Quebec theatre incensed by $500 fine for fake cigarette smoked by actor
MONTREAL — Health inspectors who showed up at a recent Quebec City theatrical production took no issue with the actor centre stage in a giant penis costume.
But after watching another actor light up a fake cigarette, they informed the general manager of the venue hosting the play it would be getting a $500 ticket for contravening Quebec’s tough anti-smoking laws.
Now, Marc Gourdeau of Premier Acte theatre is weighing whether to contest the fine he will receive shortly following a staging of a French translation of the play “Conversations With My Penis.”
“It was hardly 30 years ago that it was the penis that would have shocked everyone, and the priests would have mounted the barricades,” Gourdeau said Thursday. “It’s a bit paradoxical.”