Melissa Paulson
MA student
Cultural Studies
I’m a performance artist, educator, and creator from Montréal. I went to theatre school at John Abbott College and hold a B.Ed from McGill University. I left Québec for New York City and took a writing class at the PIT. This was the start to the development of my one-woman show . The piece was nominated for Best Solo Fringe show at the Montreal Fringe and then Chicago where it was selected by Timeout Chicago as one of the 5 best bets of the Chicago Fringe 2016.
In the last fifteen years, I’ve collaborated with artists to craft performances/programs that challenge societal norms and amplify women’s voices. I’ve advocated and promoted leadership programs for teenage girls in NYC schools through the organization WET Productions and developed a monologue writing workshop for The Picton ROC Youth Centre.
I’m also the daughter of a French Québecoise. The nationalistic pride exuding from my mother has always been captivating. As a native French Québecoise living in a predominantly anglophone Ontario for the past 10 years, I yearn to be back in this idyllic version of Québec. However, I’ve begun reflecting on my beliefs, my identity and the hypocrisy surrounding Québec’s overarching nationalism.
Lately, I’ve felt a pull to explore these questions and to re-shape my connection to theatre.
Areas of research include Québec folklore, its cultural/religious and sociolinguistic history (with respect to immigration and the evolution of Québec women), new media narrative, and performance theory.