Paulette Collet was born in Verviers, a small town in the South of Belgium. She was brought up in a small village called Drolenval and went to the local school, where the teacher had to cope with three classes in the same room. Yet, to this day, Paulette remembers what she was taught in that little school. After completing primary school, Paulette’s parents moved back to Verviers so that she could attend the Lycée de jeunes fillles. Very sadly, Paulette’s mother passed away in July 1939 and on May 10, 1940, her studies were cut short when the Germans invaded Belgium. The whole family, who did not wish to live under Nazi rule, left for England. In England, Paulette completed her O level and her A level examinations and was accepted to King’s College, London University, graduating with a first-class BA Honours French and a Teacher’s Diploma, equivalent to a BA Education in Canada. After teaching for two years in London, Paulette was appointed as an Education Officer in Mauritius. She enjoyed her work, but eight years in a small island is a long time and she moved on. When the Canadian Government offered her a scholarship to do her PhD at Laval University, she accepted with glee. She completed her degree in 1962. Her thesis, Winter in the French-Canadian novel, was published in 1965. Paulette taught for five years in the United States and then returned to Canada so that she could teach in her own field. (At the time, there was little Canadian literature taught outside Canada). She secured employment at Saint Michael’s College, where she was extremely happy, and remained there until her forced retirement at 65. Now, thanks to the yearly play and the presence of the French Department on campus, Saint Michael’s still feels like home.
Roberto A. Machado was born in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores, in 1952. He emigrated to Canada in 1969 to avoid being drafted into the Portuguese army which was involved in an unjust war of attrition against the natives of its former colonies of Angola, Mozambique and Guiné-Bissau. He is an alumnus of St. Mike’s and the proud recipient of four university degrees including a Ph.D. in Québec literature. Roberto began his teaching career in Kitchener, Ontario. He taught French, Portuguese and Spanish at Harbord Collegiate Institute, in Toronto, for 27 years and was the Head of the Modern Languages Department at that school for the last 10. He also served as Head of Modern Languages at Malvern Collegiate Institute for three years. He has been a proud member and officer of La Troupe des Anciens de l’Université de Toronto, an amateur theatre troupe whose artistic director is Professor Paulette Collet, for more than 50 years. Now retired, he devotes his spare time to writing for pleasure, traveling and gardening; An Azorean in Canada: A Memoir, which was just published, is the first volume of An Azorean Trilogy. Roberto is married and the boastful father of a wonderful daughter. He lives in Mississauga, Ont.
Are you a French student, wondering how you could improve your pronunciation of that guttural r or eliminate the diphthongization of those gallic vowels?
Have you thought of joining La Troupe des Anciens de l’Université de Toronto?
La Troupe des Anciens de L’Université de Toronto was born in 1969 in what was then simply Saint Michael’s College. In those early days, the group was called Le Cercle français de Saint Michael’s College and its name changed throughout the years. However, it has been La Troupe des Anciens (Anciens meaning here former students) since Professor Collet officially retired in 1992. Most members of the Troupe are indeed former students; some present members joined the group in the early nineteen seventies and are still involved in our present productions. Of course, now in their sixties and seventies, they can no longer play the young lovers.
In 1969, shortly after her arrival at Saint Michael’s, Professor Paulette Collet, conscious of the benefits participation in a play would bring to her students, invited those who were interested to take part in the production of a French comedy. The play that year was L’Amour médecin, one of Molière’s less demanding works, which we performed in Carr Hall. The production was modest, the costumes approximate, the sets almost non-existent, the acoustics poor, but the actors spoke clearly and the audience was not demanding. This was a performance “en famille”. However, the students who took part in the production realised how much their pronunciation and their fluency had improved. They had also acquired some slight acquaintance with XVIIth century French literature.
The next year, 1970, we became bolder and we chose one of Molière’s best-known comedies: Le Médecin malgré lui. The student who performed the part of Sganarelle, the main character, acted in our 2024 production of Le Malade imaginaire, one of Molière’s greatest plays. Fifty-four years later, Gino Muia is still a member of La Troupe des Anciens.
With the passing of time, our group grew in daring and in importance. We began to put on more demanding plays. In 1987, we dared to perform Tartuffe, a verse-play; we produced L’Avare and the delightful Bourgeois gentilhomme several times. As we became bolder in our choice of plays, we also became bolder in our efforts to attract an audience. Professor Collet’s aim when she created the Troupe was always largely pedagogical and it has remained so. So, every year, we invite teachers to bring their high school students to our show. We help them to prepare their students for this experience
People ask: “Why do you always do Molière?” That is like asking: “Why do you always do Shakespeare?” Molière is the greatest French playwright of comedies and we dare not venture into the realm of tragedies. In any case, we do not always put on a Molière. We have performed Beaumarchais’ delightful eighteenth century comedy Le Barbier de Séville several times and Ionesco’s absurd one-act-play La Cantatrice chauve is a great favourite among our school audiences. On the topic of theatre of the absurd, Roberto Machado, another “ancien”, played the role of Capitaine des pompiers for the first time in 1975 when he was an undergraduate student at St. Mike’s and, 20 years later, this time as a high school teacher of French at Harbord Collegiate, he repeated the “tour de force” in front of some of his colleagues and students.
Gino Muia, who first performed in 1970, may be the oldest member of la Troupe des Anciens, but he is not the only one who has been with the group for half a century. Several of our most active members joined the group in the 1970s and faithfully come back every year. Of course, those who first joined the group in the last century now have grey hair and grey mustaches and can no longer play the “jeunes premiers”. Sophisticated female lawyers (many members of the Troupe are now lawyers) are now beyond playing the love interest of a 20-year-old; but the production of a play does not only require actors but also stage managers, technicians, costume and set designers and sometimes, musicians. Some of our members have changed hats as time went by. The beautiful book that we published for our 50th anniversary and which is available at the John M. Kelly Library will give you an idea of the achievements of our group.
So, if you are trying to improve your French, if you want to enjoy yourself while acquiring knowledge, la Troupe des Anciens is ready to welcome you. If you are interested, send an email to: mezcol@rogers.com or roberto.machado@utoronto.ca
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