Martin Faucher

Martin Faucher, theatre director (born 16 May 1962 in Granby, Québec). Since graduating from CEGEP in Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec in 1982, Faucher has worked as a director in the theatre only. He has also been involved in dance, as both a performer and a choreographer. He began his stage career as an actor in children’s theatre, with Québec companies such as Le Carrousel (La Marelle, 1987) and Le Théâtre 1000 Tours (Grain de sable, 1990). But he quickly gave up acting for directing. His prolific career as a director began in 1988 with À quelle heure on meurt? (Productions du Branle-Bas), in which he adapted excerpts from the works of Quebec novelist and playwright Réjean Ducharme and for which he won a “discovery” award from the Québec theatre critics’ association. He was lauded for his skilful adaptation and direction, which fit the contours of Ducharme’s special world like a glove.

As of this writing, Faucher has directed over 30 different productions, all of them marked by his dedication to making all of the script’s meaning accessible to his audience. He has applied this approach regularly in his work for teenage audiences at Montréal’s Théâtre Denise-Pelletier, using very modern readings and dynamic staging to dust off French theatre classics such as Corneille’s Le Menteur (1999, Student Audience Award, Masque Award and Critics’ Award for best production in Montréal), Molière’s Les Femmes savantes (2004), and Racine’s Britannicus (2006). His direction of three plays by Carole Fréchette—Les Quatre Morts de Marie (Prod. du Branle-Bas, 1998), Les Sept Jours de Simon Labrosse (Théâtre de la Manufacture, 2000) and Le Collier d'Hélène (Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui, 2004)—has clearly contributed to this Québec playwright’s success. A great lover of words, Martin Faucher has also helped to promote the theatre of smaller countries through productions that he has directed at Montréal’s Théâtre de la Manufacture. Examples include a French-language production of House of America, by Welsh playwright Edward Thomas (1997); Tout bas... si bas, by Koulsy Lamko, from Chad (1999); and a French-language production of Irish playwright Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane (2001). In 2008, Faucher treated audiences to French-language productions of two works by emerging young playwrights from the United States: The Clean House, by Sarah Ruhl (Théâtre de l'Opsis) and Autobahn, by Neil LaBute (Théâtre la Banquette arrière).

Other productions that Faucher has directed include Charles Ludlam’s gothic comedy Le Mystère d'Irma Vep, starring Éric Bernier and Serge Postigo (Coup de Cœur award at the 2004 Just for Laughs Festival, Masque award for private theatre production) and, for young audiences, two plays by Jasmine Dubé of the Théâtre Bouches Décousues: Pierrette Pan, ministre de l'Enfance et des Produits dérivés (1994) and La Bonne Femme (1995) (Masque awards for direction and children’s productions). In addition to À quelle heure on meurt?, he has adapted one other work by Réjean Ducharme—La Fille de Christophe Colomb, a solo piece performed by Markita Boies at the Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui in 1994.

Martin Faucher is also involved in dance, both as a performer and as a choreographer. In the 1990s, he had a productive partnership with choreographer Daniel Léveillé, dancing in three of his works: L'Exil ou la Mort, Les Traces and Jules et Juliette. Faucher also choreographed and performed in one of the pieces in Cousins, a dance show for children (Le Fils d'Adrien Danse/Les Coups de théâtre, 2000).

Faucher has been very active in Québec’s theatre community since the early 1990s and has been President of the Conseil québécois du théâtre (Québec theatre council) since 2005.