A bustling cultural week in Ontario

[LE FIL CULTUREL DE L’ONTARIO FRANÇAIS]

This week in French-speaking Ontario, we marvel in Toronto, laugh in Ottawa, coach youth in Kapuskasing, and pay tribute to an amazing group in Cornwall. The citizens of Minden Hills discover training in Gatineau, while the citizens of D.C. and the Queen City receive selective French training. Country fans also have a new sound to listen to…

kidding

Waiting for Matthew Pepper

Comedian Matthew Bieber is making a one-night-only stop in Ontario, midway through his tour Waiting for the village party. Described as a “comfort show” in La Presse and a “huge hit” in Le Journal de Montréal, this one-man show chronicles the life, introspection and writing process of the man who won the Découverte de l’year in 2023. Olivier Gala.

Mathieu Bieber will visit the Schenkman Arts Center as part of the Movement for Participation Francophones in Orléans (MIFO) programming this Wednesday. At the time of writing, 78% of tickets have been purchased.

Mathieu Bieber is famous, among other things, for the sketch comedy Entre deux draps, of which he is the main author. Source: Mevo

Ottawa, April 24. Details and tickets on the MIFO website.

Visual arts

Human Comedy in Toronto

A new exhibition opens today at the Thompson Landry Art Gallery in Toronto, which specializes in works of Quebec art. Exhibition Human comedy By Michelle Blouin He’ll be in the spotlight at Stone Space in the Historic Distillery District.

According to the gallery owner, Joanne Thompson, the works of the painter from Île d’Orléans are characterized by the artist’s instinct, freedom of expression, a rich palette of emotions and a vibrant symbolic visual language. More than 40 paintings will decorate the walls of the exhibition until May 5.

Fantasy world, oil on canvas. Photo credit: Michel Blouin

Toronto, from April 18 to May 5. Details on the Thompson Landry Gallery website.

stage

An environmentally responsible tale in Ottawa and Toronto

What kind of personality could live on plastic islands in the Pacific Ocean? This is the question that the imagination of actor and musician Eaud Laroche-Francoeur answers King of trashIt is a co-production between VOX Theater and Toronto French Theater (TFT). The artist, originally from Quebec and founded in the Queen City, was already accustomed to making musical instruments using salvaged objects. Let us add the story of a young woman in complete mourning for her mother, who will find herself interacting with this character who has never lost anyone.

Universal themes will be at the heart of this story, set in a fragmented environment. The show targets an audience between the ages of 9 and 14. The Trash King will premiere at La Nouvelle Scène Gilles Desjardins (LNSGD) in Ottawa on Friday and Saturday, before making a stop at Toronto’s Berkeley Street Theater next week. Eudes Laroche-Francoeur will also launch his book Le Roi Poubelle during the show on Friday.

in *King of trash*, the character written and played by Eudes Laroche-Francoeur, declares himself ruler of a plastic island. Photo credit: Catherine Archambault

Ottawa, April 19 and 20. Toronto, April 27. Details and tickets on the LNSGD and TFT websites.

Clown neighborhood

Another children’s show about waste, this time in Kapuskasing, will be presented within the programming of the Regional Cultural Recreation Centre. in Neighborsone character likes to read a book or enjoy a quiet flirtation, while the other has a somewhat exuberant nature.

Between the land disputes, the noise and the overflowing garbage cans, perhaps the two neighbors have finally found a certain complicity. A circus and clown show for children ages 5 to 12, presented by Le Gros Toeil.

Marie-Hélène d’Amours and Vanessa Niall in Les Voisines. Image credit: Robert Gilbert

Kapuskasing, April 23. Details and tickets on the point of sale platform.

music

Cornwall High Block

Cornwall will host La Grand-Messe, a tribute band to the Cowboys Fringants. In addition to reproducing the Quebec band’s big hits on stage, the musicians showcase their style. The group is in its infancy in Ontario, but has been active for several years and has been recognized by the Cowboys Fringants themselves since 2015. The show is presented by ACFO-SDG and will be held at the Aultsville Theater on Saturday. Promo code ACFOSDG lets you save $10.

La Grand-Messe at the October 2015 album release of Cowboys Fringants. Source: Youtube La Grand-Messe

Cornwall, April 20. Details and tickets on the Ticket Pro platform.

Fusion music

The French group Taksim Driver found its niche by mixing tradition and modernity, as well as as many instruments and musical styles as many ingredients that could be arranged on a plate from a built-in kitchen. Thus, rare and ancestral music such as Lebanese dabke or Albanian talafa mixes with more modern sounds such as dance, trap or rap.

If the first official excerpts from the band Taksim Driver are released in 2023, the musicians have known each other for about fifteen years and have already toured Europe, India, Morocco and South Africa under the title La fanfare Sofa-tard. This time they will face Canada and will stop at Alliance Française in Toronto on Saturday and at Alliance Française in Ottawa on Tuesday.

Division Driver Training is touring the French Alliance network in Canada, also stopping in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver. Source: French Alliances Network in Canada

Toronto, April 20, and Ottawa, April 23. Details and tickets on the Alliances françaises de Toronto and Ottawa websites.

Folks in Haliburton County

Leverage for Mountains will travel to Minden Hills on Saturday to perform at Highland Hills United Church, hosted by the Haliburton County Folk Association. The trio of Guy Trepanier, Nick Lauer and Jay Flynn are based in Gatineau, Quebec. Vocal harmonies are his trademark. Imagine a Boy band, but in an acoustic folk style, more guitars and less choreography. Ontario duo The Salt Cellars will open for mountain leverage on Saturday.

The Mountain Leverage trio was formed in Val-des-Monts, in Outaouais in Quebec. Source: Latitude 49

Minden Hills, April 20. Details on the Haliburton County People’s Assembly website.

The break has lasted long enough

A few months after the release of their EP Pause, country duo Sugar Crush have added a new song to their repertoire. if for you It was sent to radio stations on Thursday, and you’ll have to wait until May 10 to find it on online listening platforms. The text talks about a devastating love at first sight that leads to the separation of an established couple, and about the torn between the desire to protect the family and the desire to live a new passion to the fullest. The atmosphere is still light and the song’s strength lies in its catchy chorus, which can be an earworm. Sugar Crush is a French duo composed of Joanie Charron and Marie-Soleil Provost.