Paul Georges Buissonne ( French Paul Georges Buissonneau ; December 24, 1926 , Paris - November 30, 2014 , Montreal ) - Canadian theater director and actor. Founder and director of the Montreal Théâtre de Quat'Sous, Emmy winner for a television production outside the United States ( Le Barbier de Séville , 1965), Officer of the Order of Canada .
| Paul Buisson | |
|---|---|
| fr. Paul buissonneau | |
 | |
| Date of Birth | |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | Montreal |
| Citizenship |  France  Canada |
| Profession | theater director , actor |
| Years of activity | 1946-2012 |
| Theater | Théâtre de quat'Sous |
| Awards |  Emmy (1965) Governor General Award (1998) |
| IMDb | |
Biography
Paul Buisson was born in Paris at the end of 1926 . At four years old, he lost his father, and at 15, in 1941, his mother, left in the care of her older sister during the years of German occupation . Paul helped his sister, first collecting coal in the cold winter months, and then establishing the sale of his own shoes in the market. Sometimes he entertained shoppers by singing and dancing on the table. After the war, one of the buyers persuaded him to join an amateur theater troupe, and later Paul became the youngest member of the Compagnons de la Chanson choir troupe, who accompanied Edith Piaf at that time. Together with Piaf Buissonno and other members of the choir toured North America in 1947 and 1948, and during a tour in Montreal, Paul fell in love with a local girl Francoise Charbonneau [1] .
After the wedding, Paul and Francoise lived in France for some time, but in 1950 returned to Montreal, where Paul initially worked as a salesman in a record store. However, in 1952, Claude Robillard , director of the Montreal parks service, suggested the young immigrant to head a mobile children's theater, giving performances in different parks of the city. The theater, formed in 1953 and existing to date, was called La Roulotte. On his stage, the career of a number of famous Quebec actors and singers began in the future [2] .
In 1956, the year of the birth of Martin's son [2] , there are also two important milestones in the theater career of Buissonne. This year, he received a role on television in the children's program Radio-Canada . His character, the clown Picolo, remained the protagonist of the program “Box with surprises” ( French La boîte à surprises ) until 1972. Also in 1956, Buisson became one of the founders of the new amateur theater troupe Théâtre de Quat'Sous ("The Four-Penny Theater"), formed to perform at the national theater festival. The new theater, which debuted in productions of Buisson based on the plays of and Guillaume Hanoto, was liked by the audience and entrenched in the Quebec theater scene, becoming professional in the early 60s, and in 1965 receiving permanent residence in the building of the former Montreal synagogue. Along with his work at the Théâtre de Quat'Sous, Buisson also staged opera programs for Canadian television, one of which, Le Barbier de Séville , staged in 1965 , brought its authors one of the first international Emmy Awards [1] [3] .
Buisson remained the artistic director of Théâtre de Quat'Sous until 1984, then transferring the leadership of Louise Latravers [2] . Among his most famous works with this theater was the revue l'Osstidcho, which premiered in 1968; Collaboration with the Quebec playwright Michel Tremblé , who became a regular author for the Buissonne Theater, was fruitful [1] . In other theaters, the author’s adaptations of the Buisson plays by Dario Fo , and Eugene Ionesco [3] were popular. He also participated in the filming of the Quebec films “Conciergerie” (laureate of the Montreal International Film Festival and Cognac Police Film Festival [4] ) and “Baby Varius” (laureate of the “ Ginny ” and Montreal Film Festival [5] ). Explosive temperament and Buisson's highest exactingness for actors were widely known - one of the subsequent Théâtre de Quat'Sous leaders Eric Jean recalls that many performers had enough once with Buisson to never work with him again, while others, on the contrary, returned to him over and over again because he made them show the best they could on stage [1] .
In 2012, Buisson, who at that time suffered from diabetes and renal failure [1] , became the director of another unusual production - his own “funeral”. The performance took place in the lobby of the new building Théâtre de Quat'Sous, opened in 2009. Buisson himself participated in the presentation using the Skype program, while at that moment in the hospital, where he was accompanied by a film crew. These scenes later went into the documentary along with the shots of the wedding of Buissonno and Monique Barbo - his collaborators and partners for more than forty years [2] . Paul Buissonne died in Montreal in November 2014 at the age of 87 after a complete kidney failure [1] .
Awards and titles
- Emmy for Best Television Program Outside the US (1965)
- Victor Moren Award for Contribution to Theater Arts (1976) [3]
- Governor-General's Award in Theater Arts (1998) [3]
- (2001) [2]
- Officer of the Order of Canada (2010) [6]
- Honorary Citizen of Montreal (2014) [2]
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 James Cullingham. Thespian Paul Buissonneau was 'major force' in Quebec arts . The Globe and Mail (December 31, 2014). Date of treatment January 27, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pat Donnelly. Obituary: Paul Buissonneau was a pioneer of Quebec theater . Montreal Gazette (December 1, 2014). Date of treatment January 27, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Madeleine Greffard. Paul Buissonneau . The Canadian Encyclopedia (November 21, 2010). Date of treatment January 27, 2015.
- ↑ La conciergerie on the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ Le p'tit Varius on the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ Paul Georges Buissonneau, OC . the Governor General of Canada. Date of treatment January 27, 2015.
Links
- Madeleine Greffard. Paul Buissonneau . The Canadian Encyclopedia (November 21, 2010). Date of treatment January 27, 2015.
- James Cullingham. Thespian Paul Buissonneau was 'major force' in Quebec arts . The Globe and Mail (December 31, 2014). Date of treatment January 27, 2015.