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Grand Prize, Bologna International Fair, 1997
A number of Lemieux’s books have been adapted for film and theatre. From 2000 to 2002, she worked on an animated film, based on her book Stormy Night, at the National Film Board of Canada. In 2004, this film has won a dozen international awards, including the Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, the special jury award at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival, and the grand prize at the Kinder Film Fest in Tokyo. She has participated in numerous exhibitions in Europe, North America, South America, and Japan, and she is currently working on a second animated film at the NFB, produced on the Alexeieff-Parker pinscreen.
A little girl and her dog, on a stormy night. Questions spring up in her mind. Thoughts are born, take flight, come back to sting, bounce off the invisible walls of consciousness. In the deep of night, the child wonders about the meaning of life, ponders troubling questions, turns over the infinitely small and the infinitely large. The wind blows harder and harder, and then the storm explodes: fear of all sorts is admitted. And what if ...? With humour, appropriateness, and subtlety, Stormy Night explores how thought is invaded by uncertainty, at an age when consciousness begins to intrude upon our carefree existence, never again to let go of us.
“Le Carrousel’s new production looks completely lovely. The direction, built around Michèle Lemieux’s drawings projected on the stage, is skilful and clever, creating tableaux of great poetic beauty.” Jean Siag, La Presse
“Director Gervais Gaudreault’s idea of re-creating on stage the images from the book rather than those from the film is utterly appropriate. The set design is simple, consisting only of the bed of the young protagonist, played brilliantly by Émilie Lévesque. Little laughs, little fears: her voice is superb and her fears make us smile and laugh, softly and loud. A few creatures, manipulated or played by actor Ludger Côté, will be paying her a visit . . . “Mr. Gaudreault experiments here with black and white, and thus totally respects the ambience of Michèle Lemieux’s book. . . . Drawings taken from the book are projected in giant format on a translucent screen that separates the audience from the actress. The projections, created by Stéphane Longpré, and Dominique Gagnon’s skilful lighting enable the little girl to appear in the middle of a field, in a sky sprinkled with clouds, in a forest without leaves or lightning bolts. Visually, the result is remarkable. “A stormy night plunges the audience into the depths of a curious child’s universal reflections and fears, and her fertile imagination, until the sun rises. Each question transports us into the shadows of a new tableau, a new sketch. Gervais Gaudreault’s direction pays tribute to the book, in continuity with his most recent productions.” David Lefebvre, MonThéâtre.qc.ca.
“Lemieux’s book is considered unique for a number of reasons. Its content is equally thought-provoking for a young adult, a grandmother or an 11-year-old-boy or girl. Indeed, it could be used as a course outline for Philosophy 101. [...] In fact, it is the most beautiful staging of a children’s play I have witnessed in the 18 years I have covered children’s theatre. With its delicate use of projected images (blown-up versions of Lemieux’s sketches), brilliant lighting and sound design. Inventive creatures and fantastical costumes crafted to be inhabited and/or manipulated by Ludger Côté, I predict future design awards. Director Gervais Gaudreault surrounded himself with a fabulous creative team, translating Lemieux’s sketches and words into an experience to forever be remembered.” Kathryn Greenaway, The Gazette
NUIT D'ORAGE (STORMY NIGHT) IN FRANCE December 14, 2011, to February 17, 2012 In France december 14 – 10:00 am(sc) – 2:30 pm (sc) (fsl) Théâtre Jean Vilar/ Vitry sur Seine february 16 – 10:00 am (sc) – 2:30 pm (sc)
In Taiwan (sc) school performance
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Photos, and illustrations:
©
Le Carrousel, theatre company - www.lecarrousel.net
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Michèle Lemieux entered the world of illustration in the late 1970s. For five years, she worked in Germany, where she published her first books; she then returned to Montreal, where she has been a professor at UQAM’s School of Design since 1988. Her illustrated books, translated into twenty languages, have earned numerous international awards, including the 1997 grand prize at the Bologna Book Fair, the most prestigious international award for children’s literature.
Ludger Côté discovered theatre with the Troupe des Treize at Université Laval, which he attended from 1993 to 1997. After completing a master’s degree in microbiology, he entered the Option-théâtre program at Collège Lionel-Groulx in Sainte-Thérèse, where he was selected to play starring roles. At the same time, he acted in four plays, directed by Frédéric Dubois, with Théâtre des Fonds de Tiroirs in Quebec City. A faithful contributor to Le Carrousel since 2001, he played the lead role in the show 
With training in classical ballet and a diploma in theatre performance from Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe in 2008, Émilie Lévesque quickly became interested in theatre for young audiences after she left school. She did a practicum in physical acting at Dynamo Théâtre in 2008 and played in the production of L’ombre de l’Escargot for Nuages en pantalon, touring with the play in France and Quebec in 2010. With this short but impressive professional résumé, the young actor joined 
