Ten. That’s how many requests Cédrik Lapratte-Roy has received in the last two years for his piece Terrain slippery, which will be performed next January in the Fred Barry Room of the Théâtre Denise-Pelletier. Both the Canada Arts Council (CAC), the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) and the Conseil des arts de Montréal (CAM) were contacted.
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A total of two applications were accepted in 2022, both for research and for the creation of the piece. In total, the theater group The Least of Things, co-founded by Cédrik Lapratte-Roy, received $26,000 from the CAC and the CALQ to rent rehearsal rooms, conduct stage explorations and write the text. The problem: None of the three cultural councils wanted to support Slippery Terrain from the newspaper to the stage.
Without the artist’s persistence, this “Nordic thriller” would probably have simply been shelved.
But Cédrik Lapratte-Roy decided to move forward with his project. To make this happen, he gave up his food job in the cultural sector at the beginning of October to devote himself entirely to the show. Voluntary work.
“I hold several positions for this show: I am production manager, director, actor, and costume and props designer. My only income will be what I earn at the checkout. The artists are also paid from the box office revenue, ie 5%. Even the minimum salaries demanded by the unions are too high and ridiculous for me: $56.91 per performance and $15.25 per rehearsal hour. »
“With 80% room occupancy and $8,000 to raise through donations and sponsorships, I will be able to balance my budget. Without giving me a salary,” adds the 29-year-old designer.
What if viewers are less frequent than expected? What if he fails to raise the necessary $8,000 in sponsorship? “It’s up to me to pay for taking risks with the show. The problem is that Desjardins refused me a loan because I had no financial support…”