I am so honored to be a finalist for this award.

Thank you so much to the twelve founders who created this award, to those of you who work at the Siminovitch Theatre Foundation, and to the members of the jury.
Highlighting theatre artists in this way remains a deeply moving endeavour.
By continuing this initiative, you are telling us that being an artist is fundamental, essential.

Ravi, Estelle, Adrienne, your practices are inspiring, and I feel lucky to shine alongside you

Our era needs to offer experiences where we can create connections, sacred experiences, communions where we laugh and reflect together, gatherings where we can lay down our unanswered questions, where we expose the best and worst of human beings, electrifying theatre that galvanizes us, that transforms us.

Making theatre like preparing a meal for people we love. Offering balm for the heart and mind. Speaking to the intelligence of the audience. Speaking to what is ready to fight, to defend dignity and beauty. Theatre is not done alone; we create families to bring our creations to fruition.

I must say a huge thank you to these wonderful women
to my extraordinary colleague Anne Baillard, who makes everything possible
to the one who brilliantly preceded her, Julie-Marie Bourgeois
to my invaluable colleague and friend Véronique Côté,
to the luminous Maryse Lapierre, the indescribable Claudie Gagnon, the fabulous Ariane Sauvé, the divine Michèle Motard, and the one who liberates voices, the great Marcelle Dubois.
You teach me to be a woman who speaks up, a woman who stands tall.

I cannot overlook the defining  encounters that have transformed my journey with Wajdi Mouawad, Jean-Sébastien Ouellette, Robert Lepage, Christian Fontaine, Éric Le Brech’, Marc Doré, Jean-Marc Dalpé, Eliot Laprise, Marc-Antoine Malo and Olivier Arteau.

Thank you to the most dazzling heart I know, my son Antonin. Thank you for accepting my crazy schedule, this atypical lifestyle and this self-sacrifice that is not always healthy. Your fire is great, your heart is magnificent, I love you more than anything.

My parents Louis and Hélène, thank you for your trust, your support, your appreciation of others, your everyday poetry, your clear-sightedness, your life-saving humour and your zest for life and living things. You taught me that to understand is to take with you.

I cannot name all those who help me on a daily basis.
The list even crosses the boundary between death and life. The bond that unites us is our most precious possession, and if theatre strengthens these bonds, cherishing it means cherishing what makes us more human.

Let us be passionate, let us be courageous.
Let us be revolutionary.

Let us perform acts of love:
imagine what it is like to be the other, question, listen, learn, give back, cultivate, invent,
love.

All of this, over and over again, infinitely.