For many years, the English theatre scene in Montreal looked like this: the two permanent subscription houses—Centaur and Saidye—and, lumped casually together, “everybody else.” In 2006, I would suggest, the community experienced a sea change. Recent announcements (see below) suggest that what’s happening at Centaur and Saidye is still important, maybe more than ever, but now for the first time, we have a twin set of independent houses—the MainLine and the Théâtre Ste-Catherine—whose presence is equally important to the community.

Although MainLine Theatre produces the Fringe and other shows from time to time, both it and the TSC are primarily rental spaces. Still, they stand out from other such spaces in their focus on English programming and their rah-rah support for local English theatre. You could have formed a pretty accurate picture of what’s happening in independent English theatre just by randomly attending shows at the TSC and the MainLine throughout the year—and there was virtually always something playing.

Not only was MainLine an official fringe venue and producer of Johnny Canuck and the Last Burlesque, it also provided a place for little companies like Sixth Avenue Players and Angry Badger Theatre to try out new work like Caitlin Murphy’s Brazen and Aaron George’s Coil!!! TSC had solo shows by Anana Rydvald, Paul van Dyck and Derick Lengwenus, as well as Untimely Ripped’s black 9/11 comedy Tecumseh As a Doorstop.

Fresh acts

2006 was a red-letter year for new works, from the first two installments of Vittorio Rossi’s Carpenter’s trilogy at Centaur, and BTW’s Blacks Don’t Bowl, by Vadney S. Haynes, to Rydvald’s Section O, Holly O’Brien’s Last Call, Adam Kelly’s The Anorak and the aforementioned Brazen/Coil double bill.

Centaur Theatre devoted its 2005–06 season to Montreal playwrights, showcasing a lot of local performers in the bargain. In recognition of that season, late in the year, Centaur beat out all the French theatres in town to become the theatre nominee for the Conseil des arts de Montreal’s Grand Prix. Each year, the CdA nominates one organization from the following disciplines: media arts, visual arts, cinema, dance, literature, music, new artistic practices and theatre. The winner of the $25,000 grand prize will be announced in March; the other nominees will receive $5,000 each. Nominees in other disciplines include la Cinématèque québécoise, la Compagnie de danse Marie Chouinard and the McCord Museum. Usine C is the nominee under the mysterious heading of “nouvelles pratiques artistiques.”

Further education

The Saidye Bronfman Centre was the subject of its own big announcement late in the year: as of June 2007, it will be transformed into a performing arts centre with its own performing arts academy. The SBC was a gift from the Bronfmans to the YM/YWHA 40 years ago. Now it will become a separate agency of Federation CJA. Things will continue more or less as usual for the Segal Theatre and Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre, but the centre will expand its programming in dance and music. The Contemporary Art Gallery will be relocated and the School of Fine Arts will close.

The focus of the new “academy” is unclear at this point, but it’s difficult to imagine Montreal needing another theatre school. We already have some of the finest training institutions in the country—NTS, Concordia, Dawson etc.—the challenge for those who train there is finding work after graduation. Many leave the city; a few brave souls stay to scratch out a living in a market where film and voice work continues to dwindle and theatre doesn’t pay. On the upside, a few out-of-work actors will surely get work teaching at such an academy, only to turn out younger competition!

But why so gloomy? It’s the holidays! The Bronfman and Segal families are said to be excited about the new direction for the centre, and you know what that means: money for the performing arts! Whether any of it trickles down into your threadbare thespian pockets remains to be seen in 2007.

Happy Holidays.