Le thtre franco-ontarien: Entretien avec Jol Beddows, directeur artistique du Thtre la Catapulte, Ottawa, Canada

The Thtre la Catapulte, officially created in 1991, is the most recent Franco-Ontarian theatre in the Ottawa area. It now benefits from an auditorium and rehearsal space at La Nouvelle Scne, a theatrical and cultural centre constructed in 1999, which has contributed enormously to the development of francophone theatre and culture in Ottawa. Jol Beddows has been the Artistic Director of the Thtre la Catapulte since 1998. Jean Stphane Roy will be taking over from him in July 2010. Totally bilingual, and both a theatre director and a professor in the Department of Theatre at the University of Ottawa, Jol Beddows has ensured a performance programme that has opened up new artistic possibilities for francophone theatre in Ontario. In the following discussion he retraces the history of the Thtre la Catapulte, setting it within the broader context of francophone theatrical activity in the province from the creation of the first troupe, the Thtre des Lutins, in 1970.