At Canada’s National Arts Centre arts education is a core priority. We believe strongly in the positive experience that students gain when exposed to live theatre
These NAC English Theatre Study Guides are written with several intentions in mind: firstly, to aid teachers in their preparation prior to taking their students to a matinee performance at the NAC; secondly, to encourage teachers across Canada to use the guides as a teaching tool in their classrooms; for students themselves who wish to explore deeper in the world of the play ; and finally, as interesting adjuncts for our general audience who might wish to learn more about the creation and background of our productions.
Saint Carmen of The Main Study Guide by Pamela Levac
Plot/Play Synopsis
Carmen, a country singer, has returned from Nashville, Tennessee where she was studying country music, and is about to perform. Her return to Montreal is heralded by her many fans, and much hope is placed on her ability to transform them with her music.
Background
Michel Tremblay's life and work
Michel Tremblay was born on June 25, 1942, in the very Montreal neighbourhoods that inhabit so much of his work, near the Plateau Mont-Royal. He is a prolific writer, a playwright, novelist and translator, and has been writing since his teen years.
Tremblay is perhaps most well-known outside of Quebec and around the world for his play Les Belles-Soeurs, which was first produced in 1968. Seven other plays followed, to complete this cycle of eight plays. With the success of Les Belles-Soeurs, Tremblay was able to devote himself to writing full time.
The plays that comprise the Belles-Soeurs cycle include Saint Carmen of The Main, which appears seventh in the cycle. Many of the characters in Les Belles-Soeurs appear in the other plays, (see example below *) and all of the work is set in Montreal's working-class neighbourhood, around Fabre Street and The Main. Each of the eight plays examines a different aspect of Quebec society at the time.
The entire Belles-Soeurs cycle is written in the language of working-class Quebec. The impact of this decision alone was enormous in helping Quebeckers develop a sense of pride in their language.
Much of Tremblay's work features openly gay characters, and he, as a gay man, became a champion of the gay movement in Quebec and elsewhere. In an interview on the CBC, he talks about his dawning realization as a young man that he was gay. The interviewer asked how he dealt with it, in a climate where he was not free to speak to anyone. Tremblay responds simply that he wrote. When you write, he says, “you are telling yourself, in a way.” (Interview with Dennis Trudeau, May 8, 1994). http://archives.cbc.ca/arts_entertainment/theatre/topics/880/)
Though Tremblay's plays are specific in their time, place and social commentary, they still manage to tap into universal themes that give them world-wide appeal. Les Belles Soeurs, for example, has been translated into over 20 languages, and has been produced to great acclaim around the world. His work has been just as well-received here in Canada, where he is considered Quebec's leading playwright. He received the Governor General's Award in 1999, and was offered the Order of Canada in 1990, which he refused.
