MICHEL TREMBLAY
Molly lnnes and John Kazak in Tremblay‘s latest: all the emotions of a Catholic mass mixed with the politically incorrect
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Tremblay in Scotland
Michel Tremblay was born in 1942 and wrote his first plays in 1965. He went full time in 1967, producing Les Belles Soeurs (later The Guid Sisters) the following year. So revolutionary was this play in its use of Joual, the semi- anglicised form of Montreal patter, that theatre before it has come to be known as 'French-Canadian’ and after as 'Québécois'. Tremblay, who has also written eight films, ten books and an opera, found a perfect partner in 1989 with the Scots language when Michael Boyd staged The Guid Sisters for Glasgow's Tron Theatre. The acclaimed production played Toronto in 1990 and was revived in 1992 when it toured Montreal. The List called the all-female production 'witty, ‘ E ; '- painfully moving and '. lovingly adapted'. Among the productions that followed — all in the Scots translations of Bill Findlay and Martin Bowman — were
Hosanna, Forever Yours Marie-Lou and, in 1991 , The Real Wurld? also at the Tron. The List said it was ‘a tremendously rewarding play culminating in a real chill.’ Edinburgh's Traverse began its relationship with Tremblay in the 19805 when it hosted versions of Manon/Sandra and Albertine In Five Times. Findlay and Bowman had their turn in 1992 with House Among The Stars described by The List as ‘a good play but one which substitutes long gazes into the middle distance for genuine emotion'.
In 1998, Clyde Unity Theatre staged Albertine In Five Times, bringing together an all-star cast, including Una McLean, Eileen McCallum and Alison Peebles, described by The List as ’a strong
ensemble more than . . \ ‘ equal to the job'. Albertine In five Times
The Guid Sisters
The Real Wurld?
House Among The Stars
27 Apr—ll May 2000 THE usn1