PROLOGUE(S) #7: AILLEURS

Following her graduate studies in political science at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and in literature at the University of Ottawa, Catherine Voyer-Léger embarked on a career in the cultural sector. She works closely with several organizations in the arts and literary community in Quebec and elsewhere in the Canadian Francophonie. As a writer, she has published six books, including two editions of Métier critique (Septentrion), an essay on the state of cultural criticism; Prendre corps, a collection of micro-stories (La Peuplade); and a children's book, La chorale des animaux (Guy Saint-Jean). Prendre corps won the 2019 Jacques-Poirier Literary Award – Outaouais. Catherine is a columnist on the radio show C'est fou with Serge Bouchard and Jean-Philippe Pleau on ICI Radio-Canada Première, and she contributes to several publications, including the magazine Nuit blanche.

A 2008 graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, Mani Soleymanlou has lived in Tehran, Paris, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, and has worked with such acclaimed directors as Alice Ronfard (Les pieds des anges), Brigitte Haentjens (L’opéra de quat’sous), Claude Poissant (Rouge gueule, The Dragonfly of Chicoutimi), Serge Denoncourt (Projet Andromaque, Les trois mousquetaires), Olivier Kemeid (Furieux et désespérés), Denis Bernard (Ce moment-là) and Eric Jean (Variations sur un temps).

He is best known as the founding artistic director (2011) of the Montreal-based theatre company Orange Noyée. His distinctive artistic practice investigates notions of community identity (Un/One, Deux/Two, Trois/Three) and social relationships (Ils étaient quatre, Cinq à sept, 8). He pursued this approach more recently in Neuf [working title] and Zéro presented in fall 2019 in Montreal and Ottawa, and also in various artistic collaborations over the years: Lapin blanc, Lapin rouge, Les Lettres arabes II, and À te regarder, ils s’habitueront. Mani Soleymanlou was part of the impressive team behind Gabriel Dumont’s Wild West Show (premiered at the NAC in October 2017), as director and co-artistic director.

Mani Soleymanlou assumed the position of Artistic Director of NAC French Theatre on September 1, 2021.