Pleiades Theatre

Pleiades’ next production, La Sagouine, is by Antonine Maillet and stars the renowned Viola Léger, one of the great women of Canadian theatre. La Sagouine will be performed IN ENGLISH from May 14th – 29th, and EN FRANÇAIS du 31 mai – 5 juin, 2010 at the Berkeley St. Theatre (Downstairs).

Toronto is home to people from around the world and Pleiades gives home to their theatre. Join us as we produce great plays, plays originating in languages other than English and made accessible to all in fresh, new, Canadian translations. We also reach out to young people with our unique, bilingual education and training programmes. Our plays and our company are about cultural encounters. What could be more Canadian?

EYEWEEKLY.COM (May 20, 2010)

La Sagouine: "An unmissable experience"
5 out of 5 stars!

La Sagouine is simply essential viewing. Antonine Maillet’s 1971 play is a true classic of Canadian literature. Viola Léger was 41 when she originated the title role of the 72-year-old scrub-woman and has played it ever since. Léger last played the part in Toronto in 1979. Now that she is about a month short of 80, her performance is even more poignant. Read more

THE GLOBE AND MAIL (May 19, 2010)

La Sagouine is a cultural and artistic treasure
4 out of 4 stars!

Her face is as shapeless and crumpled as an old washrag. Her voice has the creaks and squeaks of an oil-parched cupboard door. But even at a distance, her tiny eyes gleam with wit like a pair of well-polished teaspoons. Read more

TORONTO STAR (May 18, 2010)

La Sagouine: Warm, wise and wonderful
4 out of 4 stars!

The last time I saw La Sagouine was here in Toronto in 1979 and Viola Léger was a youngish woman playing a very much older one. Read more

EYE WEEKLY (May 12, 2010)

Growing into the role
Viola Léger catches up to her character, the titular La Sagouine

During the 1971 launch of Antonine Maillet’s book La Sagouine, Moncton literary types hosted a party they hoped would impress the Montreal guests — high heels, fancy dresses and little glasses of wine. At the suggestion of Maillet, Viola Léger quietly ambled in, dressed as a rumpled washwoman who didn’t give a hoot about propriety — La Sagouine, the book’s fictional protagonist.
Read more

NATIONAL POST (May 11, 2010)

The floor still needs scrubbing
Viola Lége; The actress on four decades of La Sagouine

Viola Léger believes that she has performed her iconic role as La Sagouine almost 3,000 times. But that is just a number, she says, much like her age. Read more