Théâtre français de Toronto (TfT) is proud to announce that the recipient of the 2023 Joël Beddows grant is Sébastien Bertrand. 

In June 2021, TfT had announced the creation of the Joël Beddows Fund following a major donation from its former artistic director, with the aim of supporting the development of Franco-Ontarian playwriting through an annual grant awarded to a playwright.

For this second edition, Karine Ricard has chosen Sébastien Bertrand, an author, actor, and screenwriter, to support the creation of his new work titled Les Filles du roi (The King's Daughters).

About Sébastien:

Sébastien Bertrand is a versatile artist, working as an author, actor, and screenwriter. For the small screen, he has recently worked as a screenwriter on projects such as 1001 Nights, Makinium, La Vie Compliquée de Léa Olivier and Mehdi et Val. The latter two series were nominated for Kidscreen Awards and Gémeaux Awards.

In the theatre, Sébastien has performed in numerous productions such as La Cantatrice chauve, Le Malade imaginaire and Les Précieuses ridicules, all produced by TfT. As a bilingual actor, he has also participated in plays like Vimy for Soulpepper and The Language of the Heart at Théâtre Passe Muraille. As a director, his play Les Zinspirés Puissance 4 received critical acclaim, winning the Best Direction award at the Dora Awards in 2016.

On television, he has also been involved in various productions, including Murdoch Mysteries, Less Than Kind and Mégallo. The latter was a youth series produced by TFO, in which Sébastien served as a writer-performer for over 10 years.

Recently, Sébastien wrote Les Liaisons Dangereuses: Correspondances Inédites, an eight-episode web series produced by TfT with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. This series was critically acclaimed, winning the Best Web Series award at the Montreal Independent Film Festival (2022) and the Toronto International Women's Film Festival (2023).

This fall, TfT will produce Sébastien's new play, Les Filles du roi, which will portray a tumultuous journey to New France through the eyes of six female characters inspired by the works of Molière.

TfT and Joël Beddows warmly congratulate Sébastien for his contribution to Franco-Ontarian theatrical creation.

Photo: Sébastien Bertrand.