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Ferron, Jacques

Jacques Ferron
Jacques Ferron. Photo credit Radio-Canada.

Playwright born in Louiseville, Quebec, January 20, 1921, died in Longueuil, Quebec, 1985 of a heart attack at the age of 64. Jacques Ferron was one of five children: his father was a notary, and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was eleven.

He studied at Collège Brébeuf, then at Laval University. In 1945 he joined the army. After the war he moved to the Gaspé. In 1948 he moved back to Montreal.

He took from his chosen profession, doctor of medicine, material for his writing. He also worked as a critic at the Petit Journal and Maclean's (1966-70), wrote for the stage and for radio, and was also a well-known essayist and novelist.

In 1963 he created the Rhinoceros Party to draw attention to serious issues in a humorous way. He was an important figure in the 1970 October Crisis, negotiating with the terrorist Front de Liberation du Québec (FLQ). A play about him, entitled Une Véillée chez le Maréchal-Ferron, opened at the Nouvelle Compagnie Théâtrale / Théâtre Denise-Pelletier in March, 2000.

Jacques Ferron's twenty plays run the gamut from farce to serious political commentary to satire to discussions of the structure of theatre itself.

His plays include: Le Licou (Troupe de l'Errant Canadien, 1958), L'Ogre (Théâtre-Club, 1958), Le Cheval de Don Juan (Troupe de l'Albatros, 1966), Les Grands Soleils (Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, 1968), La Sortie (Théâtre de la Place Ville Marie, 1965).

Profile by Gaetan Charlebois.

Last updated 2020-12-07