Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario (TNO) recently launched its 2022-23 season, inviting patrons to take in a “crossroads of views.”
“The creators of the shows in the program have chosen to look at the world through different eyes: frank, playful, tender or kaleidoscopic,” reads a release from TNO. “Multiple perspectives are needed, since the shows and artistic approaches presented this season are very different from one another.”
It will also be the first full season hosted at the theatre company’s new home, Place des Arts.
In September, the season opens with a public reading of Nickel City Fifs: une épopée queer sudburoise sur fond de trous. It’s playwright Alex Tétreault’s first self-directed theatre project, bringing together Sudbury’s queer and francophone communities, and will be presented as part of Feuilles Vives, a provincial public reading event taking place in Sudbury this year.
In October, the TNO is participating in a large-scale co-production: Un. Deux. Trois. Imagine 40
performers from across the country, including Chloé Thériault, France Huot and Caroline Raynaud, on a cross-Canada tour. This text by Mani Soleymanlou addresses the issue of cultural and linguistic identity with hilarity and humanity. This play is produced by Orange Noyée, the National Arts Centre French Theatre and producers from across Canada.
Presented in November, the first show of the youth series is a “quest for joy and freedom,” for three to seven-year-olds. L’Écho de l’écume brings the visual arts to the stage with a delightful combination of live painting, dance and sea shanties! Produced by Les Chemins errants and Théâtre Motus.
In December, you won’t want to miss Vaches, the musical, co-presented with La Slague and produced by Créations In Vivo. Both funny and touching, this story speaks (and sings) with humour and sincerity about living together and the solidarity of Franco-Ontarians in the face of adversity.
The TNO will embrace the new year with the presentation of its community play: Garçon! by Stéphane E. Roy. Guided by director Hélène Dallaire, the actors will find themselves knee-deep in the chaos of a classic French restaurant. Auditions are now open! Interested participants can register by emailing [email protected].
In February, Mononk Jules, a text by Jocelyn Sioui, reconstructs with humour, imagination and
intelligence the little-known history of Indigenous people in the 20th century. Surrounded by screens and animated models, the performer takes us on a deep dive through a box of archives from which we emerge forever changed.
Diane Losier will be back in Sudbury in March, this time in a solo show (you may have seen her in Le Club des éphémères). In Intrusions, a woman tells the story of waiting to be transferred to a retirement home with her husband, whose health is failing. With humour, rage and determination, she refuses to let age, circumstances or the system destroy her dignity and the love she has for her husband. A co-production of Théâtre de la Vieille 17 and Théâtre populaire d’Acadie.
Two youth presentations will take place at Place des Arts in April, the first of which is Toqaq mecimipuwiht/Delphine rêve toujours, for ages five to nine. The story centres on Delphine, a young Wolastoqey (Maliseet) girl, with a head full of dreams and a fierce determination. Since her father lost the drum of his deceased ‘muhsums’ (grandfathers), Delphine has been dead set on finding it at all costs. Will she manage to overcome the challenges of the forest to find her drum? A co-production of Théâtre Ondinnok and Théâtre de la Vieille 17.
A few weeks later, G’zaagiin maleńki : je te promets une forêt will be presented to children from 18 months to six years of age. Guided by the seasons and the sacred circle of the Indigenous Medicine Wheel, three artists come together on stage. An Abitibi cellist, a French and Anishinaabe actress and musician, and a director emigrated from Poland create an immersive space weaving sounds, echoes, textures, movement and poetry for the senses. A Voyageurs Immobiles production.
The season ends during the Saint-Jean festivities, from June 22 to 24, 2023. The public will be able to see the fruits of Tétreault’s writing project, produced in collaboration with the TNO. Nickel City Fifs : une épopée queer sudburoise sur fond de trous (the full show) will be presented at the Zigs bar. This love letter to the region’s queer and francophone communities pays tribute to the struggles of the past and present in an atmosphere that is campy, fantastical, irreverent, vulgar, caustic, confrontational, and just a tad disturbing in parts.
As well, the TNO is kicking off a call for projects for a reinvented version of its Cellule d’écritures program. This project aims to support unique writing processes and strong statements by offering financial, artistic and logistical support to a cohort of three francophone artists in order to foster the development of new works. Each cohort is made up of artists with varied backgrounds, with at least one artist from Northern Ontario. Franco-Ontarian playwrights from all backgrounds are invited to apply for tailored French writing support. All the details of this initiative can be found on our website.
For tickets, the TNO subscription is back, but in a slightly revamped formula offering more flexibility. You can choose three or more shows from our entire program at 25 per cent off the regular price. The Solidarity Box Office is also back: which means pay what you can.
For more information on the shows or for ticket information, visit the TNO website, found here.
