This text is part of the special World Theater Day notebook
An artistic director breathes color into the programming. For 32 years, Lorraine Pintal marked the history of the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde and, more broadly, the entire Montreal cultural scene. With his departure, announced for the month of August, we can logically expect movement within the walls of the TNM, but also in the small, tight-knit world of Quebec theater which constantly influences each other.
The role of an artistic director is to establish the programming for each season, but it is not just that. “For me, artistic direction is not just the chef’s choices,” says the artistic director of the Center du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui (CTA), Sylvain Bélanger, “it is not Sylvain’s favorites. We lead a team, we welcome people, we innovate with activities. »
In addition to highlighting directors and authors, according to its vision and tastes, the artistic direction must also “ensure that the institution is not transgressed”, maintains David Laurin, co-artistic director of the theater Duceppe. It describes a balance between the current era, the signature of the theater and the touch of its director.
This requirement did not escape Lorraine Pintal. “The specificity of TNM is that I arrived in a place where theater already had a very strong, very powerful heritage. […] My vision was molded to [l’héritage]. »
According to David Laurin, the same artistic director will not make the same decisions depending on the theater in which he works.
The mission of the TNM, founded in 1951, is to present “classics of yesterday and tomorrow with the writing of people of today”, formulates Normand Chouinard, actor and member of the board of directors of the TNM. Lorraine Pintal says she wanted to produce “classic authors, but written in the present. I was the one who came up with this, but I didn’t upset everything. There were bases.” For its part, with its so-called editorial seasons, the CTA presents a “theater of connections and a diversity of writing that gives a portrait of Quebec,” explains Sylvain Bélanger. The Duceppe theater presents a “modern, contemporary theater, part of the current era”, notes Normand Chouinard. These different missions allow us to offer variety in the Montreal theater ecosystem.
For David Laurin, regardless of the institution, “the greatest quality of the artistic director is listening. It is our most important task to listen to its spectators, its artists, its public,” without which everything is disconnected. Being attentive to social upheavals, changes in going out habits, the evolution of the public, Lorraine Pintal has also made it a leitmotif, with the ambition of reaching a varied audience.
30 years of stability
In addition to his own theater, the artistic director can influence other houses. In more than 30 years, “Lorraine has had an influence that has spilled over into all of Montreal’s artistic life,” believes NormandChouinard. As the first woman at the head of the TNM in 1992, she “opened the way for many young women”, adds David Laurin. Moreover, several artistic directors leave their mark today at Espace Go or even at the Rideau Vert theater in particular. “It’s certain that we come up with something else, it’s another reading,” observes Lorraine Pintal.
The TNM is today “a reference place […] it’s theater that sets the bar high,” summarizes Sylvain Bélanger.
The audience is expected to sense this change, as Lorraine Pintal offered stability. “There are people who subscribed to the TNM because they had blind confidence in it,” emphasizes David Laurin. But, personally, I believe that [le fait de rester aussi longtemps] is accompanied by less renewal of the offer. »
“I am quite in favor of there being traffic,” Sylvain Bélanger also recognizes. Afterwards, it also depends on the person. There are people who remain relevant for 20 years. »
Normand Chouinard also believes that we will certainly not see an artistic direction occupied for so long by the same person again.
Mutual influence
Everyone in Montreal theater is expecting movement following the departure of Lorraine Pintal, who also played the role of spokesperson for the cultural sector. But if several theaters have their eyes fixed on the TNM, the influence comes from all sides. Duceppe draws inspiration from the accessibility of the Prospero theater while the TNM observes the arrival of Duceppe’s younger co-directors. A mutual influence which has repercussions on the entire “cultural ecology”, believes Lorraine Pintal.
“In five years, the TNM will not look identical to what it is today, in any case, I hope so,” affirms the future former artistic and general director of the TNM, who, even if she does not feel its mission accomplished, still leaves behind a very established theater and the brand new Réjean-Ducharme room, an experimental space focused on diversity and inclusion.
“It’s exciting what’s happening at TNM at the moment,” concludes David Laurin. They give themselves the opportunity to move in a new direction. It’s something very beautiful which is well seen by the theater community. »
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