1 Far removed from the francophone centres of Eastern Canada and their theatrical institutions, those who create theatre in the West are at work in the extreme margin of the Canadian Francophonie. Investing in their own marginality, Franco-Canadian theatre artists in the West describe little-known realities in plays whose theatricality reflects the contexts from which they arise. The exploration of identity generated by a cultural hybridization either imposed or consensual—which appears as much in the text as it does in the performance itself—, the openness to a diversity deemed necessary to survival, the involvement of a community in the development of its theatre, and the promotion of the Métis language and culture are among the many aspects of research to be found in these collected articles that highlight not only the preoccupations and the aspirations of the artists working within the francophone communities of Western Canada, but the dramatic means that shape their creations.

2 Those who took part in the 2011 conference on Western Canadian theatre organized by Marie-Diane Clarke in Saskatoon were able to appreciate firsthand the dynamism of the Fransaskois theatre community assembled around the Troupe du Jour, a dynamism that is explored in several articles included in this issue. With the inauguration of the Centre de production in 2011, the Troupe acquired space and greater means to pursue the elaboration of a Fransaskois drama repertoire already begun some ten years earlier with the establishment of the Cercle des écrivains. Playing a central role in supporting the Troupe du Jour through the provision of dramatic texts, the Cercle has significantly contributed to the emergence of such a repertoire and provided support to authors, enabling them to complete their written work with a view towards a stage production. As Mariette Théberge and Francine Chaîné demonstrate in their article, the approach adopted by the Cercle is designed as a systematic process of textual development resulting from a firm decision to create a Fransaskois repertoire that has given rise to the creation of a number of texts.

3 In her study of the route taken by the University of Saskatchewan’s Unithéâtre from its founding in 1969-70 up until the inauguration of the Troupe du Jour’s Centre de production, Marie-Diane Clarke traces the development of a theatre and a drama repertoire that reflects increasingly diverse Fransaskois realities. As recommended by the report of the Commission sur l’inclusion de la communauté fransaskoise, submitted in 2006 to the Assemblée communautaire fransaskoise under the title De la minorité à la citoyennité,1 such diversity is to be counted upon to contribute to the dynamism of the Saskatchewan Francophonie. This openness to difference also encourages Fransaskois authors to explore their bilingualism in plays that depict the linguistic duality that is at the heart of their story and of their daily life. In the same spirit of openness, most productions of these plays are accompanied by English surtitles in order to reach not only an anglophone audience but also anglophone artists with whom such a dialogue is deemed essential. Madeleine Blais-Dahlem’s play, La Maculée, created by the Troupe du Jour in 2011, was a result of this process of textual development established by the Cercle des écrivains. In her study of the play, Louise Forsyth emphasizes the condition of the pioneering women isolated within the vastness of the prairies, caught between two languages, subject to the pressures of men and the Church, and for whom madness could offer a way out. She also examines how Blais-Dalhem’s play mines the aesthetic possibilities of bilingualism.

4 Joey Tremblay and Jonathan Chistenson’s play, Elephant Wake, is the subject of two studies that underline the work’s textual and theatrical originality. Nicole Côté explores the resilience of the Franco-Canadian minority of the West, whose survival entails constant negotiations with the hegemonic group. Through her analysis of the play, she reveals that a fixed identity is impossible and that the only solution resides in a pluralisation of identities. This resilience is also apparent in the manner in which the actor Joey Tremblay can adapt his performance to the linguistic resources of his audience, as illustrated in Nicole Nolette’s article. She also demonstrates that the “monodrama” (a one person show) is a form of dramatic expression favoured by theatre artists of the West as it reproduces in form, in subject matter and in the conditions of production, the “exiguïté” of creating in the margins. Lastly, Lise Gaboury-Diallo and Mariyka Hrynyshyn examine the innovative use of French Mitchif in Rhéal Cenerini’s Li Rvinant first produced in 2011 at the Cercle Molière in Saint-Boniface. They also present a mythocritical analysis of the play through the “Métis rhetoric” that it advances.

5 In the Forum section, Ian Nelson recounts the history of Unithéâtre, a university theatre company that he founded in 1969 and directed for many years. Deborah Cottreau then explores the new dramatic writing resulting from the structures dedicated to text development established by the Troupe du Jour and the influence of this writing on the national and international scenes. In doing so, she underlines the critical role played by the Troupe’s director, Denis Rouleau.

6 Some of these articles are the result of a research on francophone identities in Western Canada made possible by a Community-University Research Alliance grant (2008-2013). I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for their indispensable financial support.