Ten. This is the number of requests Cédrik Lapratte-Roy has made for his play in the last two years. Slippery terrain, presented the following January in the Denis-Pelletier Room of the Fred-Barry Theater. The Canada Arts Council (CAC), Conseil des arts et des Lettres du Québec (CALQ) and Conseil des arts de Montreal (CAM) were both contacted.
In the batch, two applications were accepted in 2022, both research and development. In total, The Least of Things, a theater company co-founded by Cédrik Lapratte-Roy, received $26,000 from CAC and CALQ to rent rehearsal space, stage research, and write the script. The problem: none of the three arts councils want to support it Slippery terrain Going from paper to stage.
Without the persistence of the artist, this “Nordic thriller” would have simply been shelved.
But Cédrik Lapratte-Roy decided to go ahead with his plan. To make it happen, he quit his catering job at the Culture Department in early October and devoted his full time to the show. Volunteering.
“I hold many positions for this show: I am production manager, director, actor and costume and props designer. My only income is generated at the ticket office. The actors are paid from the box office revenue, which is 5%. Even the minimum salary demanded by the unions is too high for me, And they’re ridiculous: $56.91 per performance and $15.25 per hour of rehearsal. »
“With an 80% room occupancy rate and the $8,000 I’m trying to raise in donations and sponsorships, I can balance my budget. Without paying me,” says the 29-year-old designer.
What if the audience is less than expected? Failing to raise the required $8,000 in sponsorships? “It was up to me to pay for the risk on the show. The problem was that Desjardins refused to give me a loan because I had no financial backing.
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