Reopening our doors: A year full of cheer
As we start seeing familiar faces at Centaur once again, it is encouraging to review the year that was filled with hybrid performances and a return to the stage. With everyone’s health and safety top of mind, we are thankful for our audience support and look forward to our upcoming live theatre productions of Wildside and Kisses Deep in January 2022!
Here are some highlights of a year that was a brave new world, and taught us more about resilience and theatre than we knew!
WILDSIDE 2021
Wildside 2021 launched us into 2021 and went digital and totally FREE for the whole month of January. As Montreal locked down, Wildside artists delivered in-home entertainment that was experimental and edgy as could be.
We also hosted online interviews with curator Rose Plotek and Wildside artists and presented two Catalyst readings of new works from new voices in January.
The return of MOB! A socially-distanced mini-run
After more than a year we opened our doors to put on 8 presentations of MOB, the sold-out, META-winning hit that we had to shut down in March 2020. It was very emotional for the audiences and for all of us, even before the lights went down and the play started! 😉
Thanks to all those who came for putting their confidence in us. With all of the new safety protocols in place, everyone felt safe and was able to enjoy the long-awaited return to live theatre.
Plays2Perform@Home
Remember summer? We do! Centaur staff and friends met to test drive the newly released box set of Boca del Lupo’s Plays2Perform@Home. Pic nic not included 😉
The Quebec Box Set is still available for purchase at Centaur Theatre or online.
1st Indigenous Artist Residency Centaur
We met Ange Loft and collaborators Barbara Kaneratonni Diabo and Iehente Foote in August 2021. The Collective will develop a new site-specific theatrical performance that includes historic research, music, Kanien’kéha language, large scale imagery/puppetry, verbatim text, and traditional Indigenous, as well as contemporary dance for a new work entitled Talking Treaties Tio’tia:ke.
Look forward to the return of our online interview series, Saturday Salons, set for Saturday January 8th with Eda and Ange.
The Portico Project: The Exchange
Eda Holmes handed the reins over to Julie Tamiko Manning, Eo Sharp, and Nalo Soyini Bruce to create an outdoor performance that spoke to the moment of reconciliation, representation, equity and inclusion. The 2nd edition of the Portico Project (September 2021) continued the tradition of opening a new season with outdoor theatre for all to see. Photos by Nalo Soyini Bruce.
The beautiful portico was lit in jewel tones and performers Maryline Chery, Corrina Hodgson, Sandra Kadowaki, Kayin Queeley and Ainsley McNeaney created tableaux’s for masked audience members and passers-by, beating drums and creating rhythms for the onlookers and neighbouring residents. We’re back!
With stage manager Trevor Barrette, co-creator & director Julie Tamiko Manning; dramaturg Rose Plotek; performer; co-creators & designers Eo Sharp and Nalo Soyini Bruce.
OKINUM by Émilie Monnet
Presented in September by Centaur Theatre as a part of Brave New Looks, this Onishka and Imago Theatre co-production, created and performed in the round by Émilie Monnet, was a powerful, immersive experience in three languages: English, French and Anishnaabemowin.
A first collaboration with TNM
The TNM kicked off its 70th season with Embrasse, a new play by Michel Marc Bouchard. The reviews are in and our audience has much to look forward to, with Eda directing the English version, Kisses Deep, at Centaur January 25th – February 12, 2022.
“Michel Marc Bouchard is a thrilling playwright to work with. His poetic voice, steeped in the unique culture of Quebec, is universal in its exploration of human passion. Having directed several of his plays before in English, it is a dream come true to have the privilege of presenting the world premiere of this play in French at the illustrious TNM and then remounting it in English here at Centaur. I believe we are building a brilliant future for culture in Montreal with these kinds of creative bridges.”
Eda Holmes, Kisses Deep Director & Centaur Theatre Artistic and Executive Director
All I Want For Christmas
We decked the halls early and ushered in a holiday season full of laughter. Rebecca Northan’s latest script gave us a dose of good cheer and some tips on how to give – and receive – the spirit of Christmas. It was a fun-for-the-whole-family kind of show, and it felt SO good to be back on stage.
Our production staff had fun building Santa’s Workshop too, take a peek at this time lapse of Centaur’s elves at work!
A BIG THANK YOU to our donors this year!
Donations enabled us to stay connected with patrons and artists as we rode out the storm together in a rich conversation about who we are as a community. It was a turbulent yet valuable year that has inspired us to return to the stage with even more energy and care.