On March 16 the "Father of Quebec Theatre" Gratien Gélinas,
passed away. Had it not been for his Fridolinades (1938), Tit-Coq
(1948), Bousille et les justes(1959) and his creation of the Comédie-Canadienne
(1957- 73) where he pushed the careers of other playwrights (Françoise
Loranger, Marcel Dubé), one wonders where theatre in Quebec or Canada
would be. Would we have Michel Tremblay? Jean Barbeau? Gélinas was
not just a consummate artist, he was also a great entrepreneur who seized
the day in a country that was searching for identity. Moreover, he made
sure that people came. He created a company and a house (now the Théâtre
du Nouveau Monde) where audiences didn't feel intimidated by the atmosphere;
where they were encouraged to have fun, laugh out loud or cry copiously
when they were moved. And Gélinas's audiences were indeed moved.
He once said that when his parents divorced he felt like an orphan; the
gentle pathos from that feeling coloured all his work and the work- the
plays, the films, the TV programs-still has the capacity to touch profoundly.
He will be missed.
Gaetan Charlesbois