Dumont leaving the helm of Théâtre Jean-Duceppe
Michel Dumont, the face of Théâtre Jean-Duceppe for over a quarter of a century, announced this week that he will be passing on “le flambeau” to a new artistic director after the 2017-18 season.
As a frequent actor as well as director there, his most recent appearance was as a First World War veteran in his own adaptation of Gérald Sibleyras’s Les Héros, which ended last weekend.
Dumont’s career at Théâtre Jean-Duceppe began with its launch in 1973, when founding director, Jean Duceppe, offered him the part of troubled son Biff to Duceppe’s own Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Dumont went on to play such roles as Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew and Vladimir in Waiting For Godot before being named as artistic director of the company following Duceppe’s death in 1990.
A measure of the longevity of Dumont’s association with Théâtre Jean-Duceppe can be seen by the fact that he went on to play Willy Loman himself in a production of the play which Dumont also translated.
Dumont’s commanding presence made him perfect as the magnificently wounded patriarch Big Daddy in Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, as well as other larger-than-life roles such as Henry II in A Lion in Winter, “Sir” in The Dresser and Ernest Hemingway.
But he has also excelled in comparatively pathetic roles such as Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya and Salieri in Amadeus.
Also part of his virtuosity as a performer is his penchant for broad comedy. He has acted in several summertime farces, including three by legendary British farceur Ray Cooney (whose exhaustingly madcap style is currently being mercilessly parodied in Noises Off at the Segal).
Dumont’s insistence that Québécois theatre is represented in at least one production per season resulted in Théâtre Jean-Duceppe being named as finalist for the 26th Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal following a 2009-10 season consisting entirely of Québécois plays.
A three-time Gémeaux Prizewinner, Dumont is also a familiar face on screen, performing in such television series as Yamaska and Omertà.