Françoise Berd (born Françoise Bernadette Loranger; March 2, 1923
â€" August 10, 2001) was a Quebec actress and founder of the theatre
company L'ÉgrégoreBerd played the role of the caretaker in the film
A Special Day (Una Giornata particulare) by Ettore Scola (1977),
alongside Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.Berd was born in
Saint-Pacôme. However, it was not until the age of 34, upon returning
from a trip to Europe, that Françoise Berd felt the call of the
theatre "as a mission". Employed at the time in the operator service
at Bell in Trois-Rivières, she had herself transferred to Montreal in
order to study with Sita Riddez. She then produced a few plays at the
School of Fine Arts (École des Beaux-Arts), notably Les Péchés dans
le hall by Félix Leclerc. The piece failed, which provoked her to
surround herself with professionals when founding L’Égrégore, the
theatre she would run from 1959 to 1965.To kick things off,
L’Égrégore put on Une Femme douce, based on a novel by Fyodor
Dostoevsky. The play earned her first prize at the Congrès du
spectacle in 1960. The company adopted the formula of the pocket
theatre : if a show was successful, it would run for two months, no
longer, even if it continued to be popular. If a show was not
successful, it would immediately be replaced by another. And if a show
was not fully ready, it simply would not be put on. No entrance fee
was imposed on spectators, who would give whatever they chose to give
on the way out.
â€" August 10, 2001) was a Quebec actress and founder of the theatre
company L'ÉgrégoreBerd played the role of the caretaker in the film
A Special Day (Una Giornata particulare) by Ettore Scola (1977),
alongside Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.Berd was born in
Saint-Pacôme. However, it was not until the age of 34, upon returning
from a trip to Europe, that Françoise Berd felt the call of the
theatre "as a mission". Employed at the time in the operator service
at Bell in Trois-Rivières, she had herself transferred to Montreal in
order to study with Sita Riddez. She then produced a few plays at the
School of Fine Arts (École des Beaux-Arts), notably Les Péchés dans
le hall by Félix Leclerc. The piece failed, which provoked her to
surround herself with professionals when founding L’Égrégore, the
theatre she would run from 1959 to 1965.To kick things off,
L’Égrégore put on Une Femme douce, based on a novel by Fyodor
Dostoevsky. The play earned her first prize at the Congrès du
spectacle in 1960. The company adopted the formula of the pocket
theatre : if a show was successful, it would run for two months, no
longer, even if it continued to be popular. If a show was not
successful, it would immediately be replaced by another. And if a show
was not fully ready, it simply would not be put on. No entrance fee
was imposed on spectators, who would give whatever they chose to give
on the way out.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.