There are a number of readers who have been following my blog for a few months.  I’m happy to have been able to offer some insight, and I enjoy reading some of your emails.

It takes time to get a sense of another culture when there is a linguistic barrier or physical distance.  However, for those of you who are regular readers, if you were to visit Québec, if you were to watch some Montréwood television, or even listen to some of the news, you would probably already notice that the pieces are now starting to fall into place, bit by tiny bit.  Much of what you encounter should now be making much more sense.

I was recently in Montréal and I walked by Théatre St-Denis.  It is one of the most famous stage theatres in Québec.  It features acts of all types.  Some of the biggest names in Québec’s pop-culture have seen their careers launched at Théatre St-Denis, and it continues to feature some of the biggest stars.

A quick glance at the sign made me realize just how much ground has been covered in just the few short months of blogging about Québec, its pop-culture, and many other topics related to Québec and Francophone culture in Canada.

For the regular readers of this blog, the signs (below) should give you an idea just how much you have already learned about Québec’s culture in the last few months.  Give yourself a pat on the back for wanting taking the initiative to learn more, and for your desire to acquire a greater cultural context of what Québec and Canada are all about.

Théatre St-Denis

Simply from having regularly read the blog posts, a good number of you will certainly recognize some of these names.  You now likely know who they are, what they’re about, and how they fit into Québec’s overall culture.  Here are four which might jump out at you:

• Stéphane Rousseau
• Véronic DiCaire
• Lise Dion
• Rachid Badouri

The last time I was in Québec City, I also snapped a photo of the performance sign hanging in front of the Le Capitole (the most famous performance theatre in Québec city, and also one of the most famous stage theatres in Québec).

Again, some of the names you’ll likely recognize are

• Ginette Reno
• Véronic DiCaire
• Mario Pelchat

This could be proof that learning about Québec, its culture, and Canada’s Francophone culture in general is not an insurmountable task – even if you don’t speak French.  I’m trying my best to cover topics which are relevant, and which pertain to what normal people see in the media, on the street, as well as what everyday common people talk about over meals, at work, and at home.

I would even venture to bet that should you travel to Québec, that you would already be in a position to begin to feel like you are in familiar territory (from a cultural standpoint) – regardless of your French language level.  Regardless where you live in Canada, hopefully you’re even beginning to feel that aspects of Canada’s Francophone culture are part of your own culture, at a very personal level.  That is a very commendable feat, and I’m quite humbled to know there is a good number of people who are regularly following my posts.

So to those who are faithfully reading this blog, thank-you.  I’ll do my best to keep bringing you new topics as time allows.  Let’s keep moving forward, and let’s keep building bridges!  🙂

The official websites for

• Théatre St-Denis is http://theatrestdenis.com/en/
• Le Capitole is http://www.lecapitole.com/en/index.php

Should you travel to Montréal or Québec City, these websites (in English & French) have performance information, showtimes, and tickets.