Maison Théâtre

La Maison Théâtre was founded in 1982 by three influential Montréal theatre companies—Le Carrousel, Le Théâtre de l'Œil and Le Théâtre de la Marmaille (now Les Deux Mondes)—seeking to build on the tremendous growth of children’s theatre in Québec in the 1970s and the emergence of theatre for adolescents in the early 1980s. Their goal was to design and produce quality shows for young audiences under professional conditions, in a venue uniquely suited for artist/audience interaction. This wonderful plan took several years and a great deal of coordinated effort to bring to fruition. La Maison Théâtre began operations in the auditorium of a junior college in Old Montréal (the Tritorium of the Cégep du Vieux-Montréal) in 1984, but did not move into its own, permanent home until 13 years later.

From 1985 to 1992, in an auditorium that everyone agreed was inadequate, La Maison Théâtre presented high-calibre artistic seasons, hosting school groups on weekdays and family audiences on weekends and attracting a growing following in both camps. Over the years, the associated theatre companies and their members refined their approaches and transformed their practices. Traditional children’s theatre—with a tendency toward didacticism, and subject matter based on children’s ordinary lives—gradually gave way to a more creative approach, where playwrights could present their distinctive visions of the world and bring poetry, wonder, boldness and imagination to the forefront. Creative set design and striking visual and sound effects contributed to the success of Québec artists, both in Québec and internationally. In 1987, La Maison Théâtre, in partnership with the Université du Québec à Montréal, presented a mini-festival of theatre for adolescents. An early childhood program was added in 1989, and later a repertory program.

In 1990, La Maison Théâtre presented the first edition of Coups de théâtre, a new children’s theatre festival that took over where the former Festival du théâtre pour enfants had left off. Five years later, the new festival stood on its own two feet. In 1994, when La Maison Théâtre celebrated its 10th anniversary, several of its member companies had recently celebrated their 20th and were pleased to take this opportunity to present revivals of their most successful productions in La Maison Théâtre’s space. La Maison Théâtre was thus helping to build a children’s and youth theatre repertory. In 1995, the institution welcomed its 500,000th attendee. In 1996, it went on tour while renovations were being completed on the theatre that it had purchased and that would become its permanent home. The official opening took place on 6 October 1997.

La Maison Théâtre actively builds partnerships not only with schools and municipal governments, but also nationally and internationally. It pursues numerous audience outreach and development initiatives, hosts theatre companies from other countries, and is developing a network for disseminating theatre for young audiences. It also holds discussions and professional conferences that result in publications on the various issues involved in creating theatre for young audiences. In 2004, in addition to welcoming its one millionth attendee, La Maison Théâtre broke its own single-season attendance record, with an audience totalling nearly 53,000, young and old. La Maison Théâtre presented its 5000th performance on 4 January 2008 and celebrated its 25th season in 2008-2009.