La Chapelle returns with an ambitious 2020-21 season on Sept. 8

La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines is launching its 30th season on Sept. 8. Although the team behind the Plateau performance space and its productions marked their anniversary during the height of the pandemic this spring, it’s with the start of the 2020-21 season, and the reopening of the venue, that the crew and its audience can truly celebrate.

The new season at la Chapelle promises just over 20 shows — some in French, some in English, some with surtitles to accommodate bilingual audiences — involving 175 artists and collaborators. The box office opens on Sept. 8, at which time tickets for individual productions will become available (or a package of five season tickets for $100), but today, Monday Aug. 31, you can buy tickets for 10 shows for $150. This promotion also includes exclusivity for the full unveiling of the program and priority to reserve seats from Sept. 1 to 7 (either all at once or gradually.)

A special season launch event is happening, hybrid style, at la Chapelle and online on Sept. 8 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. More details and Zoom link to come.

Sept. 14: Circus artists Émile Pineault and Claude Doucet present More Than Things in partnership with La SERRE arts vivants.

Sept. 21-29: Rhizome co-presents a monologue called La Vie littéraire by Mathieu Arsenault and stage director Christian Lapointe.

Oct. 5: Karine Sauvé will take the stage for Chansons pour un musée, a theatrical electro-pop concert mixed with visual arts.

Oct. 14, 16, 17: Sierranevada is a solo show by Manu Roque wherein the artist “will inhabit the room, navigating between control and letting go, exploring the post-apocalyptic possibilities of civilization.”

Oct. 28 -Nov. 7: Danse-Cité and Créations Interdisciplinaires We All Fall Down will present Papillon by Helen Simard: three solos and a live experimental soundtrack in a complex trio exploring the delicate balance between order and disorder.

Nov. 12-14: Measuring Distance by Maria Kefirova offers diverse perspectives of a single space.

Nov. 23-Dec. 5: Talisman Theatre proposes “a deep, poetic and deliciously quirky experience” called Habibi’s Angels: Commission Impossible. Kalale Dalton-Lutale and Hoda Adra’s play “is intended to be a meta-experience of contrasting feminine visions; is a living X-ray of Montreal laying bare its ancient and modern foundations.” 

Dec. 14-18: Collectif CHA, comprised of Paul Chambers and David-Alexandre Chabot, present Phases Chromatiques, using headphones, mics and sound effects to “explore the transformative potential of their surrounding space.”

Jan. 10-19: Leslie Baker will present SKIN in partnership with Centaur Theatre and the Wildside Festival. “The artist will pose a dreamlike reflection on human existence in the face of geological times and the raging fluctuations of nature.”

Jan. 25, 26 and 29: Roxane Halary, Burcu Emeç, Michael Martini and Nien Tzu Weng “will blur disciplinary, linguistic and cultural boundaries, questionning what it means to participate.”

Feb. 17-26: Système Kangourou and Théâtre du tandem, represented by Claudine Robillard and Anne-Marie Guilmaine, will present Bermudes (Dérive), a play promising a meeting of “crafted piano concert, visual installation and art house cinema.”

March 8 and 9: Jean-Sébastien Lourdais presents his career finale, Sur un vaisseau lumière.

March 15, 16 and 19: Morphoses by Martin Bélanger promises “a performance oscillating between science, mythology, poetry and spirituality.” 

March 26-28: An experimental concert, co-presented by Mutek, pairing electronic producer and vocalist Ben Shemie (Suuns) and the Quatuor Molinari string quartet.

April 6-18: Danse-cité presents Pétrus’s Face-à-face by Jérémie Niel.

April 6-11: Danse-cité also presents performances by Catherine Gaudet, Félix-Antoine Boutin and Louise Bédard.

April 14-18: 18 P_R_A_C_T_I_C_E_S by Andrew Turner “will follow and explore the various facets of the self, and the occasional impossibility of suppressing it.” 

April 19: Cet intervalle by Morena Prats promises “a colourful, contemplative and explosive show.”

April 26, 27, 30: Louise Michel Jackson and Magali Babin’s Bright Worms will celebrate the glow of fireflies, “facing a world about to topple over into an oppressive darkness.”

May 6-11: Création dans la chambre (Félix-Antoine Boutin, Odile Gamache and Gabriel Plante) and the Belgian company Ersatz presents Au jardin des potiniers, “a dive into surreal botany.”

May 12-14: Jacob Wren and PME-ART return to la Chapelle with their “messy and playful” lecture on performance, A User’s Guide to Authenticity Is a Feeling.

Dates TBC: In her solo show Warm Up, Mykalle Bielinski will produce electricity on a bike, applying “degrowth concepts” to her art to illustrate the possibilities of a post-oil world.

In addition to these productions, the recurring Salons acoustiques music events, Queer Performance Camp and Festival TransAmériques shows will also be part of the 2020-2021 program, with dates and programming details TBC. ■

For more about the la Chapelle 2020-21 season and to buy tickets, please visit their website.

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