Jean Herbiet (born December 16, 1930, in Namur,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

), moved to Ottawa,

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, in 1958 after completing studies in administration at the Institut Polytechnique and in theatre at the Institut belge du théâtre in Brussels. Between 1971 and 1981, Herbiet held the position of artistic director of the French Theatre at the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) (french: Centre national des Arts) is a Arts centre, performing arts organisation in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre build ...

, where he opened a series of production programs, cultural exchanges and tours that brought shows overseas to and from Europe. Herbiet is best remembered as the director of two famous productions created in collaboration with the brilliant puppeteer Félix Mirbt: Büchner's ''Woyzeck'' (1974) and Strindberg's ''A Dream Play'' (1977). Throughout his tenure, Herbiet expanded the scope of theatre by exploring the new possibilities offered by the National Arts Centre Studio, Canada's first fully flexible performance space. His bold experiments in this area have had a lasting influence on Canadian theatrical practice. In 1981, he was appointed general director of the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris for a four-year term. After returning to Ottawa in 1985, Herbiet returned to his specialities: directing theatre and teaching at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

. He also wrote the scripts for bilingual documentary vignettes presented by the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

. His publications include the eight historical one-act plays ''Huit promenades sur les plaines d'Abraham'', the short stories ''Le Vieil Arbre et l'Alouette'' and ''Ti-Jean-Jean et le Soleil'' and the play ''La Rose Rôtie''. Herbiet died on March 31, 2008.

References

External links

http://www.crccf.uottawa.ca/fonds/P8.html] {{DEFAULTSORT:Herbiet, Jean 2008 deaths 1930 births