...English theatres Canada is that the French ones are of necessity political, the companies scattered across the country to serve speakers of language that is in the minority in overwhelmingly English-speaking North America.

"The fact that we're creating theatre in French is a political statement in itself," argues Claude Guilmain, the artistic director of the Theatre la Tangente, founded only five years ago.

A glimpse at a handful of French theatres across the country--in Winnipeg, Sudbury, Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa--shows that they pay lesser or greater attention to politics depending on their audience, as an entrenched Francophone community seems to need more discussion of their situation as a minority.

Among these theatres is the Cercle Moliere, the oldest theatre in Canada, which for 75 years has been serving the Franco-Manitoban community from its base in St. Boniface, now part of Winnipeg.

Paul Leveille, the theatre's administrative director, says the company produces plays by Quebec or Franco-Manitoban authors or translates American dramas. Cercle Moliere has also brought in three or four shows from Acadian theatre companies, including the very political Pour une fois which tells the history of Acadia. The accent is different, and Leveille...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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