Théâtre français de Toronto
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Théâtre français de Toronto (TfT) is a French-language theatre company presenting repertoire as well as original works in
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
since 1967. Shows have been performed at the
Berkeley Street Theatre Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer t ...
since 1990. The company is a registered charity with the
Canadian Revenue Agency The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA; ; ) is the revenue service of the Canadian federal government, and most provincial and territorial governments. The CRA collects taxes, administers tax law and policy, and delivers benefit programs and tax credit ...
since 1979.


History

The company was founded in 1967 under the name ''Théâtre du P’tit Bonheur'', the title of its first production. The Toronto-based
francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...
company appointed an artistic director, John Van Burek in 1970; it also began a collaboration with the Québécois author
Michel Tremblay Michel Tremblay (born 25 June 1942) is a French-Canadian novelist and playwright. Tremblay was born in Montreal, Quebec, where he grew up in the French-speaking neighbourhood of Plateau Mont-Royal; at the time of his birth, a neighbourhood wit ...
. In 1987, the company was renamed ''Théâtre français de Toronto''. In 1992
Diana Leblanc Diana Leblanc (born 1943) is a Canadian television and film actress, best known to US audiences for her portrayal of Frannie Halcyon in the TV miniseries ''More Tales of the City'' (1998) and its follow-up ''Further Tales of the City'' (2001). ...
became the company's artistic director. In 1997,
Guy Mignault Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unin ...
took over the role; his production of the musical ''C’était un p’tit Bonheur'' won a
Dora award The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped estab ...
in 1998. In 2016, Joël Beddows became the TfT's new artistic director. In 2004, the company began participating in the educational program ''Les Zurbains,'' an initiative of Théâtre Le Clou from Montréal that ran a writing contest for students from Ottawa, Québec City, Montréal, and Toronto. In 2005, the company began offering performances with English
surtitles Surtitles, also known as supertitles, SurCaps, OpTrans, are translated or transcribed lyrics/dialogue projected above a stage or displayed on a screen, commonly used in opera, theatre or other musical performances. The word "surtitle" comes from ...
. The company's 2006 production of
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
's ''L’Avare'' won the Masque award for Best Franco-Canadian Production. The company's 40th anniversary celebrations in 2007 were presided over by
Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
Michaëlle Jean Michaëlle Jean (; born September 6, 1957) is a Canadian stateswoman and former journalist who served from 2005 to 2010 as governor general of Canada, the 27th since Canadian Confederation. She is the first Haitian Canadian and black person ...
. A year later, in December 2008, the Centre for Creation, a general working space for the company, was set up. Their 2009 show ''Une Maison face au nord'' by Jean-Rock Gaudreault, a co-production with Québec companies ''Tandem'' and ''La Rubrique'', was dubbed the "Canadian Play of the Year" by
EYE WEEKLY ''Eye Weekly'' was a free weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was owned by Torstar, the parent company of the ''Toronto Star'', and was published by their Star Media Group until its final issue on May 5, 2011. The following ...
magazine. The 2009-2010 season saw the beginning of a collaboration with Ottawa’s Théâtre La Catapulte. This agreement, called "Five Years of Theatre," was intended to establish networks for francophone theatre in Ontario. This collaboration included a production of ''Les Médecins de Molière'' in 2010 which won 4 Prix
Rideau Awards Les Prix Rideau Awards are theatre awards presented annually by the Rideau Awards committee, which honours the best in professional theatre in the region of Ottawa- Gatineau. The peer-juried awards program was initiated in 2006 as a result of dis ...
including Best Production of the Year, and ''Zone'' by Marcel Dubé in 2012 which won 3 Prix Rideau Awards including another Best Production of the Year and a second Best Production In 2011, the company launched an educational project, ''Les Zinspirés''. Inspired by the initial project ''Les Zurbains'', it began with a writing competition in French schools and eventually led to a professional show featuring 5 stories written by local teens. The first and third edition of ''Les Zinspirés'', produced in 2012 and 2014 respectively, were nominated for
Dora Mavor Moore Awards The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, Dance in Canada, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, ...
for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble. The same year, the company began offering Drama classes for children led by
Jean-Michel Le Gal Jean-Michel Le Gal is a Canadian stage, television and film actor and creator. Early life Le Gal was born in Toronto, Ontario to a francophone stage actress and television/music producer. He began acting at 10, opposite a squirrel puppet in the t ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theatre francais de Toronto Theatre companies in Toronto