2023-2024 season of the Center du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui | Games of mirrors

For next season, the management of the Center du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui (CTD’A) is offering a program designed as a game of mirrors where generations challenge and respond to each other.

A total of nine shows and three events are presented in the two halls of the theater on rue Saint-Denis. “With all the upheavals that we have experienced in recent years, I wanted to shift the DNA of the theater a little,” explains the artistic director of the CTD’A, Sylvain Bélanger. “Our identity has always been to focus on who we are, to allow us to observe ourselves, to define ourselves. I wanted to focus this time on what we become in this world where it is difficult to take a step back. Artists attempt to do this; they are thirsty to talk about the choices we are making. »

“I want to be part of the current movement, without being afraid of being pushed around. The proposals are very varied on the aesthetic, formal and dramaturgical level. The artists adopt delinquent, rebellious, proud and undisciplined postures. They have guts! », continues Sylvain Bélanger.

In the Michelle-Rossignol room, the season opens with Les Mutant.es, which is the extension of a major project led by Sophie Cadieux and Sylvain Bélanger 12 years ago, a project which led to a show. “We wanted to find Generation X, which is mine, 12 years later,” says the one who co-signs the text and direction here.

This is followed in November by the piece Nzinga, worn by Tatiana Zinga Botao. “Nzinga is the proud immigration posture of someone who chose Quebec. Tatiana shares the name of a 17th century Congolese queen, a great figure forgotten in history. Here, the oral tradition is really put forward,” says the artistic director.

“Judy Chicago was snubbed by galleries, museums. With her very punchy, very direct dialogues, Gabrielle decided to infuse the personality of the artist into the destiny of her characters. As for Nzinga, the piece allows us to be part of a historical trajectory, to rely on the past to build ourselves. This verticality is very rich,” says Sylvain Bélanger.

In Coup de vieux, which closes the season in the main room, it is the language of Larry Tremblay which deploys all its richness, as he gives voice to people of his generation, who have been particularly mistreated by the pandemic. “We discover six aging characters who have a lot of repartee, a lot of tenderness, but who are gradually affected by cognitive loss. Larry and director Claude Poissant breathe a lot of candor and shamelessness into the play. »

In the small Jean-Claude-Germain room, located upstairs, five pieces are planned, each or almost corresponding to the one that will be played at the same time in the main room. We will first discuss here the (unfulfilled?) promises of the theater with Équinoxe, a play by Hugo Fréjabise carried by young actors leaving school.

This will be followed by a revival of the science fiction text Seeker, by Marie-Claude Verdier, winner of the Michel-Tremblay prize. In January, the non-binary artist Cha Raoutenfeld presents Papeça, a piece on the identity fight on the affirmation of gender.

However, the final word will go to the four protagonists of the play S’enjailler by Stephie Mazunya. “The vernacular is exploding here,” says Sylvain Bélanger. It is a mixed language from the neighborhoods of Montreal. A language that moves! »

Note that the CTD’A will also present during its season the river reading of the work of Michel Tremblay, The crossing of the century, in addition to resuming the show Pisserstanding without lifting his skirt by Olivier Arteau. A carte blanche was also given to the director Alix Dufresne who will bring together a dozen artists for the project Today tonight.