Youtheatre

Founded in Montreal in 1968, Youtheatre is one of Quebec's oldest professional theatre companies producing work for young audiences.
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History
Youtheatre was founded by Wayne and Doreen Fines. The company will celebrate its 40th anniversary in the 2008-09 Season.

Mission Statement
The company’s legal name is Théâtre Youtheatre Inc, and is a not-for-profit charitable organisation (10577 6959).

Current mandate:

Youtheatre's aim is to engage its audience through compelling theatre, which provokes, questions, challenges and entertains. Our major area of focus is the creation, development and production of new works for young audiences by the finest Canadian playwrights.

Activities
As creating new work is Youtheatre’s main area of focus, the company premieres at least one new play per season while developing another two or three for upcoming seasons. Each year, the company presents three plays for Quebec young people (one for children ages 6-12, one for young adults ages 13-18 and one for young adults in French ages 13-18). The plays are either toured into the schools or are presented at Théâtre Calixa-Lavallée in downtown Montreal. Every couple of years Youtheatre is fortunate enough to be invited to tour its work nationally and internationally. In the last ten years, Youtheatre’s productions have been presented at some of Canada’s most prestigious theatres, including the National Arts Centre, Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People, Grand Theatre, Imperial Theatre and Manitoba Theatre for Young People. In French, Youtheatre has been presented at Théâtre La Catapulte in Ottawa and at Théâtre La Seizième in Vancouver. On an international level, Youtheatre has performed throughout the U.K., most notably at The Birmingham Rep, Unity Theatre, Sherman Theatre and The Grand Theatre in Swansea, Wales.

Since 2000, Youtheatre has been presenting work in French and no longer considers itself an anglophone theatre company, but a bilingual theatre company serving all Canadians.

Timeline of Artistic Directors

1968-1982 Wayne and Doreen Fines (co-founders)
1982-1990 Andrew Johnston
1990-1992 Angus Ferguson
1992-current Michel Lefebvre

Milestones
July 1992: Artistic mission changed (to its current mandate focusing on the creation of new Canadian work) under a new Artistic Director, Michel Lefebvre.
June 1997: Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Production (The Other Side of the Closet by Ed Roy).
June 2002: Dora Mavor Moore Nomination for Outstanding Production (The Seven Ravens by Kathleen McDonnell)
June 2006: Dora Mavor Moore Nomination for Outstanding Production (The Other Side of the Closet by Ed Roy)

List of Plays and Playwrights
The following are some of the important new works commissioned and produced by Youtheatre since 1992. All of these plays were directed by the company’s current Executive Director Michel Lefebvre, who acted as dramaturg working in close collaboration with the playwrights and the designers during the creation process.

- The All Complete Aboriginal Show Extravaganza by Drew Hayden Taylor
- Fatso! by Carol Bolt
- Snakes and Ladders by Sherry Coman
- The Leaves of Forever by Judith Thompson
- Treehouse created by Martha Johnson and Mark Gane (better known as Martha and the Muffins, the band responsible for the pop hit Echo Beach)
- The Monkeys are Back and We’re Out of Bananas! by Sheree Fitch
- Bang Boy, Bang! by Ed Roy
- The Other Side of the Closet by Ed Roy
- MTL 2000 by Ed Roy
- The Seven Ravens adapted by Kathleen McDonnell
- Idiot by Marion de Vries
- Daredevil by Ed Roy
- Beggar Boy by Greg MacArthur
- The New Mother by Kathleen McDonnell
- The Glass House by Danish writer Andreas Garfield
- Simon & the Egg by Michel Lefebvre
- In This World by Hannah Moscovitch
- Labyrinthe by Nathalie Boisvert

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