The first part (blue text) is Cyrano de Bergerac’s speech (from Act II scene 8) where he tells his best friend he would rather live according to his ideals than pander to unworthy men simply to become successful or a famous poet.

This English translation has been downloaded from the Project Gutenberg EBook.

After the first 8 lines, 18 lines are missing from the speech, no doubt intentionally cut. The couplet in green is also missing, but that looks like an error.

The second part, (purple text) is in Dominic Champagne's own words, inexpertly translated by me (viv). I'm not remotely skilled enough to make it scan, but it should give you an idea of the sentiments.

The external links are for further information on the history of these theatres (some in English).

Jean-Paul Kingsley


Jean Grimaldi


Jean-Louis Roux


Paul Buissonneau


Françoise Berd


Marjolaine Hébert


Pierre Gobeil


Paul Hébert


Françoise Graton, Gilles Pelletier

Jean-Claude Germain

... What does it take?

Seek a protector, choose a patron out,
And like the crawling ivy round a tree
That licks the bark to gain the trunk's support,
Climb high by creeping ruse instead of force?
No, thank you! What! I, like all the rest
Dedicate verse to bankers? - play buffoon
In cringing hope to see, at last, a smile
Not disapproving, on a patron's lips?
[ .... ]
No, thank you! Or flatter sorry bunglers?
Be terrorized by every prating paper?
Say ceaselessly, 'Oh, had I but the chance
Of a fair notice in the "Mercury"!'
Thank you, no! Grow pale, fear, calculate?
Prefer to make a visit to a rhyme?
Seek introductions, draw petitions up?

No, thank you! and no! and no again! But – sing,
Dream, laugh, go lightly, solitary, free,
With eyes that look straight forward--fearless voice!
To cock your beaver just the way you choose,-
For 'yes' or 'no' show fight, or turn a rhyme!
-To work without one thought of gain or fame,
To realize that journey to the moon!
Never to pen a line that has not sprung
Straight from the heart within. Embracing then
Modesty, say to oneself, 'Good my friend,
Be thou content with flowers,- fruit,- nay, leaves,
But pluck them from no garden but thine own!'
And then, if glory come by chance your way,
To pay no tribute unto Caesar, none,
But keep the merit all your own! In short,
Disdaining tendrils of the parasite,
To be content, if neither oak nor elm -
Not to mount high, perchance, but mount alone!

To stretch yourself, that’s what you have to do
Like these visionary pioneering craftsmen
Who for years have reinvented in the dark
The magic of dreaming for us all.

I raise my hat to you, Mr Jean-Paul Kingsley
For performing here and on tour
More than 1,200 times throughout the land
The greatest of our Christs in all his passion.

And you, Jean Grimaldi, I salute you too
For bravely bringing comedy, with an open hand,
To the four corners of the land
And expertly chasing away boredom.

I salute you too Madame Palomino
For your Rideau Vert so enduring and fine.
Against winds and tides you have managed a theatre
Where every actress and actor is well looked after.

You too, Mr. Senator Jean-Louis Roux,
One of the founders of the Nouveau Monde,
For providing a repertoire from Shakespeare to Molière
That has become a popular tradition.

And you, Paul Buissonneau, with your travelling Roulotte,
For being the forerunner and pioneer
Of this great art so noble, rare and vast
That still entertains children to this day.

And you, Françoise Berd, for the fine Égrégore
Which has brought us, like a great golden torch,
The ecstatic inspiration of the poetic madness
Of Vitrac and Beckett, Ionesco and Jarry.

You, Marjolaine Hébert, for giving
Literary nobility to summer theatre
And for so long leading the enchanting dance
Of the genre of the Musical.

And you, Pierre Gobeil, for having created
The Théâtre de l'Atelier <theatre workshop> on Sherbrooke
And for proving that this art was acceptable
Everywhere and with great success.

You too, Paul Hébert, for forging
The spikes of The Trident in all its splendour
And with Jean Duceppe for producing
Charbonneau et le Chef and Death of a Salesman.

And you, Françoise Graton and you, Gilles Pelletier
Both such inspirational founders
Of the Nouvelle Comapagnie Théâtrale
Where students discover the royal road of the soul.

And you Jean-Claude Germain who single-handedly
Created and brought to the Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui 
The genius of a language and a dramatic art
That ensures our classics are contemporary.

Yes …

To be like you up there, here’s what it takes –
Craftsmen, Bohemians, pioneers, visionaries.
I salute you, friends, and say this to you
Yes thank you, yes thank you, yes thank you, yes thank you.

(And you, dear audience, stand up and turn round
Let us give them all a standing ovation.)