Artistic director Jon Lachlan Stewart founded Surreal SoReal Theatre (SSRT) in 2006 with Vincent Forcier.  Since its beginnings, Surreal SoReal Theatre has worked to bridge the gap between Canada’s French and English-speaking communities through engaging contemporary creations. Based in Montreal, the company embraces the city’s two linguistic perspectives. Performances in French, English, or both, aim to unite both solitudes around a common aesthetic using a variety of artistic forms that go beyond language to evoke visceral responses from our audiences. « Physical theater is always at the heart of our aesthetic. No matter what piece we create, we want to avoid psychological realism, and work within a minimalist aesthetic in order to leave room for the imagination and poetry of the body on stage. »

An bilingual anglophone from Alberta, Jon Lachlan Stewart has been working with Francophone artists since he was 18. Moving to Montreal to train as a director at the National Theatre School of Canada, Jon immediately fell in love with the eclectic art forms found on Quebec stages and decided to make Montreal his home. SSRT works in both French and English. « By being involved in both the English and French scenes, our company strives to develop an aesthetic common to both communities through artistic forms that go beyond language, seeking to generate visceral reaction in our audiences. »

OUR TEAM

Jon Lachlan Stewart

Artistic Director & General Manager

Jon is a bilingual actor, director and artistic director of Surreal SoReal Theatre. He is very interested in the possibility of a better exchange between French and English speakers in Canada. He has performed in many productions across Canada with companies such as The Citadel Theatre and L’UniThéâtre (Edmonton), La Seizième and Zee Zee (Vancouver), The Segal Centre and Théâtre Prospero (Montreal).
He has directed Madame Catherine prépare sa classe de troisième à l’irrémédiable (Prospero, Carrefour International, L’Uni Théâtre), Le Petit Prince (Crows’ Theatre), Ruddigore (Lakeshore Light Opera), Macbeth Muet (international tour), TONG (La Fille du Laitier) and Samuel Beckett’s Before Her Time: 3 Plays (National Theatre School), as well as translating Tracy Letts’ Killer Joe (reading, La Licorne).
He has written and performed in his bilingual solo Big Shot since 2008 across Canada and in Montreal. Jon is currently working on a production loosely based on Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull, which he is creating with dancers and actors living with a physical disability, for the Théâtre Denise-Pelletier in Montreal in 2021.
Jon is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada (directing) and Studio 58 in Vancouver (acting program).

Clémentine Rapatout

Communications

After studying theatre and cultural management in Paris, Québec and Prague, Clémentine held different positions as an outreach project officer for several venues in France. Since settling in Montreal in 2019, she has been working in communications for cultural organizations in the fields of dance, theatre and music.

[email protected]

Julie Trépanier

Reading committee

Julie Trépanier is an actress who has been working across the country since she graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada. She has had the opportunity to work with both solitudes on a daily basis, in both French and English, on stage and on screen. She is the recipient of three Jessie Richardson Awards for British-Columbian performing arts and their artisans, including the Best Supporting Actress Award for her role as Carmen in Michel Tremblay's À toi, pour toujours, ta Marie-Lou.

Olivier Sylvestre

Reading committee

Author and translator Olivier Sylvestre holds a bachelor's degree in criminology and a diploma in playwriting from the National Theatre School. With Hamac, he has published the stories NOMS FICTIFS (finalist for the 2018 Governor General's Awards), LE DÉSERT, and two plays, La loi de la gravité (translated into English and German, won numerous awards) and Guide d'éducation sexuelle pour le nouveau millénaire (finalist for the 2020 Michel-Tremblay Award). His plays Dans la forêt disparue and Les Sentinelles are recipients of the ARTCENA (Paris) Creation Grant. He leads writing workshops and provides dramaturgical support.

Mishka Lavigne

Reading committee

Mishka Lavigne (she/her) is a playwright, literary translator and screenwriter based in Ottawa/Gatineau. Her plays have been developed and produced in Canada, the United States, France, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and Haiti. She is a member of the Playwrights' Guild of Canada, of the CEAD and is a NNPN Alumni Playwright (USA).

Bibish Marie Louise Mumbu

Reading committee

Author and playwright, member of CEAD, Bibish Marie Louise Mumbu participates in artistic events through popular education and the decolonization of the imaginary.
Bibish is a resilient Afrofeminist from Quebec.

Team member

Team member