La Seizième

Why this title?

Bianca Richard and Gabriel Robichaud are both from southeastern New Brunswick, a region unfairly perceived as “badly French-speaking,” notably because of Acadian popular speech, chiac, which blends French, Old French, English, and anglicized English verbs. Long silenced by the fear of being judged, Bianca and Gabriel came to realize how deeply their relationship to their mother tongue had been shaped by prejudice and by a sense of being outside the linguistic norm. These reflections led them to open up a dialogue around language and identity.

“Linguistic insecurity stemming from a feeling of illegitimacy is a sad thing when it concerns an individual, but it carries heavy consequences when it affects a community.”

Annette Boudreau, sociolinguist, in her book Dire le silence, 2022

How did the project come about?

Bianca Richard and Gabriel Robichaud meet during an artist workshop in Banff in 2016. One August day in 2019, after a day of shooting on the set of the TV series À la Valdrague, Gabriel took the plunge. He brought up again with his co-star to create something on what they had both been experiencing since childhood: a discomfort with the way they speak French. Quite a paradox for two award-winning artists in theatre and literature! Bianca and Gabriel then decided to confront their linguistic insecurity, that feeling of “illegitimacy a person can experience in relation to the way they express their mother tongue,” as Bianca describes it. They observed that when these issues are discussed in the public sphere, it is rarely from the perspective of speakers themselves, those who grew up with this reality. The two creators then proceeded to document “linguistic bibliographies”, moments of linguistic discomfort in their lives. These were the beginnings of the Parler mal project.

What were the development phases of the project?

With a subject almost too vast to be contained within a single medium, the project has taken on several forms: a podcast, a television documentary, and a stage play. One common thread remains: its documentary approach. In addition to recounting their own experiences, Bianca and Gabriel immersed themselves in academic research, visits to schools, and interviews with sociolinguists.

As early as 2020, the text, drawing on their personal experiences, caught the attention of the theatre community following public readings. It quickly generated interest and went on to receive the National RBC Award for Excellence from the Foundation for the Advancement of Francophone Theatre in Canada.

The project then moved to the airwaves. Following an interview on the radio show Du côté de chez Catherine on ICI Première, Radio-Canada Acadie invited Bianca Richard and Gabriel Robichaud to develop a podcast. Launched in September 2021, it consists of five episodes sharing testimonies, anecdotes, and personal reflections on linguistic insecurity, supported by contributions from sociolinguists, educators, and political figures. Finally, after being approached by a production company, the two creators developed a feature-length television documentary, which aired in 2023 on Radio-Canada.

“There was a turning point when, in conversation with sociolinguist Isabelle Violette, Bianca and I realized that the show we were creating was responding to a self-imposed silence experienced by individuals—and even by communities. The feedback we receive after performances is incredibly precious for a project like ours.”

Gabriel Robichaud

What about the play?

The stage play, a docu-fiction blending the two artists’ experiences during childhood to adulthood, with interventions from experts, was finally created in 2024. The result is a moving and funny work that feels like a liberating act of resistance. Produced by Théâtre Gauche with Satellite Théâtre, Théâtre À tour de rôle, and the Festival TransAmériques as co-producers, it toured Moncton, Carleton-sur-Mer, and Paris, then continued its momentum in 2025 with performances in New Brunswick, British Columbia, and Quebec before diverse audiences, demonstrating how powerfully the work resonates across different contexts.

Théâtre la Seizième presents the show on February 6 and 7, co-presented with Alliance Française Vancouver. The performances are sold out. A conference on linguistic insecurity, titled “Ah, ton accent est cute!”, hosted by Dr. Marie-Ève Bouchard, PhD, sociolinguist and professor at UBC, will take place on February 6 at 6 p.m., prior to the performance.

Fascinated by the topic? Read on! Consult our sources:

• Speaking ‘good’ French – Parler mal explores linguistic insecurity – La Source newspaper

• Cinq questions à Bianca Richard et Gabriel Robichaud – Interview in JEU, theatre magazine (in French)

• Parler mal pour mieux parler de l’insécurité linguistique – La Liberté newspaper (in French)

• Parler mal podcast – OHdio

• Parler mal documentary – ICI Télé

Photo credit: Annie France Noël