Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Imago Theatre
Imago Theatre is a professional feminist theatre company based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The company was founded in 1987 by Andres Hausmann, Ray Tomalty, and Kelly Patterson, and is now led by the current Artistic and Executive Director, Krista Jackson.
Imago Theatre is a catalyst for conversation, an advocate for gender inclusion and a space that centres feminist values and artistic practices. Its ethos is that by holding space for gender-inclusivity and giving power to women and gender-diverse people, art can create a more inclusive, safe, compassionate world.
Originally founded as an experimental company, Imago presented complex and challenging international works and bilingual collectives. Following directors Lowell Gasoi and then Ron Spurles, Clare Schapiro (founder of Theatre 1774; see Infinitheatre) became the Artistic Director in 2000, shifting the mandate of the theatre to Canadian and Quebecois playwrights and women's lived experience. In 2013, Micheline Chevrier became Artistic and Executive Director of Imago, mandating the company as a feminist, artist-run theatre that explored climate change, power dynamics, and social marginalization.
Under the leadership of Krista Jackson, who began with Imago in 2022, the Company continues to embrace a unique collaborative working model, Canadian and Quebecois content, equitable representation, strong presence in terms of support for both emerging and established artists, and outreach extending beyond the provincial border to promote the work of Quebecois artists.
Imago has presented a varied repertory: earlier years of the Company saw interpretations of plays by Samuel Beckett (The Shorter Plays and Conversation), Harold Pinter (Other Plays and Pinteriana), Milan Kundera (Jacques and His Master) and Heiner Müller (Quartet).
Micheline Chevrier directed many of the Company’s productions between 2009 and 2021, including If We Were Birds by Erin Shields, random by English playwright debbie tucker green (co-production with Black Theatre Workshop); and the rolling world premiere of Redbone Coonhound (co-production with Tarragon Theatre) by Amy Lee Lavoie and Omari Newton, co-directed with Kwaku Okyere.
In order to adapt to Covid-19 restrictions, Imago integrated digital work into the Company’s programming that lasted through to the 2023/24 season. This included the digital festival Eco-Anxiety; Tuning In, audio plays commissioned from female playwrights; Good Things to Do, an immersive online storytelling experience; Space Girl, the filmed version of the world premiere of Indigenous playwright Frances Koncan’s newest play; and Upside Down, a series of narrative and documentary short films that explore disability and accessibility. Imago returned to live programming in 2021, and in March 2023 launched the podcast Inside Imago hosted by Jimmy Blais.
Work produced between 2021 and 2024 included the English Language World Premiere of Okinum by Émilie Monnet, Foxfinder, by U.K. playwright Dawn King, directed by Cristina Cugliandro, The Retreat by Montreal playwright Gabrielle Chapdelaine translated by David Gagnon Walker, directed by Krista Jackson and The Flood by Leah-Simone Bowen, directed by acclaimed Indigenous artist Yvette Nolan.
Imago has a "Pay-What-You-Decide" entrance fee for financial accessibility, ASL-interpreted performances, French sur-titles, and digital productions for blind and visually impaired audiences. In 2022 Imago began including French Language subtitles at every performance to connect with Francophone audiences in the city, and in 2024 the Company began including a Relaxed Performance in is runs to welcome audiences with various access needs.
The company’s three residency programs support emerging artists. “ARTISTA” provides mentorship to women, non-binary, trans and gender-diverse creators ages 17-22; “The Creators Circle” brings together emerging women and gender-diverse playwrights and the season-long paid artist residency, “Nested Circles” provides a cultural network and resources for theatre creation to newcomer artists who have moved to Montreal from another country.
To honour Imago’s large audience demographic of young adults the 2024/25 season will include three plays written by Millennial playwrights, including two local Montreal artists, Gillian Clark (Adventures, presented in partnership with Centaur Theatre’s WinterWorks) and Adjani Poirier (Scorpio Moon, co-directed by Warona Setshwaelo and Imago’s Associate Artistic Director Murdoch Schon) as well as the The Wolves (2017 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama) by Sarah DeLappe, co-directed by Krista Jackson and Jimmy Blais (co-production with Geordie Theatre).
Imago’s work has gained much recognition at the Montreal English Theatre Awards. The company received eighteen nominations and seven awards for its 2022/2023 productions.
Imago’s rich history is available to access in the L.W. Conolly Theatre Archives at the University of Guelph Library.
Sources
https://www.imagotheatre.ca/en/our-ethos
https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/theatre/micheline-chevrier-takes-over-imago-theatre
https://www.imagotheatre.ca/krista-jackson
https://www.broadwayworld.com/montreal/article/Montreals-Leading-Independent-Theatre-Companies-Launch-2014-15-Season-20140416
https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/local-arts/hope-springs-as-montreal-theatres-fall-back-into-semblance-of-normalcy
https://www.broadwayworld.com/montreal/regional/The-Retreat-3839817 Imago Theatre 2021-22 Annual Report
https://www.imagotheatre.ca/
https://www.metas.ca/2023-ceremony
Website: www.imagotheatre.ca
Profile by Adjani Poirier, Associate Artist, Imago Theatre
Last updated 2024-06-17
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