The company
MISSION
Transfuge is a creation and production company set up to enable artist Micha Raoutenfeld and their creative collaborators to create trans-disciplinary shows and distribute them nationally and internationally. The company's purpose is to push back the boundaries of theatre, to question dominant patterns and to offer a new mythology. The works created by Transfuge are based on an autofictive creative process and integrate performance, dance and sound work. “Trans”, the Latin prefix meaning 'beyond' and conveying the idea of change, of crossing, is fundamental to the company's vision.
FOUNDING MEMBERS
MICHA RAOUTENFELD
Micha Raoutenfeld is a queer non binary transdisciplinary artist of Slavic and Québécois origins based in Montreal/Tio'tia:ke. They trained as a dance and theatre performer in Minsk, Belarus as well as at the National Theater School of Canada before founding their own performing arts company, Transfuge. In parallel, Micha takes part in training courses and productions in Russia, Croatia, Italy, Brazil and Japan while also performing in various plays and projects in Montreal. They have worked with eminent theatre directors such as Brigitte Haentjens, Brigitte Poupart and Denis Marleau. In 2023, Micha Raoutenfeld becomes an associated artist of the Centre du Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui, the largest institution dedicated to French-speaking dramaturgy in Canada.
Micha's artistic path is rooted in their dual identity and an avidity for diverse influences and practices. Navigating between the postures of performer, director and author, they thrive in the margins, driven by the deconstruction and questioning of dominant patterns.
MATHILDE BOUDREAU
Mathilde graduated from the Stratégies de production culturelle et médiatique program at UQAM in 2020, and has been working in the cultural field for several years. During her studies, she specialized in theatrical production at the École Supérieure de Théâtre as production manager, assistant director and stage manager. Since then, she has been actively involved in the performing arts for various organizations and institutions. She collaborated with Sylvain Bélanger (2021, École Supérieure de Théâtre), Maxime Carbonneau (2022, La Messe Basse), Philippe Racine (2022, Théâtre de la Sentinelle), François Grisé (2022, Un et un font mille), Frédéric Blanchette (2023, Théâtre Duceppe), Sophie Cadieux (2024, Centre du Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui), Jérémie Niel (2024, Pétrus) and many others. In 2023, she founded the Transfuge performing arts company with Micha Raoutenfeld and Ophélie Lacasse. Papeça, the company's first creation, was presented in January 2024 at the Centre du Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui. Using her sensitivity, listening skills and leadership, Mathilde aims to create a conciliatory, inclusive and safe environnement in her projects. In parallel with her professional mandates, she is completing a specialized graduate diploma at HEC Montréal in Management of Cultural Organizations.
OPHÉLIE LACASSE
Ophélie has a strong artistic and critical flair beneath her shell as a technical director. She rallies around under-represented groups of people when she decides to take on a new project, and that's largely what led her to Transfuge. In February 2023, she is the technical director of Erin Shields' Beau Gars, directed by Guillermina Kerwin, a play about the flaws and vulnerabilities of dominant cultures. Previously, Ophélie also took part in Morena Prats' show cet intervalle - which took place in an abandoned barn. Ophélie likes the idea of breaking down the barriers of theatrical form, and is interested in ways of disrupting the codes to which we are accustomed. She wants to take the gaze to places where we're not used to looking, whether inside or outside the walls of the theater. How to subvert the audience's gaze to help transmit new narratives.