23 in-person theatre & dance events in Montreal via Festival TransAmériques

Today the Festival TransAmériques dropped the lineup for its 15th edition, an ambitious recovery after last year’s cancellation. Along with their first ever virtual program, FTA 2021 will present some of the first live theatre and dance performances that Montreal has seen in over a year, mounting 23 IRL shows in 16 theatres and public spaces from May 23 to June 12. The program features 17 world premieres, 2 North American premieres and 14 FTA productions or co-productions.

Adhering to public health safeguards will, of course, be paramount, and the festival is ready to adapt to any changes that may be imposed over the next month.

“Developed by a courageous and dedicated team in an atmosphere of uncertainty and anxiety, with an unwavering resolve to persevere, this 15th edition of the FTA still has question marks regarding the form it will take … Whatever may or may not be possible in May and June, we are ready to meet you. Our desire to share the dreams and doubts of all these artists from Montreal and around the world is deep and unbounded.”
—Festival TransAmériques artistic director Martin Faucher

FTA 2021 promises the return to the stage for Louise Lecavalier and Marie Brassard with Stations and Violence, as well as new creations by Mélanie Demers with La Goddam Voie Lactée, 2Fik with Romance ain’t dead, 2Fik!, Dog Rising by Clara Furey, La jamais sombre by Catherine Tardif, Michel F Côté and Marc Parent, The door opened west by Marc Boivin and Sarah Chase, Anything Whatsoever by Katie Ward, SIERRRANEVADA by Manuel Roque, Public|Private Parts ou L’Origine du monde by Gerard X Reyes and PHOSPHOS, an illuminated performative space designed by Paul Chambers.

Artists addressing questions of identity will present their work in alternative spaces in the heart of Montreal, including Rhodnie Désir’s BOW’T-Tio’tia:ke in Old Montreal, Soleil Launière’s Meshtitau and Lara Kramer’s Them Voices in the Musée d’art contemporain’s garden and Sarah Dell’Ava’s “choreographic oasis” O2, featuring 25 performers. ■

For more about the FTA 2021 program (and tickets to the in-person show, which go on sale May 11), please visit the festival’s website.

For more Montreal arts coverage, please visit the Arts & Life section.