Michel Tremblay

Born: 1942-06-25

Michel Tremblay (born 25 June 1942) is a French-Canadian novelist and playwright. Tremblay was born in Montreal, Quebec, where he grew up in the French-speaking neighbourhood of Plateau Mont-Royal; at the time of his birth, a neighbourhood with a working-class character and joual dialect - something that would heavily influence his work. Tremblay's first professionally produced play, Les Belles-Sœurs, was written in 1965 and premiered at the Théâtre du Rideau Vert on August 28, 1968. It transformed the old guard of Canadian theatre and introduced joual to the mainstream. It stirred up controversy by portraying the lives of working-class women and attacking the strait-laced, deeply religious society of mid-20th century Quebec. The most profound and lasting effects of Tremblay's early plays, including Hosanna and La Duchesse de Langeais, were the barriers they toppled in Quebec society. Until the Quiet Revolution of the early 1960s, Tremblay saw Quebec as a poor, working-class province dominated by an English-speaking elite and the Roman Catholic Church. Tremblay's work was part of a vanguard of liberal, nationalist thought that helped create an essentially modern society. His most famous plays are usually centred on gay characters. The first Canadian play about and starring a drag queen was his play Hosanna, which was first performed at Théâtre de Quat'Sous in Montreal in 1973. The women in his plays are usually strong but possessed with demons they must vanquish. It is said he sees Quebec as a matriarchal society. He is considered one of the best playwrights for women. In the late 1980s, Les Belles-sœurs ("The Sisters-in-Law") was produced in Scotland in Scots, as The Guid-Sisters ("guid-sister" being Scots for "sister-in-law"). His work has been translated into many languages, including Yiddish, and including such works as Sainte-Carmen de la Main, Ç'ta ton tour, Laura Cadieux, and Forever Yours, Marilou (À toi pour toujours, ta Marie-Lou). He has been openly gay throughout his public life, and he has written many novels (The Duchess and the Commoner, La nuit des princes charmants, Le Coeur découvert, Le Coeur éclaté) and plays (Hosanna, La duchesse de Langeais, Fragments de mensonges inutiles) centred on gay characters. In a 1987 interview with Shelagh Rogers for CBC Radio's The Arts Tonight, he remarked that he has always avoided behaviours he has considered masculine; for example, he does not smoke and he noted that he was 45 years old and did not know how to drive a car. "I think I am a rare breed," he said, "A homosexual who doesn't like men." He claims one of his biggest regrets in life was not telling his mother that he was gay before she died. ... Source: Article "Michel Tremblay" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.


Placeholder

Sisters and Neighbors!

as Monsieur Tremblay
Released: 2024-07-11

The story of Germaine Lauzon, a housewife who wins a million stamps which, she believes, will...

Movie page

Louis 19, King of the Airwaves

as Critique "Festin des loups"
Released: 1994-04-01

Louis Jobin is an ordinary young man from Montreal who sells televisions at an electronics...

Movie page

Le diable en canot d'écorce

as uncredited
Released: 2017-12-30

Movie page

The Devil's Share

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2018-02-16

Quebec, on the cusp of the 1960s. The province is on the brink of momentous change. Deftly...

Movie page

L'osstidquoi ? L'osstidcho!

as Himself
Released: 2023-08-24

Movie page

Apostrophes

as Self
First aired: 1975-01-10

Apostrophes was a live, weekly, literary, prime-time, talk show on French television created and...

TV Show page

Le Grand Échiquier

as Self
First aired: 1972-01-12

TV Show page

Tout le monde en parle

as Self
First aired: 2004-09-12

Host Guy A. Lepage brings together six to eight personalities from different milieus—sports,...

TV Show page

Bonsoir bonsoir!

as Self
First aired: 2019-04-01

Each day, Jean-Philippe Wauthier welcomes guests on the show in warm, friendly setting. His...

TV Show page

En direct de l'univers

as Self
First aired: 2009-09-19

TV Show page

Deux hommes en or

as Self
First aired: 2013-09-13

Presented in the form of a large live set, the hosts enlightening interviews with personalities...

TV Show page

Y'a du monde à messe

as Self
First aired: 2017-05-12

Public figures from different backgrounds meet each week. At first glance, these guests would...

TV Show page

Les échangistes

as Self
First aired: 2016-04-04

Host Penelope McQuade welcomes three celebrities each evening, along with two different swapping...

TV Show page

La revue culturelle

as Self
First aired: 2016-12-30

TV Show page

Viens voir les comédiens

as Self
First aired: 2002-09-20

Viens voir les comédiens is a television show on the Canadian French-language arts and culture...

TV Show page

Cette année-là

as Self
First aired: 2018-09-15

A culture show set hosted by Marc Labrèche and his collaborators, Simon Boulerice, Émilie...

TV Show page

Sucré salé

as Self
First aired: 2002-06-03

Patrice Bélanger and his team are here to give Quebecers a little boost to their lives with this...

TV Show page