Michel Tremblay was born on June 25, 1942 in Montreal, Quebec, in a modest neighborhood that would become the main source of his inspiration. Playwright, novelist and screenwriter, he shook up the people of the time by creating works that denounced the power of the Catholic Church and the English-speaking elite, and defended the place of women in society. More specifically, he portrayed a working-class world with realistic, caricatured characters who spoke joual, an artistic technique long shunned by intellectuals. His second play, Les Belles-sœurs, came as a shock to audiences accustomed to a bourgeois, classical style and Catholic morality, but is still a landmark work today. In addition to his many plays and novels, he wrote several musicals, film scripts and an opera.
Michel Tremblay in 1971
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1942: Michel Tremblay is born in Montreal.
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1964: He takes part in the Young Authors Contest organized by Radio-Canada and wins the first prize.
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1968: The play Les Belles-sœurs is performed for the first time, provoking a scandal.
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1978: He publishes the novel La grosse femme d'à côté est enceinte, describing the Plateau-Mont-Royal district of Montreal and its workers.
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1980: He composes the play Albertine, en cinq temps, a resounding work that defines the author's tragic style.
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1998: The novel C'tà ton tour, Laura Cadieux is adapted into a film by director Denise Filiatrault.
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2003: The series Le cœur découvert, featuring a homosexual couple, hits the airwaves.
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2006: Michel Tremblay receives the Grand Prix Metropolis Bleu, awarded to an internationally renowned writer for the quality of his work.