Denise Filiatrault prefers to take life as it comes without thinking too much about tomorrow. Always active, she focuses her energy on the activities of the Montreal theater Rideau Vert, where she is still artistic director.
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“Apart from my theater work, I don’t have any projects; I live life day by day to see how long it will last,” explains Denise Filiatrault, who celebrated her 92nd birthday on May 16.
Met as part of the theatre’s 75th anniversary celebrations, Ms Filiatrault said she was doing well. “I don’t feel too bad for a woman my age and I feel as fit as someone who is maybe 82,” she laughs. “I didn’t do anything special for my birthday because at that age you try to forget birthdays a bit.”
Unlike others, she doesn’t dream of the day she celebrates her hundredth birthday. Far from it. She fears aging and its disadvantages: becoming sick and dependent on loved ones. “I would go crazy!” starts the great theater lady with the openness we know from her.
Over the years she learned to tame her new boundaries. “I no longer have a choice. I always did what I wanted to do and I believed in it. Now, as I get older, I do what I am capable of,” she adds.
Are the increasingly frequent departures of well-known friends – like that of her accomplice and apartment neighbor in Florida, Denise Bombardier, last July – sending her back to her own death?
“I don’t need this! At 92, the age is enough to think about death. My temperament is to keep busy and move as little as possible. But we can’t get out of this, we all know that after that Life comes death. Sometimes we watch TV shows and say to ourselves: He’s dead, she’s dead and so on. It’s scary,” she says.
Photo QMI Agency, JOEL LEMAY
His role at Rideau Vert
She has been artistic director of the Théâtre du Rideau Vert since 2004. Their task is always to select plays from the program, find new directors (additional joy if they are women!) and young actors, as well as attend specific rehearsals and general work.
“Reading plays and performing them on stage are two things. I’d rather watch it than play it now. Acting and theater are behind me and I don’t miss them at all because I gave so much!” she says about her rich career on stage and television.
Denise Filiatrault is convinced that in her role as artistic director, as in her life, she has followed the behavior that she set for herself: “We can make mistakes, but the most important thing is to be honest.”
Photo QMI Agency, JOEL LEMAY
Portrait of Denise Filiatrault and Céline Marcotte (General Director of the Théâtre du Rideau Vert) at the 75th anniversary of the Théâtre du Rideau Vert, in Montreal, Friday September 1, 2023. Photo Agence QMI, JOEL LEMAY
The Théâtre du Rideau Vert is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. The book The Théâtre du Rideau Vert: a first role in history, The book published for the occasion will be available in bookstores from September 13th.
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