Actor, Playwright, Director Pol Pelletier A Pioneering Force In QuÈbÈcois Theatre To Share Insights, Perform At York University Lecture Series

TORONTO, October 20, 1998 -- During Quebec's Quiet Revolution, theatre helped to galvanize francophone opposition to anglophone dominance. Montreal actor, playwright and director Pol Pelletier was part of that movement, taking QuÈbÈcois theatre to new heights. Widely regarded as an enigmatic force, Pelletier will share her unique insights into the pioneering role of women in QuÈbÈcois theatre and culture during her address An Encounter with Pol Pelletier: Trans/Forming Culture: From "French-Canadian" to "QuÈbÈcoise", Monday, Nov. 2, 1998.

Pelletier's address and one-woman performance runs from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Burton Auditorium, Faculty of Fine Arts, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto.

Internationally acclaimed for her award-winning plays, Pelletier won the award for Best Female Performance by l'AcadÈmie quÈbÈcoise du thÈ’tre for Joie (Joy) and OcÈan (1998). She is artistic director of la Compagnie Pol Pelletier and co-founder of Le ThÈ’tre expÈrimentale des femmes and Le ThÈ’tre expÈrimentale de MontrÈal.

Pelletier, who is fluent in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, founded in 1988 DOJO for actors -- an international training centre for theatre artists intended to return theatre to its essence, from a normal to a supernormal state, from the visual to the invisible. She has been invited to teach her method at the Cirque du Soleil, at l'UniversitÈ du QuÈbec ý MontrÈal (UQAM), and direct workshops in France, Brazil, Africa and Australia.

"Theatre is not principally a visual art, but an energetic art," said Pelletier. " We don't go to the theatre to look at actors, but to feel something that engages us. When an actor is in an altered state, what is experienced by the public cannot be compared to anything else, because it is a living moment which can never be repeated," she said.

Presented by York University's Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, Pelletier's address is the fourth in a series of free public events entitled: Theatrical Trans/Formations. From September through March, some of Canada's best known theatre and dance practitioners will discuss, and in some cases show, how theatre has transformed Canadian culture.

A reception and cash bar will follow Pelletier's address in the Alumni Fireside Lounge, Centre for Film and Theatre.

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For more information or a detailed schedule of events, please contact:

Professor Robert Wallace
Robarts Chair in Canadian Studies
York University
(416) 736-5499

Cheryl Dobinson
Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies
York University
(416) 736-5499

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor for Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087

Ken Turriff
Media Relations Officer
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
YU/072/98