JANUARY 14 TO 24 2026
SPONSORS
FUNDERS
We recognize that Théâtre Cercle Molière is situated on the ancestral lands of the Anishinabee, Ininewak and Dakota peoples, as well as the homeland of the Métis Nation. We recognize that Manitoba is also home to the ancestral lands of the Anishininiwak and Dene. Stories have been told on these lands for millennia, and we would like to thank our ancestors, our grandmothers and grandfathers, for proudly transmitting to us the English language and the Michif language.
Théâtre Cercle Molière | 2025-2026 | Playbill 03 | Cet été qui chantait Printed on recycled paper by Contemporary Printing Services Inc. Illustrations and layout : Arielle Morier-Roy
Cet été qui chantait Produced by Flammèche Théâtre
Stage Manager Sarah Gagné
Based on the works of Gabrielle Roy
Dramaturgical Advisor Maureen Labonté
Performers & Puppeteers Marie-Ève Fontaine, Natalie Labossière
Tour Manager Sasha Hayashi
Creatir & Playwright Marie-Ève Fontaine Director Pierre Robitaille
Technical Director for TCM Miguel Fortier
Sound Design & Live Music Gérald Laroche
Assistant Technical Director for TCM Patrick Bellemare
Accessories & Set Design Denis Duguay
Technicians Tommy Inthirath, Rowan Lundy
Lighting Design Emilio Sebastiao
Subtitles Operator and Translator Jack Maier
Costume Design Janelle Tougas
Flammèche Théâtre was founded in response to the need to create, learn, and collaborate. Since 1994, Flammèche Théâtre’s founder and artistic director, Natalie Labossière, has been delighting audiences in Western and Northern Canada through storytelling and puppetry, in settings as varied as classrooms, conferences, and outdoor performances. Natalie officially launched Flammèche Théâtre in 2010 in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, with the goal of building connections with other artists devoted to puppetry and storytelling, and of fostering the creation of new works.
JE VEUX LIRE CECI EN FRANÇAIS
Oops! Il semble que vous vous soyez égaré·e·s. Scannez ce code ou visitez la page Web de la pièce pour retrouver le programme en français, qui est aussi disponible au théâtre.
Cet été qui chantait
3
THE ESSENTIALS Please switch off your mobile phones. Taking photographs or videos during the performance is prohibited. Show Duration : 65 min, with no intermission
Suggested Audience : 6 years +
Talkback with the Artists : After the show on Thursdays, January 15 and 22. L'aparté : From 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., before the Friday, January 16 performance, Sébastien Gaillard, Executive Director of the Maison Gabrielle-Roy, will welcome Joanne Therrien from Éditions des Plaines in the lobby to discuss the topic: Why Read Gabrielle Roy Today? Accessibility Services: Get access to English or French subtitles, hearing assistance devices and more. Ask our team about our accessibility services or visit cerclemoliere.com/en/box-office to learn more.
SYNOPSIS A crow, carried by the breeze, soars over the mountains, the valley and finally, the river. It leads the way to a small house with green shutters, tucked at the end of the road in Petite-Rivière-Saint-François. There, Gabrielle takes in the world with bright, wondering eyes: hay swaying in the wind, wildflowers blooming atop a pile of compost, shorebirds calling along the mudflats, fireflies whispering at dusk. Loosely inspired by Gabrielle Roy’s beloved book of the same name, Cet été qui chantait is a tender performance rich in imagery, steeped in music and anchored in stillness. Marie-Ève Fontaine and her team gently bring the poetic world of the renowned Franco-Manitoban author to life, inviting audiences of all ages — especially little ones and the young at heart — on a deeply sensory journey.
AFTER THE PLAY Complete the survey on the show's webpage for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the show of your choice this season!
WHAT'S NEW The next Family Sunday takes place on January 18 at TCM with a Japanese drumming performance, Taiko with Fubuki Daiko. Join us! Family Sundays are free French-language events for children and their families, offered in partnership with the Fédération des parents de la francophonie manitobaine. Places are limited, so reservations are encouraged.
February is Black & Proud month! Join us at TCM and beyond to enjoy programming curated by Wilgis Agossa and celebrate our community. Explore the full schedule of events and more at noiretfier.ca.
STAY UP TO DATE WITH OUR ACTIVITIES The TCM newsletter keeps you informed about all our events and special projects throughout the season. Sign up on our website's home page: cerclemoliere.com or by scanning this code so you don't miss a thing! Subscribe: Get four discounted tickets to the shows of your choice by purchasing the subscription of the century! Available throughout the season at 204-233-8053 or at cerclemoliere.com/en/box-office#subscriptions
4
Saison 2025 - 2026 Le Siècle Molière
FROM THE CREATOR, AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR FOR TCM I am absolutely delighted to present my beloved show, Cet été qui chantait, at Cercle Molière on the company's 100th anniversary.
The first time I read Cet été qui chantait, I was sitting on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Kamouraska, just across the water from the village of Petite-RivièreSaint-François. Gabrielle Roy was becoming my favourite author, ever since the summers I had worked as a guide-interpreter in her childhood home on Deschambault Street. Charmed by the book's simple yet disarmingly profound stories, I set about creating a show full of poetry, images and music... It was the first spark of inspiration for what would become the most formative project of my artistic career.
Photo : Sarah Lamontagne
When Geneviève Pelletier suggested that I return to Saint-Boniface with the show, I did not yet know that I would be taking over as artistic director of the company. It is as an artist that I write these few words to you.
The seed was sown. With an extraordinary team of artists from across the country and the support of Cercle Molière, I covered this seed with rich soil, which I then watered with love and good cheer. We even sang songs to it... That seed sprouted and became the show that I am so proud to present to you today. Since its creation here in 2023, the show has travelled across the country to bring joy and beauty to thousands of audience members of all ages, and will soon be headed to Saskatoon and Montréal. Come, come, follow me. I'll take you down a little path – my favourite – that leads to the river. You'll see, the air is so pure, the sky so beautiful... If you feel like it, you can dip your feet in the water. It feels good... Enjoy the show,
Creator, playwright, puppeteer, and performer of Cet été qui chantait, Artistic Director & Co-Executive Director for Théâtre Cercle Molière
6
Saison 2025 - 2026 Le Siècle Molière
Photos : Jonathan Lorange
Marie-Ève Fontaine
OUR UPCOMING SHOWS A co-production of Afrik'kadi and TCM, presented as part of Black & Proud:
Ô CANADA, TÉ QUI TOI ? February 6 & 7, 2026
Returning after resounding success in our schools, this play by Alison Palmer and Lacina Dembélé explores young Manitoban perspectives on belonging that will resonate with audiences of all ages. Caught in a rural snowstorm, Amina, a newcomer from an African country, Louis, a Métis youth searching for his identity, and Jen, born here but raised in the shadow of her refugee family’s silence are all trying to find their place. Accompanied by Ousmane, a bus driver brimming with wisdom, can they endure the cold, outlast the boredom — and unlock the secrets of living in harmony?
Don't miss the new comedy
SOUTENSIONS March 18 to 28, 2026
You’re all invited to a family kitchen party bursting with dysfunction! Karam Daoud, Alex Coates, Élaine Tougas, Patricia Bitu Tshikudi, MarieMichèle Vienneau, and more will take the stage in this play by Amber O’Reilly, directed by Danielle Sturk. In Brandi’s apartment, the balloons are inflated—but the party quickly unravels. She doesn’t want children. Neither does her aunt Andrée—who suddenly reappears after ten years away. Between icing cakes and stirring up long-simmering tensions, life choices collide around the table. Soutensions is a kitchen party where unspoken truths spill out, laughter bursts through the chaos, and freedom is redefined.
THE TROUPE Marie-Ève Fontaine (she/her)
Creator, Playwright, Puppeteer, and performer
Marie-Ève Fontaine is a theatre artist from Saint Boniface, Manitoba. She works across Canada as a performer, puppeteer, creator, and producer of theatrical works. Over the years, she has contributed to more than fifty professional productions, notably as an actor in the solo play Le dire de Di by Michel Ouellette (Théâtre français de Toronto and Théâtre Catapulte) and in Un.Deux.Trois. by Mani Soleymanlou (Orange Noyée). On television, Marie-Ève played the role of Clémence in Le monde de Gabrielle Roy, a series filmed in Manitoba. As a creator, she is the driving artistic force behind Cet été qui chantait (2023), La fuite de l’hippocampe (2024), and Giant Mine, which will premiere at Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario in Sudbury in 2026. Since July 2025, Marie-Ève has served as Artistic Director and Co–General Director of Théâtre Cercle Molière in Winnipeg.
Natalie Labossière (she/her) Puppeteer and performer
Photo : Ian McCausland
For over 25 years, Natalie Labossière has worked as a puppeteer, storyteller, and facilitator in Manitoba and across Canada. A self-taught artist, she began her career by creating and co-producing French-language children’s shows, including La tête de cochon, Toute la journée à m’amuser, and Les 4 cochons. She works with glove puppets, mouth puppets, bunraku, and object theatre. With Productions Rivard, she transitioned to television, contributing to the series Paul et Suzanne and Carmen à la Campagne, broadcast on TFO and APTN. She has also collaborated with Stuck in a Snowbank Theatre in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, on the historical mural Tjaart: the Water Carrier, and has participated in numerous labs across Western Canada, in both French and English.
8
Gérald Laroche (he/him) Sound Design & Live Music
Gérald Laroche is an internationally renowned Manitobabased musician. For over thirty years, he has composed music for theatre, film, and television, including the documentary Inspire Expire by Danielle Sturk (2009) and Kaashkitamaashoo by Dawn Nagazina (2022). In theatre, his work includes the music for Toronto at Dreamers Rock, The Red River Valley, and An Illustrated History of the Anishinabe, all presented at Manitoba Theatre for Young People. His first collaboration with Théâtre Cercle Molière was in 2002 for Puulik cherche le vent. He returns this year to the TCM stage to perform live the music he composed for Cet été qui chantait.
THE TROUPE Denis Duguay (he/him) Accessories and Set Design
Deeply rooted in Manitoba’s Francophone community, Denis Duguay is a visual artist working in drawing, painting, and sculpture. For over 40 years, he has applied his talents across a wide range of artistic fields, including visual arts, theatre set design, television and film sets and props, and performance art. As a scenographer, he works from sketches to develop the original idea into a scale model, which he then recreates at full scale using his skills as a carpenter and builder. Among others, he is a long-time and frequent collaborator with Théâtre Cercle Molière and Productions Rivard.
Pierre Robitaille (he/him) Director
For more than thirty years, Pierre has practised his craft with passion, excelling in both design and manipulation. Comfortable performing for all audiences and with puppets of every kind, he relishes each stage of the creative process, improvising with different textures and blending the ordinary with the unusual. A puppeteer for Radio-Canada television on the programs Kim et Clip and La Rimbambelle, he also co-directs Théâtre Pupulus Mordicus, a puppet theatre company dedicated to adult audiences. Recognized by his peers, his work earned him the Masque for Special Contribution for the puppetry in Les Survivants and Jacques et son maître. His utopia? To manipulate puppets through the sheer power of thought. His dream? To make puppetry a key to opening souls, forging a path straight to the hearts of audiences.
Sarah Gagné (she/her) Stage Manager
A graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada in 2021, Sarah Gagné has developed a practice focused on collective creation and multidisciplinary art. She has worked as an assistant director on Pulvérisés et la Terre tremble, directed by Alexia Bürger, and designed lighting for several productions, including La Boîte à outils de Pythagore, presented at the Casteliers Festival in 2022. She also collaborates with director Audrey-Anne Bouchard on Camille, Au-delà du visuel, a multisensory creation designed for blind and low-vision audiences. Sarah designed the sound for the short film Les Animaux humains disent je t’aime by Collectif de l’Autre forêt, and served as sound and stage manager on the touring production Neuf, written and directed by Mani Soleymanlou. She continues her artistic exploration by designing the lighting for a creation inspired by the poetry collection Quand je ne dis rien je pense encore, and by touring with the production UTEI: Récit d’un survivant by Productions Menuentakuan.
Cet été qui chantait
9
THANKS TO OUR DONORS We warmly thank all donors who supported us throughout 2024 and 2025. The TCM centennial shines bright because of you!
Darlene Abreau-Ferreira Semevo Agbanglanon Joseph Ahissou Racim Aliane Elaine Arsenault-Schultz Jean-Michel Beaudry Marc Beaudry Joël Beddows Eveline Bériault Sylvie Berthelot-Dilk Sebastien Bertrand Lise Brin Stephen Brodovsky Marc Bruneau Shannon Burns Ginette Caron Rhéal Cenerini Paul Champagne Dr. Denis Champagne Suzanne Chrispin Desmond Clarke Hélène Clarke Ghislain Colomb Tiehi David Dandeneau Louise André Dandeneau Granger Julie-Anne Delaquis Janelle Delorme Guy Deremiens Jonas Desrosiers Oumou Diarra Papa Yerime Dieye Marty Donkervoort Léo Dufault Réal Durand Mariette Ferré
Jeannette Filion-Rosset Yvonne Fontaine Lorraine Forbes Lise Gaboury Maryse Gagné Sophie Gaulin Fondation GiftPact Jacqueline Glen Simone Le Gal Océane Goigoux Nahounou Goprou Paula Grieef Marc Haentjens Madeline Hiebert Karen Ingebrigtson Linnea Ingebrigtson Suzanne Jeanson Suzanne Kennelly Rayannah Kroeker Daniel Labrie Evelyne Lachapelle Raymond Lafond Michelle Lagassé Pierre Laporte Dominique Laporte François LaRochelle Denis Lavoie Francois Lentz Jade Lopez Laura Lussier Robert & Claudette Lussier David MacNair Maddie Magnus-Walker Leane Mallarino Joël Marcon
Jennifer Marcheterre Ian Marcil Lasha Mowchun Kerri Nelson Gilles Noël Rachel Ouimet Nicolas Paquin Diane Payment Geneviève Pelletier Karine Pelletier Suzanne Pelletier René Piché Louise & Albert Plamondon Emma Ramic Louise Rémillard Emmanuelle Rigaud Hélène et Guy Roy Diane Robert Jeannine Robert Daniel Roy Greg Selinger & Claudette Toupin Robert Siddall Sophie Skierszkan Michelle Smith Jeff Staflund Danielle Sturk Merren J Tardivelle E. Sharon Taylor Paulette Theberge Claudette Toupin Nolin et Kelly Turenne Trent Tuttosi Léonycia Zohoungbogbo
A special thank you to the Missionnaires Oblates de Saint-Boniface Inc. and to the Soeurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie for their generous donations.
Donate at cerclemoliere.com/en/give
Your support today allows us to support Manitoba’s artists and artisans, showcase local Francophone talent on stage, and build the next 100 years of theatre.
10
Saison 2025 - 2026 Le Siècle Molière
In the spirit of a nature retreat, the illustration for Cet été qui chantait pays homage to vintage holiday destination posters. It shows Bernadette, serene, contemplating a picturesque landscape, as if immersed in a postcard she might have sent to her dear sister. How could one possibly do justice to the vivid landscapes Gabrielle Roy paints with her words? She masterfully reveals the beauty of everyday moments, where routine becomes a milestone, where small creatures are our neighbours, and where a mud puddle proves as fascinating as a vast forest. In the distance, you can see the structures of the village of Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, the mountains, and a horizon so vast that the details dissolve into it. In the foreground, the flora is both familiar and surprising: from the perspective of a small papier-mâché person, a cattail or a flower is as big as a tree. The troupe of Cet été qui chantait has made the clever choice to combine puppets with stage acting, tiny landscapes with full-scale sets, and physical spaces with imagined landscapes to create a vibrant and evocative panorama, both micro and macro. In the small black box of the theatre, feelings that are rarely found far from nature emerge: a sense of peace, slowness, and beauty.
Arielle Morier-Roy (she/they) is a Queer, nerdy, crafty and multiskilled graphic artist who has been working at TCM since 2016. She is deeply grateful to have been entrusted with the opportunity to create the visual identity for the Molière Century. Century. Find out more on the artist's webpage for the 2025–2026 season!
cerclemoliere.com/artiste-de-la-saison-25-26
Théâtre Cercle Molière 340 Provencher Blvd, Winnipeg, MB R2H 0G7 204-233-8053 | reception@cerclemoliere.com cerclemoliere.com