Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Beaubien, Jeanine
Theatre entrepreneur and creator of La Poudrière Theatre in Montreal, Quebec. Born in Arvida, Quebec in c.1923; died in 2016 at the age of 96.
Jeanine Beaubien began to work in theatre in Arvida at 21 when her husband urged her to create a theatre to entertain the miners. After moving to Quebec City, she founded a company there as well.
When she and her husband relocated to Montreal, she took ten years to raise her family of four children, before she joined Compagnons de Saint-Laurent. From there she went to work in summer theatre before finding the 1822 powder magazine in Montreal that would house her company for over twenty years. The company performed plays in French, English, German and Spanish from 1958 to 1982.
Beaubien was a citizenship court judge, a member of the Order of Canada, and the first Canadian member of the Royal Society of the Arts in London (inducted 1966). She published her memoirs of her La Poudrière days in 2000.
Readings: Jeanine Beaubien. La Poudrière Reincarnated. Montreal: Méridien, 2000.
Profile by Gaetan Charlebois.
Last updated 2018-02-06
Since October 2002, Athabasca University has hosted the web site, with an editorial board of theatre scholars from across Canada.
To submit an entry, please consult the guidelines for submissions.
Email your submission to: Anne Nothof, Professor Emerita, Athabasca University.
The Encyclopedia collects and disseminates information on plays, playwrights and theatre practitioners. It does not respond to requests for information, auditions, bookings, or tickets.
The Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia web site was originally conceived and developed in 1996 by Gaetan Charlebois—theatre critic, playwright, and actor.
