While the power dynamics between theatre critics and artists are inevitably imbalanced, as the written word reaches a wider audience and lives much longer than does performance, for feminist artists, the stakes in this relationship are heightened due to the disjunction in identity and ideology that often separates them from mainstream reviewers. This study exposes the gendered nature of theatre criticism, examining the dialogue about feminist theatre in which critics, audiences, and artists are engaged, and identifying its consequences beyond the box office. Case studies are drawn from Nightwood Theatre (1979-present) in Toronto and the Théâtre Expérimental des Femmes (TEF) (1979-1987) in Montreal as well as the work of the TEF’s co-founder Pol Pelletier before 1979 and after 1987 in order to examine key issues in the critical reception of feminist theatre in Canada, including: censorship, the relationship between art and politics, translation, and how artists speak back to their critics. This dissertation argues that the standards employed by mainstream reviewers, while most often not intentionally discriminatory against women, run counter to the central qualities of much feminist theatre. Reviewers’ tendency to separate text and spectacle and their consistent reification of universality and objectivity as critical ideals work in contradistinction to feminist theatre, which has historically placed greater emphasis on performance over written text and foregrounded the particularized nature of identity and experience. Drawing extensively on archival materials and applying a materialist feminist framework to the study of theatre criticism, this dissertation examines the history of feminist theatre and performance in Canada from a different perspective than it has previously been studied and suggests new ways to understand the relationship between critics, artists, and audiences. Through its case studies emerge several practical suggestions about responsible and ethical critical writing that can be applied beyond the scope of feminist theatre.

L’illumineuse est un texte dramatique construit autour de la figure de l’écrivaine québécoise Jovette Marchessault. La pièce, relevant à la fois de l’hommage et du récit initiatique, propose une réflexion sur l’expérience de lecture, sur l’écriture et sur le legs artistique féministe. Dynamisée par un important jeu intertextuel, L’illumineuse met en scène une exploration et une célébration ludique de l’oeuvre de Marchessault, en intégrant des personnages et des extraits issus de ses écrits. L’action de L’illumineuse se déroule en une nuit, dans le huis clos d’un appartement d’étudiante, au sein duquel une jeune écrivaine angoissée recevra la visite des « femmes légendaires » (Anne Hébert, Anaïs Nin, Violette Leduc, etc.) qui peuplent les pièces de théâtre de Marchessault. L’essai La « claque de feu monumentale » : mysticisme et féminisme dans La pérégrin chérubinique de Jovette Marchessault se penche sur le dernier texte publié de Jovette Marchessault et sur l’héritage mystique à la fois traditionnel et revendicateur qu’il contient. Nous y relevons, en un premier temps, les mécanismes textuels qui supportent le mysticisme de La pérégrin chérubinique. Par la suite, sont analysées les représentations théâtrales dont l’oeuvre fit l’objet, organisées par la metteure en scène et interprète Pol Pelletier, dans le but de réfléchir au mysticisme à l’épreuve de la scène. En réfléchissant à la fois aux média textuels et dramatiques, l’essai aborde la question de l’art comme vecteur du sacré, tout en mettant de l’avant les subversions féministes des créatrices de La pérégrin chérubinique. / L’illumineuse is a play built around the heritage of Quebec writer Jovette Marchessault. The text, which is both a tribute and an initiation story, focuses on the relationship between reader and fiction, the experience of writing, as well as the artistic legacy of feminism. We hope that L’illumineuse is able to travel through and celebrate the work of Marchessault, as characters and words from her own writings are transposed into a new and original setting, creating a dynamic exploration of intertextuality. The play’s story happens all in one night, in the huis clos of a students’ apartment, in which an anxious young writer will have the visits of the “legendary women” (Anne Hébert, Anaïs Nin, Violette Leduc, etc.) coming from Marchessault’s own plays. The essay La “claque de feu monumentale”: mysticism et féminisme dans La pérégrin chérubinique de Jovette Marchessault, is about Marchessault’s last published text and its mystical tone, which is respectful of tradition and, at the same time, highly vindicative. First, we identify the textual mechanisms which support the mystical aspect of La pérégrin chérubinique. Then, we analyse the theatrical performances of the text by the director and performer Pol Pelletier, in order to question the staging of mysticism. By reflecting on textual and theatrical media, the essay aims to explore the ways in which the sacred is conveyed by art, as well as the feminist subversions of La pérégrin chérubinique.