Awards
National art center of Canada Award
NAC Award 1993, prize awarded ex-equo with the Théâtre des Deux-Mondes at the ceremony of the Governor General's Awards for the Performing Arts.
Officer of the Order of Canada 2005
Established in 1967 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Order of Canada is the cornerstone of the Canadian Honours System and recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community, and service to the nation. The Order recognizes people in all sectors of Canadian society. Their contributions are varied, yet they have all enriched the lives of others and made a difference to this country.
Knight of the Ordre national du Québec 2012
Presentation of the Knight Insignia (2012) to Michel Marc Bouchard
Transcription
You were born in Saint-Cœur-de-Marie, near Alma, in 1958, and you are one of our most brilliant playwrights. In the 1980s, Les feluettes threw one more stone into the pool of theatrical conventions in Quebec, where the revolution of forms, language and content was already raging. We are witnessing the first homosexual love story, staged. The play quickly established itself as a flagship work of modern Canadian theatre, by its social approach and its structure. Homosexuality is the keystone of your dramatic work. Its corollary, homophobia, obstructs it against the light. This tension explores the hidden, often tragic, relationships between the actors of the drama, and that, in the theater, as in life. Deeply rooted here, the reach of your work has become universal. There are countless representations abroad. Nor can we count the advances owed to him by the gay and lesbian community here and elsewhere. It is thanks to people like you, who break down barriers, who break down taboos through a greater knowledge of others, that our society progresses. Michel Marc Bouchard, on behalf of the people of Quebec, I make you a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.
Compagnon Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec 2019
Compagnon des arts et des lettres du Québec. For 40 years, the work of Michel Marc Bouchard has been shocking us. Provocative and touching, his pieces question our identity and our relationship to others by leading us into emotional and intellectual adventures from which we never emerge unscathed. From Feluettes to Christine, the Boy Queen, to The Orphan Muses and The Story of the Goose, his works reflect his lucid and poetic vision of the world. They testify to his desire to reach out to others and his ability to marry drama and comedy, local and universal, Eros and Thanatos, history and current events.
A prolific and internationally acclaimed playwright, Michel Marc Bouchard has written more than twenty-five plays whose impact has often extended to cinema and opera. He appears in the Larousse dictionary, where it is noted that his work contributed to exposing the lies of a repressive and intolerant society with regard to homosexuality.
To survive loneliness, violence and humiliation, Michel Marc Bouchard's characters resort to the imagination. His is driven by an insatiable curiosity and has been deployed on the boards and screens, but also in museums and in the streets. Let's remember Cité Mémoire, his collaboration with two Compagnons des arts et des lettres du Québec, Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon. Emblematic of his work, the multimedia installation stretched bridges between eras and cultures to teach the past, challenge the future and raise awareness of what unites us beyond differences.
Athanase-David Award 2021
The 2021 Athanase-David Prize is awarded to Michel Marc Bouchard for all of his work.
As specified on the Government of Quebec website: “The Athanase-David Prize is the highest honor awarded to a person for their remarkable contribution to Quebec literature. Recognized literary genres include tales, short stories, poetry, stories, novels, dramaturgy, comics, essays, literary criticism and journalism. »
For some forty years, Michel Marc Bouchard has been developing a dramaturgical work that has become, over the years, one of the most important in Quebec. No less than 450 theatrical productions presented in some forty countries, including Les feluettes, Les muses orphelines, Christine, la reine-boy, La divine illusion or Tom à la ferme, adapted for the cinema, in 2013, by Xavier Dolan. The artist from Lac-Saint-Jean says he is surprised to receive this award: “Suddenly, we see everything in perspective. It makes you dizzy. We realize that we have indeed brought something to the culture, to Quebec society. Few playwrights have won this award, so I am extremely proud to receive it. I have the feeling that I am thus contributing to the recognition of playwrights, of representing them. »
Already awarded many times internationally, Michel Marc Bouchard has tackled themes that, before him, few have dared to explore. He staged the marginalized, the excluded of all kinds. Among other things, he campaigned for the rights of homosexuals. And, in addition to his dramatic rigor, it is the audacity of the playwright that has been rewarded here.
The Athanase-David Award is the highest distinction awarded to a person for their remarkable contribution to Quebec literature. The literary genres recognized for the purposes of this award include short stories, short stories, poetry, stories, novels, dramaturgy, comics, essays, literary criticism and journalism.