Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Oligny, Huguette
Grande dame of Quebec theatre, Huguette Oligny's career spanned six decades. She was born in January 31, 1922 in Montreal; she died May 9, 2013 in Montreal. She was present at the start of many theatre companies including Équipe, Théâtre du Rideau Vert, Théâtre du Nouveau Monde/TNM.
Her acting talents were soon recognized, and she parlayed them into a career as a star of television and film, including Kamouraska.
In the theatre, Huguette Oligny acted some of the greatest classical roles including Célimène in Le misanthrope by Molière, title roles in Schiller's Marie Stuart and Racine's Bérénice, Elmire and Toinette in Tartuffe, Gabrielle in Schnitzler's Anatole, and Marguerite in La dame aux camélias by Dumas fils.
She has also acted in such remarkable Quebec theatrical creations as Le temps des lilas by Marcel Dubé; Tit-Coq and Hier, les enfants dansaient by her husband Gratien Gélinas; Yves Thériault's Le marcheur, which she directed; and Françoise Loranger's La dame de 100 ans, which she performed more than a hundred times across the province. Other significant theatrical roles include the premiere of Michel Tremblay's Albertine, en cinq temps, and opposite her husband, Gratien Gélinas, in his work The Passion of Narcisse Mondoux , which they toured across North America, performing it in French and English.
Tremblay paid her the ultimate tribute by including a long discussion of her in his play, Encore une fois, si vous le permettez. Huguette Oligny, present for the premiere, was profoundly touched and delighted. At the same time, however, she was in preparation for another performances in the spoken word event, the Festival de Trois.
She performed in Une dent en or at the Théâtre Français de Toronto (April, 1999) and Stabat Mater II at TNM (October, 1999). She also appeared in the world premiere of Jean-Pierre Boucher's Les vieux ne courent pas les rues (Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui, March, 2000).
Since she could act in both French and English, her artistic career took her to the major stages in the country as well as to New York, Chicago, Paris, Brussels and several other European cities.
Huguette Oligny's performances were always elegant and harking back to a more classical time in the theatre, while still remaining penetrating and oddly natural.
She was appointed Companion of the Order of Canada in 1997. In March 2013, her step-son Pascal Gélinas premiered his celebratory film, Huguette Oligny, Le goût de vivre in Montreal.
Viewings: Un Mois à la campagne, Radio-Canada, 1959, dir: Jean Faucher, a production of the Turgenev play staged for television and featuring Huguette Oligny.
Profile by Gaetan Charlebois
Last updated 2021-07-13
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The Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia web site was originally conceived and developed in 1996 by Gaetan Charlebois—theatre critic, playwright, and actor.
