November 28, 2005 -

Ottawa, Ontario -- In a media release issued on Wednesday, November 23, the Capital Critics Circle (CCC), the regional branch of the Canadian Theatre Critics Association (CTCA), announced the winners of the CCC’s awards for excellence in French-language theatre in the National Capital Region during the 2004–05 season. The NAC French Theatre was involved in four of the winning productions.

The award for Best Outside Production presented in the National Capital Regionwent to HA ha!..., written by Réjean Ducharme and directed by Frédéric Dubois, who received the award for Best Direction. Produced by the Théâtre du Trident (Quebec), HA ha!... opened the NAC French Theatre’s 2004–05 mainstage series in October 2004.

The award for Best Performance was presented jointly to Maude Guérin, for her portrayal of France in Serge Boucher’s Les bonbons qui sauvent la vie (produced by Montreal’s Compagnie Jean Duceppe, directed by René Richard Cyr, presented in the NAC Theatre in April 2005) and Céline Bonnier, for her performance in La Cloche de verre (based on the novel by Sylvia Plath, coproduced by Montreal’s Théâtre de Quat’Sous and Sibyllines, directed by Brigitte Haentjens, presented in the NAC Studio in December 2004). Réal Benoît, designer for Les bonbons qui sauvent la vie, received the award for Best Design.

Finally, the award for Best Regional Production went to L’Homme invisible/The Invisible Man, a stage adaptation of an original story by Franco-Ontarian poet Patrice Desbiens, produced by the Théâtre de la Vieille 17 in association with the NAC French Theatre and directed by Robert Bellefeuille, Esther Beauchemin, Roch Castonguay and Robert Marinier. The play was staged in September 2005 during the inaugural Festival Zones Théâtrales, produced by the NAC French Theatre.

The 2004–05 award recipients will receive award certificates in June 2006, at the announcement of the CCC’s awards for the 2005–06 season. Congratulations to all the CCC award winners!

The members of the Capital Critics Circle are Caroline Barrière (Le Droit), Anne Michaud (Radio-Canada La Première Chaîne), and Alvina Ruprecht (CBC Radio One and Scene Changes).

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Information:
Guy Warin
Communications & Media Relations Officer
French Theatre, Canada’s National Arts Centre
(613) 947-7000 or 1 866 850-2787, ext. 759
gwarin@nac-cna.ca