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Germain, Jean-Claude

CTE photo

Playwright, screenwriter, actor, director, Quebec Nationalist and wit, born in Montreal, Quebec, June 16, 1939.

Jean-Claude Germain became involved in theatrical production while studying at the Université de Montréal and was a critic in the 1960s and 70s for several magazines.

In 1969 he founded the Théâtre du Même Nom (TMN) as a protest against the kind of mainstream, classical theatre that was being produced at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (TNM). In 1972 he joined forces with André Brassard and his company (Mouvement contemporain) and Jean-Pierre Saulnier and his (Apprentis-Sorciers) to form the Centre du Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui/TA of which he was the director until 1982.

He has also taught at the National Theatre School of Canada and was important in forming the school's playwrights' division.

He once said of the theatre, "To speak of 'oeuvre' when we are speaking of shows or plays seems to me to show a grave lack of humility - something theatre people have never had but which is imposed upon them by the very occupation they have chosen."

He has written sixteen plays including: Les enfants de Chénier dans un autre grand spectacle d'adieu (TMN, 1969), Diguidi, diguidi, ha! ha! ha! (TMN, 1969), Les Hauts et les bas d'la vie d'une diva, Sarah Ménard par eux-mêmes (TA, 1974), Un pays dont la devise est je m'oublie (TA, 1976), A Canadian Play/Une plaie canadienne (TA, 1979).

Profile by Gaetan Charlebois

Last updated 2021-01-04