For a long time, there was this photo of Michel Temblay and André Brassard in the hall of the Quat’Sous. She had been taken for the creation ofHosanna, in 1973, on the roof of the building where André Brassard lived. “We both have our little Indian dresses… that was the time, you have to believe. The photo testifies to the powerful bond woven between André Brassard and the Quat’Sous, a bond coming directly from one of the founders of our theatre: Paul Buissonneau. “Buissonneau, he believed in me from the start. Even when I was 15 and was going to ask her for costumes or a rehearsal room for a show at school. In a way, he’s one of my fathers. »
The story begins in 1957. The Théâtre de Quat’Sous has existed for two years, but it does not yet have a residence! Paul’s troupe plays roaming around town. Two young Montrealers, still children, will meet her and come out changed forever: Michel Tremblay and André Brassard.
The young Michel, barely 15 years old on the clock, is looked after by his cousin Hélène, who just wants to frolic with her boyfriend. She gives him a piasse so that he can go see himself, not at the Greeks, but at the hot dog vendors in La Fontaine Park. And what does Michel see? A new open-air theatre, the Théâtre de Verdure. And what are we going to play there? Theater “in person”, which the young man had never attended before. ” The Eiffel Tower that kills! Eh ! Let’s see! Can you! The Eiffel Tower that kills! How is that! Miracle: the show costs 90 cents. “Mom! yells Michel, almost all my money to find out how the Eiffel Tower is doing to kill the world versus two hot-dogs, a potato, a coke and probably a dessert! Cornelian situation! Between the belly and knowledge! »
To the delight of Quebec theater, Michel opted to find out. It was his first play in life, which he returned to see three evenings in a row. “I owe a lot to this show for having become what I am: a lover. »
André is only 11 years old. It is his mother who takes him to the Gesù, where he will also play The Eiffel Tower that kills. “When the lights in the room went out, just before the lights on the stage came on, my mother took my hand and squeezed it. Then the show began. I no longer moved, I no longer spoke. I stood there, eyes wide open, eager for the show to begin. Struck by the modernity of Paul Buissonneau’s staging, by his avant-gardism, his humor, his refusal of academicism, André Brassard wanted to follow in his footsteps. Throughout his career, he will keep an unfailing attachment to the Quat’Sous of his dear Buissonneau. With his great accomplice Tremblay, this is the place where they created the most pieces together.
We have listed 16 shows staged by Brassard at the Quat’Sous. Among these, seven are creations based on a text by Michel Tremblay, like so many defining moments in our history. don’t think thatForever yours, your Marie-Louin 1971 — we often speak, and rightly so, of the masterpiece that constitutes The sisters-in-law, but let’s not forget this Marie-Lou, another unequaled peak. Or even to Hosannain 1973. With Paul Buissonneau, André Brassard was the director “in residence” of the house on Avenue des Pins, from 1969 to 1977, where he put on 12 shows, sometimes 4 in the same year (in 1970) .
This is In spare parts who leads the way, in 1969. André is only 23 years old, the name of Michel Tremblay is subtitled by “author of sisters-in-law », because the favorite piece was staged the previous year, at the Rideau Vert. Too expensive because of its large distribution, it had escaped Buissonneau, who had to fall back on a gang long-haired lousy people, some of whom had just arrived from California and returned with electrified guitars. It gave L’Osstidchoit wasn’t bad either.
But back to In spare parts. Buissonneau, in the program, quotes a certain Mr. Lukes: “I believe in the future of small theaters in close contact with actors and the public, which seems to me to be the very goal of theatre. » « Thank you, Mr. Lukes », to conclude Paul — and that’s it for the word of the artistic director, ah, blessed time! It’s the great Luce Guilbeault who plays Hélène — yes, inspired by Michel’s famous cousin who sent him for a walk in La Fontaine Park! The role had been offered to Dyne Mousso, but she said she was unable “to speak like that on a stage”, a sign that Tremblay’s language had not yet conquered all the hearts of Quebec actresses and actors…
The following year is hardly believable. André climbs in quick succession The Duchess of Langeaisplayed by Claude Gai, in a double program with Good to me marquise, by Marie Savard, in which Dyne Mousso finally agrees to play (the language had to be more speakable!). Then he tackles the room In the eyes of menby John Herbert, and to Of the effect of gamma rays on old boys, by American author Paul Zindel. It is Michel Tremblay, who saw the play in New York four months before (!), who translates it; it is the first translation of an American theatrical work into “Quebecois”.
A year later, it’s the bombYours forever, your Marie-Lou. Brassard undoubtedly directs there the performers he will have cherished the most in his life: Hélène Loiselle, Lionel Villeneuve – whom he had asked to adopt him – Luce Guilbeault, and his closest friend, his eternal muse, Rita Lafontaine. . This tragedy “in Quebec”, which splits the family and overturns taboos, particularly on sexuality, represents one of the strongest moments in André Brassard’s career, and, in doing so, in Quebec theatre. From that day on, those who still doubt André’s talent are not so numerous anymore…
In 1973, he struck another big blow by creating Hosanna. Jean Archambault creates the title role, alongside Gilles Renaud, who plays Cuirette. Paul Buissonneau himself designed the decor. In the program, Brassard warns spectators: “We are not dealing with a realistic work. I never met exactly Hosanna or Cuirette. They are creatures of the mind […]. At the end ofHosanna, for the first time in Tremblay’s work, characters accept, assume what they are, even if it’s not “pretty”, drop the disguise and can love each other at this moment. After several years of noticing the problems, perhaps we are beginning to see solutions? »
In the following season, André took an interest in the next generation: he created the play Very quickly of a certain… Michel Garneau! And pays for a quartet of hell, composed among others of Monique Mercure and Michelle Rossignol. However, he did not stay away from Tremblay for long: in 1977, here he was again creating Damned Manon, sacred Sandrathe eleventh and final piece in the cycle of sisters-in-lawbegun in the summer of 1965 and completed in the spring of 1976.
André will dive into a new cycle of plays by Tremblay, this time more intimate, including old smells, which was premiered at Quat’Sous in 1981. By then, André Brassard had already produced more than 70 productions, including 16 plays by Michel Tremblay. It will be the last creation of a Tremblay at Quat’Sous, before his return, 22 years later, at the invitation of Wajdi Mouawad. The artistic director of Quat’Sous would like to hear from Claude and Alex du real world.
Michel responds by writing Present imperative, which he entrusts to his old accomplice Brassard. Weakened by a stroke four years earlier, André still manages to direct Jacques Godin and Robert Lalonde in one of his last, still masterful productions. His word as director in the program is brief, but testifies in a moving way to his new physical and moral condition: “The executioner is responsible for his actions. There is another responsibility: that of the victim. She can remain locked in her wounds or “choose life” and continue. »
Among all the shows put on by André Brassard at the Quat’Sous, the Tremblays, a Tennessee Williams, a Claude Gauvreau, a Brad Fraser, etc., there is one production that stands out: theAndromache of Root. It’s a funny story that explains the arrival of this tragedy on the boards of the Quat’Sous, rather refractory to the classics. In 1974, the National Arts Center (NAC) wanted to produce Racine’s play. Certain that the theater will entrust him with the staging, especially after his success of The next fake, of Marivaux, Brassard is stupefied when he learns that he is not chosen. Furious, he arrives at Paul Buissonneau’s and urges him to produce the show quickly, before the one in Ottawa, so that the NAC realizes its blunder. Paul hesitates, then accepts. André says, about the creation: “It was not academic at all, as a production. It was very sloppyvery trash […]. Unfortunately, of all this production, there is only one photograph left somewhere in the Quat’Sous. I hope they didn’t forget it in the building when they demolished it on February 6, 2008.”
No, we didn’t forget her in the old building, André.
And you too, don’t worry, we’ll never forget you.