like the vulnerability present in Louis among the ghosts, Jdonkey, the fox and me or Truffle (La Watermelon), Fanny Britt borrows with 176 steps a path that is dear to him. As a way of breaking down the walls that sometimes arise between what we are and what we want to show to others, it probes inner fragility.
Just before the pandemic, Simon Boudreault — director and artistic director of the Théâtre de l’Oeil — suggested that the author write a play for the company. She instantly agreed to immerse herself in writing which, she said on the phone, had always done her good and which she wanted. But, even more, this request came at a time when her youngest son was 9 years old – the other 15 years old – and she felt him irremediably sliding towards adolescence. “I think that writing this piece was a way of holding on to their childhood. A little out of nostalgia, but also out of a desire to document that, to record that. I wanted, like every time I write for young people, to put myself back in my child’s eyes and also to try to see life through the eyes of my children”, confides -She.
[…] the puppet creates a bridge. There is an attachment, a bit like with animals. It seems like we are immediately becoming intimate with the animal. It’s the same with the puppet. At least, for me, it does that.
176 steps, it is the story of a meeting between Octave, a formidable pianist, but anxious at the idea of leaving his cozy cocoon, and Delphine, a fisherman’s daughter, extroverted and daring, who carries her anxieties within her. The two characters experience different insecurities, and this is also what the author wanted to portray, this idea that anxiety has several faces. “The play shows the meeting of these two children who, against all odds, will become friends without knowing what is happening in the inner world of both of them. But they will eventually discover it and understand that their fears are just fears. This is one of the basic principles in understanding anxiety. […] », explains the author.
The fragility and vulnerability that inhabit the characters also serve as a common thread throughout Britt’s work. “I feel like it’s my life’s obsession. Something I sometimes call torrenting […] This idea between the inner person and the outer person. The wall that can sometimes arise between the two […]. » The importance of others, of doing things together, is also part of Fanny Britt’s approach, who believes very much in social and intimate solidarity, in the idea, she says, of being united in our fragilities. “That’s also why I talked about friendship in my plays, in my books, it’s fundamental for me. I have the feeling that 176 steps is nourished by all the things that interest me in writing. »
The power of the puppet
And to showcase this vulnerability, the puppet is, according to Fanny Britt, a wonderful material, which acts in a bit the same way as the illustrations in the graphic novel. “When I wrote Jane, the fox and me, I had something to tell that was very personal, but when Isabelle’s illustrations [Arsenault] arrived, my story took on the dimensions of real artistic creations. This is where it becomes art for me. » She thus sees in these small, initially inanimate figurines not only a great form of art, but a fragility which suits her text. “Puppets are really vulnerable. It’s like inert pieces of fabric, paper or cardboard, but when you infuse them with human and creative energy, take them in your hands and make them move, there is a soul that takes hold of them. these objects, and this thing upsets me. It’s really as if the objects started to speak […] it’s like making the soul speak,” she explains.
I think that writing this piece was a way of holding on to their childhood. A little out of nostalgia, but also out of a desire to document that, to record that. I wanted, like every time I write for young people, to put myself back in my childhood perspective and also to try to see life through the eyes of my children.
She also thinks that the puppet allows us to establish a connection, an easy link with the more fierce spectator. “I can be intimidated by actors. In the sense that, when their emotion is very raw, I can sometimes step back and say to myself “Phew! It’s a lot”. But the puppet creates a bridge. There is an attachment, a bit like with animals. It seems like we are immediately becoming intimate with the animal. It’s the same with the puppet. At least, for me, it does that. »
Moved by the staging of Simon Boudreault and Marie-Josée Bastien, the author remembers with humor to what extent the suggestions present in her instructions were not very clear, but were recovered, transformed, “with so much of creativity […] It’s a real favorite for all the artisan work that is done,” she confides. Added to this staging are music and songs by Ariane Moffatt, a plot which accompanies the protagonists in their journey and can, says Britt, do a lot of good to the spectator. “As an anxious child, music consoled me so much, and it still does today. It’s the art form that does me the most good, more than literature. »
Inviting young and old to meet these characters as fragile as they are luminous, Fanny Britt believes that it is good, above all, to summon your child’s heart. “There are so many adults who have spoken to me about Jane, Louis and Truffle. I think there is no reason to deprive yourself of going to see and read children’s works. If it speaks to us, if it speaks to our heart, there is no reason to deprive ourselves of it. »