International Project Incubator hosted by the Commission internationale du théâtre francophone
The Commission internationale du théâtre francophone (CITF) was created to support multilateral theatre coproduction and circulation projects in La Francophonie. The CITF funds artistic projects that support dialogue and collaboration between artists from at least three countries on two continents. La Francophonie is at the heart of these joint theatre productions that are sometimes visited by other disciplines. To date, several hundreds of projects have been supported, providing artists with the opportunity to meet on creative and theatre-based grounds, to challenge and enhance their artistic processes, to discover other French-language cultures and to win over new audiences.
The Canada Council for the Arts holds a seat at the Commission on behalf of Canadian Heritage as part of its support for Francophone minority communities.
2023 Artist Profiles
Caroline Bélisle
Moncton, New Brunswick
Merlin Simard
Toronto, Ontario
Katia Café-Fébrissy
Toronto, Ontario
Photograher: Annie France Noël
Biographical note
Caroline Bélisle is an actor, a playwright, a scriptwriter and an extremely angry feminist who has mainly worked in the Moncton region. In 2020, she graduated from the playwriting program at the National Theatre School of Canada, having graduated a few years earlier from the performing arts program at the University of Moncton. Incisive and fatalistic, she specializes in comedies about things that are not funny, and drama generated out of nothing. She won the prestigious Prix Gratien-Gélinas for Les remugles ou La danse nuptiale est une langue morte, a play that was also a finalist for the 2022 Governor General’s Awards. Her plays have been produced by Le Théâtre l’Escaouette, the Satellite Théâtre, Le Théâtre populaire d’Acadie and Le Théâtre des Béloufilles. As an actor, she appeared recently in Un. Deux. Trois. by Mani Soleymanlou and the television series Garde partagée. Her plays Dîner pour deux and Les remugles have been published by Éditions Perce-Neige.
Photographer: Mark Binks
Biographical note
Merlin Simard is an actor, writer, and playwright, originally from Missisquoi in the Eastern Townships (Quebec) and now based in Tkarón:to (Toronto). Her artistic practice explores themes of access, gender euphoria and technology in relation to identity. Merlin has acted with Factory Theatre, the Stratford Festival, Crow’s Theatre, Outside the March, The Company Theatre and Buddies In Bad Times Theatre. She has also acted in Grand Army (Netflix), This Life (CBC) and, more recently, Poils anyways (a short film by Marie-Claire Marcotte). Merlin is also developing several projects combining theatre and virtual reality, with the support of Theatre Passe Muraille (FEAR OF MEN) and Nightwood Theatre (a free Britney). @hussy4hussy.
Photograher: Johann Bonna
Biographical note
Katia Café-Fébrissy is an author, director, scriptwriter and producer. Her versatile creations range from documentary film to factual television and include music clips, a web series and virtual reality. Her theatrical writing and directing credits include Ça rime avec vinaigre (2023), Nona’s Malaika (2022), La kid du COVID (2021) and C’est ça l’affaire (2020). She also directed Chronologie, in the 2021 anthology 21 Black Futures, and An Understanding of Brown (2020). Katia is a member of the Directors Guild of Canada, the Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma, the Académie canadienne du cinéma et de la télévision and the Playwrights Guild of Canada. She is also a member of the Front des réalisateurs indépendants du Canada, Le Labo (Toronto’s Francophone Media Arts Centre), the Fédération des professionnels du théâtre francophones en Ontario and Théâtre Action. She has a master’s degree in language and literature from the Université Paris VIII, and a master’s in documentary cinema from Les Ateliers Varan, France.
I am thrilled to be part of this extraordinary program! I can’t wait to collaborate with like-minded individuals and express my vision of a theatre where multiple trans voices can finally be celebrated!
Merlin Simard
About
In collaboration with the Institut Français (Paris, France) and the Festival Les Rencontres à l’échelle – Bancs publics (link in French only) (Marseille, France), the Commission internationale du théâtre francophone (CITF) (link in French only) is organizing a project incubator in Marseille, from May 26 to June 7, 2025.
The Commission was created in 1987 to support the realization of multilateral theatre creation and circulation projects. The seat on this Commission is held by the Canada Council for the Arts on behalf Canadian Heritage.
The project incubator has been designed as a space for Francophone artists from various backgrounds to meet and share ideas, with a view to generating a desire for active collaboration, both within and outside the CITF’s projects. For 10 days or so, participants will meet artists whose approach is based in politically engaged art or the creation of works that champion, denounce, defend or take a stand with regard to a given cause. The cohort will take part in creative laboratories and meet with the public at the end of the workshops.
This year’s theme is ‘living as a poet or an assassin.’
With this theme in mind, the CITF is looking for artists interested in our ability to conjure up a different imagination of the world and its repopulation.
The Canada Council for the Arts will provide funding for a maximum of three artists from Francophone and Acadian communities across Canada to attend the incubator.
Incubator goals:
- Enhance the collective knowledge and the connections between artists from Europe, North America and countries in the Global South.
- Support the development of artistic collaborations and co-produced theatre projects between companies and artists in the Francophonie.
- Contribute to the development of theatre practices.
- Spark conversations about everyone’s respective practices and share knowledge.
- Promote theatre from the host country.
Eligibility
Selected candidates must:
- have five years of recognized professional practice in theatre;
- have at least two of the following skills: playwriting, acting, stage directing or musical composition;
- have a company with which they can carry out production projects;
- demonstrate a genuine desire for professional resourcing and development;
- want to collaborate on artistic projects with creators from other Francophone areas; and
- be available for the duration of the incubator.
Submitting an application
Applicants must:
- include a cover letter that explains the link between their artistic approach and the theme of the incubator, how international connections fit into their own journey and which incubator goals made them want to take part in the event;
- confirm their availability for the duration of the incubator; and
- send in their resumes.
Application deadline
Applications must be sent in no later than 11:59 p.m. (EST) on March 3, 2025, to the Canada Council for the Arts International division, at international.coordination@canadacouncil.ca.
Selection process
- Peer evaluation is fundamental to the Canada Council’s decision-making process. A peer assessment committee assesses the eligible applications.
- The committee selects applicants that represent local, geographic or cultural diversity, as well as a range of scopes of artistic practice.
Attendees will be selected in mid-March and notified by phone or by email.
Event agenda
The Festival Les Rencontres à l’échelle (link in French only) is bringing together artists from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, thereby providing a diversity of artistic offerings and participants.
Les Rencontres à l’échelle: an immersion in Marseille’s creative ecosystem
A cosmopolitan city at the crossroads of several Mediterranean and African influences, Marseille offers a particularly fertile context for the emergence of innovative artistic projects.
Home to the Festival Les Rencontres à l’échelle, Friche la Belle de Mai is a cultural centre renowned for its international outlook and its cooperation projects, with venues in the South, offering a non-hierarchical, inclusive space for creation.
- The incubator will be organized around a flexible timetable, alternating between group and individual time during the 10 days of group work.
- Over these 10 days, the cohort will be encouraged to use art and creation to come up with visions of the world through approaches that reflect the varied backgrounds of its members.
- Participants will benefit from artistic and dramaturgical support, which will enable them to develop their projects in a stimulating professional environment.
- The creative workshops will be interspersed with exchanges with external stakeholders from different fields, with a view to informing the work of the cohort in a spirit of openness.
- Shows presented as part of the Festival Les Rencontres à l’échelle – Bancs publics, which will take place from June 4 to 15, 2025, will also be included in incubator programming. Outside incubator labs, attendees will be free to attend Festival performances.
At the end of the incubator, artists must submit a short account of their experience.
