Bashir Lazhar: The charismatic professor returns to the stage

A sensation when it premiered in 2007, this multi-voiced monologue by Evelyne de la Chenelière still resonates with audiences today, prompting us to question our value system and educational system. Directed by Marie Brassard, Mani Soleymanlou brings his own personal background to the iconic role of the teacher from abroad, offering us a compelling lesson in humanity.

A man of Algerian descent, a survivor of personal and political tragedy, steps in at the last minute to replace a sixth-grade teacher who took her own life in her classroom. Passionate about words and the spirit of youth, the charismatic newly minted instructor uses his own unique methods to teach literature and grammar, but also courage and justice. As an intellectual in an environment dominated by emotion, he shakes up the microcosm of the primary school in a cultural clash that reveals both the dark side of a broken man and our own everyday complacency and violence.

Staged internationally several times and adapted for film (as Monsieur Lazhar) by Philippe Falardeau, this humanist fable takes on new textures and nuances within the dreamlike and thoroughly contemporary world of Marie Brassard and her longtime creative partners, set designer Antonin Sorel and musician Alexander MacSween. A rare opportunity to revisit a Canadian theatre classic, viewed through a forward-looking lens.