The theaters of the metropolis will show their support for the artists and the Ukrainian people this Friday, February 24, one year after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, at the initiative of the playwright Michel Marc Bouchard.
A dozen theaters will participate in a curtain raiser which will be held before the performances scheduled for the same evening, and which will be accompanied in many of them by the reading of a short extract from the play. A Dictionary of Wartime Emotionswritten in March 2022 by Ukrainian Yelena Astasyeva.
“Since this cruel invasion, most theaters have been silenced. Hundreds of cultural places were destroyed, including the great theater of Mariupol, killing many civilians, ”wrote Michel Marc Bouchard on his Facebook page on Tuesday, while inviting Montreal theaters to participate in this symbolic gesture.
Michel Marc Bouchard will also be present at the Théâtre du Rideau Vert to present the introductory remarks which will precede the reading of the excerpt and the performance of the play. A dollhouse, 2e partin which Macha Limonchik, who has Ukrainian origins, is the main performer.
At Les Écuries, Francis Monty and Olivier Ducas, co-artistic directors of Théâtre Aux Écuries and Théâtre de la Pire Espèce, will present the excerpt which will be read by actresses Karine St-Arnaud and Marie-Ève Trudel, members of the cast of the show The anatomy of the treated object n°5: the state of things.
At the National Theater School of Canada, Robert Bellefeuille, director of the staging and francophone residencies program, will read the letter from Michel Marc Bouchard.
The artistic director of the Denise-Pelletier Theater Claude Poissant will also present a short word in support of Ukraine before the show Star dancers parasitize your skywhile the artistic director of the Center du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, Sylvain Bélanger, will be on stage with Lorraine Pintal for the curtain raiser before the play Not lost.