Paul Georges Buissonneau, (born 24 December 1926 – 30 November 2014) was a
francophone
The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...
theatre director
in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
,
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, Canada.
Born in Paris, Buissonneau started his career as a singer with the French chorus
Les Compagnons de la chanson, alongside
Édith Piaf who was also singing with the group at the time. He parted company with the chorus during a tour of North America, and settled in Quebec.
In 1952, the City of Montreal appointed Buissonneau as artistic director of ''La Roulotte'', a parks-based outdoor theatre, which gave an early opportunity to famous Quebec artists
Yvon Deschamps,
Jean-Louis Millette,
Claude Jasmin,
Claude Léveillée,
Marcel Sabourin and
Robert Charlebois.
In 1956, he founded his own company, the
Théâtre de Quat'Sous (Four-penny Theatre) and served as its artistic director until 1989. Many famous Quebec playwrights began their career in this theatre, notably
Robert Lepage
Robert Lepage (born December 12, 1957) is a Canadian playwright, actor, film director, and stage director.
Early life
Lepage was raised in Quebec City. At age five, he was diagnosed with a rare form of alopecia, which caused complete hair lo ...
,
François Barbeau,
André Brassard,
René-Daniel Dubois, and
Lothaire Bluteau.
During his 35-year career as director of the ''Quat'Sous'' theatre, he played and wrote numerous plays and TV shows. He is remembered for creating and bringing to life the character of ''
Picolo'' in the children's television series entitled ''La Boîte à surprises'' (The surprise box). The series started in 1954 and lasted until the early 1970s.
[
He received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award in 1998 and the Prix Denise-Pelletier in 2001. In 2009, he was made an Officer of the ]Order of Canada
The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...
"for his contributions to the evolution of the performing arts, especially theatre, as director of the La Roulotte and Quat’Sous theatres."
See also
*Culture of Quebec
The culture of Quebec emerged over the last few hundred years, resulting predominantly from the shared history of the French-speaking North American majority in Quebec. Québécois culture, as a whole, constitutes all distinctive traits – spiri ...
References
External links
Entry at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buissonneau, Paul
1926 births
2014 deaths
Canadian theatre directors
French theatre directors
Officers of the Order of Canada
Prix Denise-Pelletier winners
20th-century Canadian male actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male stage actors
Governor General's Award winners