All Repercussion Theatre wanted was permission to bring their Shakespeare in the Park program to Brossard this summer.
But the startling response artistic director Amanda Kellock received from the city’s culture and recreation department said it all.
“The response was they only program plays for children but also that they don't really program anything in English,” she said.
In the email Brossard says the city has a multicultural population, but also has Francophone status.
“I was confused. It didn't seem to really make sense to me,” she said.
When Brossard’s supposed “French plays only” policy went public, residents were nonplussed and contacted Repercussion Theatre.
One man wrote: "When I saw that, I was disappointed in Brossard. This place has been my home since I was very young. I always prided the fact that we are multicultural. I personally wrote a letter to our mayor."
On Tuesday, Brossard’s communications director told CTV there had been a mistake and that Repercussion Theatre's request had not gone through the proper channels at city hall.
Kellock said the city has also reached out to her to clear things up, saying it doesn't have a policy of not allowing English programming, that the email was a hasty response that did not capture its actual position and please send all of the information again so the city can reassess the file.
"There are language in this province that are really challenging to navigate, and I think if we can actually talk about it and have these conversations, isn't that so much better than just fighting about it?" she said.
Kellock says she's very happy the city of Brossard listened to its citizens and set the record straight. They hope to have a decision about Shakespeare in the park in the new year.
