Suzanne Lebeau

Suzanne Lebeau, born on April twenty-eighth, nineteen forty-eight, in Montreal, is a distinguished Canadian (Québécois) actor and writer. She is the daughter of Blanche Payette and Paul Lebeau, and her passion for theatre led her to study under notable figures such as Jacques Crête and Gilles Maheu. Her artistic journey took her to Paris, where she honed her skills in mime with Étienne Decroux, and later to Wrocław, Poland, to explore pantomime and marionettes with the Henryk Tomaszewski Pantomime Theatre and Puppet Theatre.

In nineteen seventy-five, Lebeau founded the Le Carrousel theatre company alongside Gervais Gaudreault, taking on the role of co-director. That same year, she penned her first children's play, Ti-Jean voudrait ben s'marier, mais..., marking the beginning of her transition from performance to writing. Her exposure to children's theatre was further enriched through a contract with Théâtre La Roulotte in Longueuil, where she also taught writing for young audiences, including at the National Theatre School of Canada.

Her career has been marked by numerous accolades, including a stint as writer-in-residence at the Chartreuse de Villeneuve-lez-Avignon in France from November nineteen ninety-three to February nineteen ninety-four. In nineteen ninety-eight, she was honored as a Chevalier in the French Order of La Pléiade. Lebeau's contributions to the arts have been recognized with several awards, including the Prix Athanase-David in two thousand ten and two thousand thirteen, the Prix Rideau Hommage, and the Gascon-Thomas Award from the National Theatre School of Canada. In June two thousand sixteen, she received the prestigious Governor General's Performing Arts Award, celebrating her lifetime contributions to Canadian theatre.