p.m.

The fury of what I think

This play, conceived by Sophie Cadieux, then adapted and directed by Marie Brassard, is one of the most significant theatrical productions of the last ten years. Brilliant collage of the late writer Nelly Arcan’s most impactful texts, The fury of what I think makes us feel all the sadness, loneliness and suffering of the author, who committed suicide in 2009. Created at Espace Go in 2013, then revived last fall, the play defended by seven actresses will be broadcast to highlight the 50^e Nelly Arcan’s birthday on International Women’s Day.

On Télé-Québec, March 8, at 8 p.m.

Webcasts at La Bordée

The Théâtre La Bordée in Quebec is offering two webcast productions this winter, starting with women’s peaceby Véronique Côté, who is also directing (offered until 1^er february). A play that addresses the (sensitive) issue of prostitution through a gallery of characters who are touched (or affected) by it. Second proposal: Made in Beautiful (La Belle Province), by Olivier Arteau (offered until May 9). A story centered on the character of Linda, which evolves through eight Halloween parties set between the 1995 referendum and the 2020 pandemic.

The OSM in concert

Classical music lovers, you can see up to three concerts of the Orchester symphonique de Montréal virtually. Starting with the Fourth Piano Concerto and the Symphony n^oh 5 by Beethoven, under the baton of Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä (until February 7); pieces by Shostakovich, Ravel and Liszt, conducted by OSM conductor Rafael Payare (March 21 to April 18); as well as three rooms, including the Piano concerto no.^oh 2 by Chopin (May 2-30), conducted by Finnish-Ukrainian conductor Dalia Stasevska and performed by young virtuoso Bruce Liu.

Storytelling Sundays

From the lying contest to the Atikamekw legends (with Wasiane Echaquan) to its cabarets of poetry and slam, science and fiction, and the many thematic evenings, Storytelling Sundays offer virtual access to some twenty of these unique evenings presented by May 31. Each time, new performers throw themselves into the arena (at Le Jockey bar) and lend themselves to the game of these oral jousts led by Francis Désilets, artistic director of the event. Those who have never attended these evenings will be pleasantly surprised in contact with these performers, true gymnasts of words, who are truly in a class apart.

The little astronaut audio release

The award-winning graphic novel by Jean-Paul Eid The little astronaut, which tells the story of a boy with cerebral palsy and his family, has just been adapted into audio format by Radio-Canada OHdio. A touching story, told without pathos by Eid (The woman with the postcards, Memoria), who for the first time reveals parts of his private life since it is his own story. The audio project produced by his wife Marie Cayer is read by actors Ève Lemieux, Catherine Proulx-Lemay and Victor Trelles-Turgeon, among others, who play the main characters of this album which celebrates difference. The little astronaut won the 2021 Critics’ Prize from the Association of Comic Strip Critics and Journalists (ACBD), the 2022 Quebec Booksellers’ Prize and the 2022 College Students’ Comics Prize.

Tribute to Claude Léveillée

The tribute show dedicated to singer-songwriter Claude Léveillée, created in 2019 by Michel Poulin and his partner, multi-instrumentalist Diane Fellice, will be broadcast from February 4 to 20 on the Live dans ton salon digital platform. These two lovers of Léveillée’s work donated part of the show’s profits to the La Cinquième Saison palliative care home in Lac-Mégantic. They can be seen singing the greatest hits of the artist who died in 2011, surrounded on stage by pianist Marc-André Cuierrier, musician and singer Mariève Dionne and actress Nathalie Michaud.