Sexy béton, among the Mirror’s Top 10 plays of 2010, is presented in French at TDP’s Salle Fred-Barry, February 9th to 26th. Reserve now! Ticket office: 514-253-8954
Archive for the Category: "‘Uncategorized’"
It only took us 4 years to forget
A bouquet of flowers left at the site of the broken overpass in 2006.
On this day in 2006, the de la Concorde overpass collapsed onto Highway 19 killing Mathieu Goyette, his pregnant girlfriend Véronique Binette, Jean-Pierre Hamel and his wife Sylive Beaudet, and his brother Gilles Hamel. 6 other people driving over the bridge were badly injured in the incident: Mohamed Ashraff Umberthambi, Louise Bédard, Paul Cousineau, Robert Hotte, Anne Leblanc, and Claude Bastien.
As far as I can see, not one major newspaper in Montreal or the English CBC has mentioned this important anniversary today. Sept 30th will therefore pass Montreal by without a moment of reflection about de la Concorde.
Concorde, September 30th: what deserves commemoration?
Photo by shmilblick
So September 30th is coming up again, this will be the fourth year since the fatal Concorde overpass collapse. What have we learned in four years? What is being done? What has changed? I regret to say that these pressing questions have gotten a bit dusty. While the Concorde victims and families will remember September 30th as a sad day, the end of a life or the end of the hope of pursuing justice in the legal realm, will Quebec citizens even remember the date? With the flurry of things happening in our world, it’s not surprising that this type of anniversary gets overlooked especially when the media seems to want to make sure there is nothing left to say about it. For example, last October, La Presse came out with an article to close the debate: “Concorde Overpass: The Victims Will Not Pursue”. That’s it, there’s nothing else to say except maybe that it’s the Prime Minister’s prerogative now to give the victims more money. So hopefully he’ll be thinking about Concorde on September 30th…
Can art help us become better citizens?
Annabel Soutar's play 2000 Questions puts stock market investing on trial.
Next Thursday, August 12th I will be participating in a round table discussion at the Institut du Nouveau Monde’s 2nd edition of its Festival de l’Expression Citoyenne (FEC). Along with two other panelists (from Wapikoni Mobile and Jeunes musiciens du monde) I will debate the merits of using art to engage in social dialogue. The round table is free, open to the public and promises to provoke an inspiring conversation about how to trigger potent democratic dialogue through image-making, storytelling and music. What do you say?
Thursday, August 12th at 7:30pm
The John Molson School of Business, Concordia University
Room MB 1.210 1455 de Maisonneuve West
New FTQ leader almost in the hot seat
Last Wednesday June 9th, a truck belonging to Yves Mercure, the President of the construction wing of the Quebec Federation of Labour (FTQ) was torched in what looks to be an indirect arson attack on the union leader:
Police involved in Operation Hammer, the special squad investigating corruption and collusion in Quebec’s construction industry, have been called in to take a look at the incident.
Porte Parole at La Bourse RIDEAU
Taking a slight breather here before returning to the preparations for our trip to Quebec City. This is probably the biggest stage for Porte Parole so far, although we won’t actually be performing at La Bourse RIDEAU. What we’ll be doing instead is slightly more business-oriented but nevertheless equally as important as anything we do in the theatre. Read More »
Sexy béton dans le « MON TOP 10 THÉÂTRE EN 2009 » de Philippe Couture
Bonne nouvelle pour le nouvel an! Sexy béton a été sélectionné par Philippe Couture de VOIR.ca pour son « Top 10 » du théâtre Montréalais 2009.
Good news for the new year! Sexy béton was chosen by VOIR’s Philippe Couture as one of the Top 10 for Montréal theatre for 2009.
Sexy béton and the absurdity of the law
I wanted to share today one of my favourite parts of Sexy béton II : Justice (currently playing at the Segal Centre). It takes place in the play’s second half, when lawyer, Julius Grey, meets the families bereaved and injured by the tragic collapse of the Concorde overpass. He is providing legal counsel, pro bono, and in the following extract, talks to Claude Goyette, whose son was killed that day. Read More »
Is infrastructure sexy? McSweeney's thinks so
I regularly receive emails from the literary magazine, McSweeney’s, who also publish The Believer, not to mention numerous books. Today’s email was particularly interesting. Apparently, the Bay Bridge in their hometown of San Francisco is closed for repairs. A chunk fell down on Tuesday and hit a truck and several cars. Now McSweeney’s is dedicating a large part of its next issue to an in-depth investigation into the famous bridge. Read More »
