Vital Intercultural Theatre Grants $490, 400 To 31 Local Companies

The Cole Foundation is pleased to announce the latest grant winners for the Intercultural Conversations-Conversations Interculturelles (IC-CI) programme, initiated to encourage greater understanding of Montreal's cultural mosaic by having audiences enjoy professional plays that present stories and issues of diversity on stage. For the past ten years the Foundation has focused on intercultural and racialized theatrical conversations for their community initiatives. This has created an award-winning catalogue incorporating themes of inclusion and cultural dialogue. Adding to those, the programme has now expanded to include stories with and about other marginalized communities such as LGBTQ and people with a disability. This year $490,400 was granted, the highest amount of award money since the IC-CI programme's launch.

The jury members felt that overall the competition this year was stronger than in the past. Translation has always been part of Intercultural Conversations. "What was unique about this year's competition was that there were a number of applications from companies for plays that had been presented in one language, now requesting funding to have works translated into the other official language," remarked Cole Foundation President and Chairman, Barry Cole. "While all applications were not successful with the jury, it demonstrated that there is an increasing integration of the French and English theatre communities, which is a very positive development." There were also a few applications for plays in multiple languages. Intercultural tours and co-productions are increasingly being brought to the Quebec stage, including Les Productions Hôtel-Motel's Premiere Neige / First Snow, Centaur Centre's Century Song, Collectif Aalaapi's Aalaapi and Segal Centre's Children of God, among others. There is also a greater interest in Indigenous communities and their stories. Special consideration funding was also given to MainLine Theatre's Montreal St-Ambroise Fringe Festival for the Culturally Diverse Artist Project mentorship program, designed to encourage participation by artists from culturally diverse backgrounds to participate in the Festival.

Heading into the 11th year of this invaluable program, commissioning grants are more sought after than ever. "We are buoyed with the rising interest of companies creating their own Quebec narrative, one that encompasses our diverse reality," said Cole. Philippe Ducros, artistic director of Les Productions Hôtel-Motel, sees the Cole Foundation's intercultural dialogue mission as more urgent than ever, "As we saw again in the recent elections and with the events of last summer regarding cultural appropriation, questions about diversity are not to be ignored but are rather essential to the development of any contemporary project. With the Foundation's support we are able to open up to real dialogue, to meet people marginalized by their culture or their origin, but who form the fabric of our society." From Mikaël Vitali at Jamais Lu: "Thanks to the Conversations Interculturelles grant, we will be able to create, on the occasion of the 18th edition of the Jamais Lu Festival, a platform for encounters between artists and audiences from English Canada and French Canada, including Indigenous artists. We believe it is time to abolish the walls created by years of post-colonialism and partisanship and explore the links between the arts communities' two official languages." For Singular Pluriel's Julie Vincent, "We have been enriched by embracing diversity, and this wealth is at the heart of our current and future development." Théâtre Surreal SoReal's Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a story about various perceptions of physical limitation and includes a mixed cast of able-bodied actors and those living with a disability. "Our bilingual company is committed to presenting shows that gives artistic authority to those who may not always be given a voice, opening up new depths in the work we explore," said Artistic Director Jon Lachlan Stewart. Amélie Girard from Les Productions Ondinnok wants to build bridges with world over through Indigenous cultures. "Our vision is not limited to the borders imposed by colonization, but extends over the entire territory of the Americas and even further afield: Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Over the past decade, there has been mounting attention to the works of Indigenous theater companies, more broadly in the process of reparation and reconciliation. The Cole Foundation's programme stimulates greater openness to intercultural exchanges by encouraging creators from diverse backgrounds to bring stories from their communities, recognizing that society is composed of multiple realities that must be presented on our artistic stages," explained Girard.

For the grants, there are three types of intercultural dialogue considered: plays with more than one cultural community in dialogue; plays with only one cultural community- in this case the dialogue is with the audience; and plays that show the uniqueness of the French or English Quebec communities translated into the other language.

The plays, stronger and stronger from year to year, encompass a widespread range of cultures and the varied communities within them. Works include themes and ideas about questioning one's community connection without knowing the language or following traditions; the gap between certain immigrants' conservative culture and that of liberal Québecois; reconnecting with lost roots; exploring what it's like to come from two different cultures and races; falling in love with the 'enemy' from another religion; the stigma of disabilities; women suffering the consequences of war; the stress of immigrant children; our accepted history of the settlement and occupation of the Canadian West; shame amongst members of marginalized communities; the current crisis in Venezuela; notions of sovereignty and nationalism; intergenerational impacts of the residential school system; and Muslim women on the path to self-determination. Performance styles include comedy, drama, multimedia, dance, spoken-word, musicals, storytelling, mask work, cabarets, staged readings and using virtual reality devices.

COMMISSIONING grants include: Productions Ondinnok- NMIHTAQS SQOTEWAMQOL / LA CENDRE DE SES OS by Dave Jenniss; Geordie Productions- From You to Us to You by Alexis Diamond; Geordie Productions- The (Little) Mighty Superhero by Marie Barlizo; Tableau D'Hôte - Blackout by various contributors (also production grant); Onishka- Marguerite by Emilie Monnet; Simoniaque- Je suis, tu es, nous sommes un produit by Simon Boudreault; Collectif Passeurs de Voix- J'irai migrer chez vous by collaboration; Surreal SoReal Theatre- Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach; Singulier Pluriel- The Doorman of Windsor Station by Julie Vincent and Hugh Hazelton (also production grant); Système Kangourou- Le pouvoir expliqué à ceux qui l'exercent (sur moi) by several authors (also production grant); Theatre Osmose- Sissi by Nathalie Doummar; Theatre de l'Oeil- FURIOSO by Olivier Kemeid; and Infinithéâtre- Fight On! Part Two by Guy Sprung.

PRODUCTION grant awards go to: Les Productions Hôtel-Motel- Première neige / First Snow by Davey Anderson, Philippe Ducros et Linda McLean; Jamais Lu- Faire le pont by various authors (also translation grant); Centaur Theatre- Century Song by Neema Bickerseth & Kate Alton; Segal Centre- Children of God by Corey Payette; Black Theatre Workshop- Simon Half & Half by Christine Rodriguez; Voyageurs Immobiles- Le Cheval de bleu by Marcel Cremer; Productions Quitte ou Double- Intersections by Mireille Camier; Festival TransAmérique- Tous les oiseaux by Wajdi Mouawad (also translation grant); Thought Experiment Productions- Numbers Increase As We Count... by Ülfet Sevdi; Talisman Theatre- Me and You by Talia Hallmona and Pascal Brullemans; Black Theatre Workshop- Fences by August Wilson; Teesri Duniya Theatre- Global is Local by Dipti Mehta, Nadia Manzoor; Silk Road Institute- Spun by Rabiah Hussain; Odd Stumble- Elsewhere by Joy Ross-Jones; and Festival du Conte de Mtl- The Geography Teacher's Orders by Marta Singh.

Grants for the next competition relate to shows starting March 1, 2020 and for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 theatre seasons. The deadline for the next competition of the award is Sept. 27, 2019. Theatre companies interested in applying for a grant will be able to download the necessary application forms and information from the Cole Foundation's web site at: www.colefoundation.ca/community/competition-forms.

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