Jacques LANGUIRAND

Jacques Languirand was born in Montreal in 1931. At eighteen he left to study theatre with Charles Dullin in Paris, where he also began to work as an announcer-host for the French radio-television network. Over the past thirty years, he has pursued this dual career in theatre and communications and broadcasting. He is an actor and director, and the author of some twenty plays for stage and radio. He has also worked with the artistic direction of the Comédie canadienne and the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, where he was Playwright-in-residence (1964-1966), and taught at the National Theatre School of Canada. The highlights of his work in broadcasting include the creation, in 1971, of his own popular Radio-Canada radio series "Par quatre chemins" which has attracted a large listenership for nearly thirty-five years. Jacques Languirand taught for twelve years in the Communications Department at McGill University and is also the author of several books on contemporary lifestyles and society, including his successful Prévenir le burn-out, which has been published both in Québec and in France. In 1993, he made an acclaimed comeback as an actor, participating in the European tour of the Québécois versions of three Shakespeare plays, written by Michel Garneau and produced by the Théâtre Repère, directed by Robert Lepage. – 9/06 (Photo : Carl Lessard)

 
Icon Legend
When available, click on the image to learn more about the publication , the cast , the set or other 's activities around the play.
Titles in alphabetical order
Autumn Violins Klondyke (English translation) Man Inc. (English version) The Departures The Eccentrics The Gallows The Partition
 
Man Inc. (English version)
  English translation by Mavor Moore.
  Original title: L'âge de pierre ( in Presque tout Languirand, première version non produite en français, Stanké, 2001; la seconde version, produite, est publiée aux éditions L'Âge de Pierre Man inc., 2003).
First production
  First version in English produced by St. Lawrence Center (Toronto), February 26, 1970. A new version (2003) produced in French by Monument National and Jacques Languirand has been published and is available in French.
Running time
  2 hours
Cast
  2 W, 1 M; 7 dancers and a vocal trio  More about the cast   More about the the suggested set
9 songs
Synopsis
  In this multi-media production, Pierre, a young, lower-echelon executive and suburbanite, feels trapped in his roles as father, family-provider, husband, lover, and, efficient, obedient instrument of someone else’s power. How can he regain the freedom that would allow him to live intensely and leave his mark on history? When taking refuge in an imaginary world proves unsatisfactory, Pierre experiments with involvement in a noble cause, the search for his roots, and finally returns home to be with his wife at the birth of their second child.
Excerpt
  « HIM: No, not like before – now, we're free! / HER: Free to do what? / HIM: We're not really what you might called prepared. Everything I was taught at school is useless. / HER: Maybe we'd better stick to what we have learned… / HIM: But honey, then our descendants' ll grow up the way we grew up : surrounded on all sides by monuments and clichés. We need a whole new formula, a new structure. First of all, what about God? Is He alive or dead? You might have thought, when the world was ending, He'd show his hand one way or the other. »

 
Klondyke (English translation)
  English translation by Albert Bermel.
  Original title: Klondyke (Le Cercle du Livre de France, 1971; in Presque tout Languirand, Stanké, 2001).
Running time
  2 hours 30
Cast
  5 W, 10 M and a vocal quartet
15 songs
Synopsis
  This is an epic dramatization, in twelve scenes, of life in the Yukon at the end of the 19th century. It is the story of the Gold Rush as lived by a group of freedom-loving French Canadians who dream of wide open spaces and quick fortunes. But these dreams soon clash with reality; the harsh climate of the Yukon, and the treachery and rapacity of men caught in a difficult struggle for survival in a world where the only law is that of each man for himself.
Excerpt
  « PROSPECTOR 4 : Wherever you look on the snow… animal blood. / PROSPECTOR 5 : So? The snowdrifts are piled high with chopped-up horsemeat. / PROSPECTOR 4 : It makes me vomit. The animals don't know what's happening. / PROSPECTOR 5 : You and your frigging animals… / PROSPECTOR 4 : The dogs' paws are covered in blood. The horses' flanks are torn open from the whips… (He turns to the dying mule.) Look at that mule. Its eyes. As if it was pleading to be finished off. / PROSPECTOR 5 : Let it lie. Come on. »

 
The Partition
  English translation by Albert Bermel.
  Original title: Les cloisons (Les Écrits du Canada français, vol. 22, 1966; in Presque tout Languirand, Stanké, 2001).
First production
  Instant Theatre, Montreal, 1965
Running time
  30 minutes
Cast
  1W, 1M
Synopsis
  In adjoining hotel rooms, a young woman and a young man are separated by such a thin partition they can hear the slightest noise in their neighbour’s room. Based on these noises, they speculate about each other’s lives and try to stage a meeting.
Excerpt
  « HE: If only you knew how much tenderness I put into that simple turn of the tap. Did you feel as if I was taking you gently in my arms? Tell me… / SHE: I don't want to. / HE: Please… / SHE: No. / HE: Turn the tap on… / SHE: If I do it, it will be brutal, like a slap in the face. »

 
Autumn Violins
  English translation by Albert Bermel.
  Original title: Les Violons de l'automne (précédé de Les insolites, Le Cercle du Livre de France, 1962; 1974; in Presque tout Languirand, Stanké, 2001).
Running time
  2 hours
Cast
  1 W, 2 M
Synopsis
  This is a deliberately zany play on a serious subject: love after sixty. An elderly couple who meet through a dating agency, arrives home on their wedding night. The course of events is disrupted by the arrival of a man who claims to be the real Eugene proposed by the agency.
Excerpt
  « SHE : Now that I'm alone… / OTHER : We're all alone; it's impossible while there are three of us. / SHE : But if I choose one of you I reject the other. And condemn him. I can't do it. / OTHER : Nor can we wait until one of us goes off to a higher world. / HE : I don't like that reference to my state of health. / OTHER : Let's get on with the game, Mary Rose, before it's too late. The strings are getting frayed. / HE : I say no! We said we'd play only in the evenings. »

 
The Departures
  English translation by Albert Bermel. Published by Gambit, n° 5, Londres, Angleterre, 1964.
  Original title: Les grands départs (Le Cercle du Livre de France, 1958; Éditions du Renouveau Pédagogique, 1970 in Presque tout Languirand, Stanké, 2001).
Running time
  2 hours 30
Cast
  3 W, 3 M  More about the cast   More about the the suggested set
Synopsis
  It’s moving day and there are dramatic changes in the air. Hector, a failed writer still living off his in-laws, philosophizes bitterly amongst piles of crates and furniture. His wife Margot hopes the move will bring a new lease on life. Their daughter, Sophie, decides it’s time for her to leave home, wherever that may be. Hector’s sister-in-law, Eulalie, after years of living like a recluse, emerges from her shrouded room when her fiancé of twenty years ago appears at the door. Amidst all the confusion it becomes apparent that the paralytic father-in-law, usually a mute spectator, might be the only member of the family to escape the status quo.
Excerpt
  « EULIE : Could Sophie mix me a glass of barley water? / MARGOT : All your talk upset her. She said she was going to the movies, but I'm very worried. Are you sure you didn't see her in the street? / EULIE : Sophie must come back. Life is terrifying. She won't be able to defend herself. / HECTOR : What happened between you and Albert? / EULIE : I suddenly realised that I was going into the world. I looked around me and I was afraid. It was a premonition. »

 
The Gallows
  English translation by Albert Bermel.
  Original title: Le gibet (Le Cercle du Livre de France, 1960; in Presque tout Languirand, Stanké, 2001).
Running time
  2 hours 30
Cast
  4 W, 11 M  More about the cast   More about the the suggested set
Synopsis
  A man sits at the top of a pole. He is trying to break a record. From his "tower" he observes the people who come and go under him. As he witnesses their problems, he will find that the best record there is to be able to go through life and accomplish his own destiny.
Excerpt
  « MILKMAN: If only you knew how it comforts me to know you're up there at the end of your pole. In the morning I'm always afraid I won't find you there. What a disappointment that would be! And this conversation we hold every morning gives me the courage to go on […]. You've become a friend. (About to leave.) But I'm afraid I won't be able to talk to you so openly when you're back among us, on a level with the cows. See you tomorrow, Mr. Perplex. »

 
The Eccentrics
  English translation by Albert Bermel.
  Original title: Les insolites (suivi de Les violons de l'automne, Le Cercle du Livre de France, 1962; 1974; in Presque tout Languirand, Stanké, 2001).
First production
  Regional Festival of Dramatic Art, 1956
Running time
  2 hours 30
Cast
  2 W, 8 M
Synopsis
  This play presents a conversation in a bar among several strange individuals who speak without listening to each other, unable to carry on a normal conversation. One eccentric character, claiming to be a diviner, predicts the death of one of the people present. There is a power failure. A shot is fired in the dark. An old woman has been killed. The police investigate.
Excerpt
  « PITT: Just before, one of you used the word "definitely". (Ernest and Jules stare at each other.) I don't remember the context, but I was struck by that adverb. I'll explain. At this point I must make a small interpolation and tell you two things : first, I am a philosopher – which, by the way, is of no consequence; and second, I am a foreigner… / JULES, sourly: I don't see that you can do anything about either of them. »

 
PLAYS AVAILABLE AT CEAD (Some notes in French may appear below)
  Faust et les radicaux libres [2000] (Les Éditions internationales Alain Stanké, 2002)
Feedback [1971] (Le théâtre canadien-français. Archives des lettres canadiennes, tome n° V, pp. 758-766), 1975. Photocopie de ce texte disponible pour le prêt au CEAD
Man inc. [1966-1970] ( in Presque tout Languirand, première version non produite en français, Stanké, 2001; la seconde version, produite, est publiée aux éditions L'Âge de Pierre Man inc., 2003)
Klondyke [1963-1964 et 1969] (Le Cercle du Livre de France, 1971; in Presque tout Languirand, Stanké, 2001)
Les cloisons [1962] (Les Écrits du Canada français, vol. 22, 1966; in Presque tout Languirand, Stanké, 2001)
Les violons de l'automne [1960] (précédé de Les insolites, Le Cercle du Livre de France, 1962; 1974; in Presque tout Languirand, Stanké, 2001)
Diogène [1958] (La Barre du Jour, vol. 1, 3, 4,5, juillet-décembre 1965)
L'école du rire [1958] (publié dans Languirand et l'absurde de Monique Genuist, Éditions Pierre Tisseyre, 1982)
Le gibet [1957] (Le Cercle du Livre de France, 1960; in Presque tout Languirand, Stanké, 2001)
Les grands départs [1957] (Le Cercle du Livre de France, 1958; Éditions du Renouveau Pédagogique, 1970 in Presque tout Languirand, Stanké, 2001)
Le roi ivre [1956] (Les Presses de l'Université du Québec, Voix et images du pays III, n° 22, 1970; in Presque tout Languirand, Stanké, 2001)
Les insolites [1956] (suivi de Les violons de l'automne, Le Cercle du Livre de France, 1962; 1974; in Presque tout Languirand, Stanké, 2001)
Croyez-vous que je suis un cow-boy? [1955] (in PAGÉ, Pierre et LEGRIS, Renée, Le comique et l'humour à la radio québécoise. Aperçus historiques et textes choisis 1930-1970, vol. 2 Fides, 1979; épuisé)
Émission spéciale [1955] (in PAGÉ, Pierre et LEGRIS, Renée, Le comique et l'humour à la radio québécoise. Aperçus historiques et textes choisis 1930-1970, vol. 2 Fides, 1979; épuisé)
L'éternel féminin [1955] (in PAGÉ, Pierre et LEGRIS, Renée, Le comique et l'humour à la radio québécoise. Aperçus historiques et textes choisis 1930-1970, vol. 2 Fides, 1979; épuisé)
 
PLAYS NOT YET TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH (Running time: 1 hour and more. Written and produced in French since 2000. Some notes in French may appear below)
  Faust et les radicaux libres [2000]
Published by Les Éditions internationales Alain Stanké, 2002.
First production in French: La Filature, Scène nationale de Mulhouse, automne 2004
Running time: 1 hour 45
Cast: 1 W 3 M
Based on a myth embracing the human experience – from its physical limits to its metaphysical quest – this text offers a deep and razzing reflection on the eternal question of the meaning of all this. The journey of a man who sees himself aging, realizes it and tells it with real emotion, and never lets his appetite for life subside.