“2022 reviewed and corrected”: hats off to the actors

In a snub to “this ugly year”, still watched by COVID, Russian aggression in Ukraine and inflation, the end-of-year review “2022 reviewed and corrected” was presented in grand premiere on Monday evening at the Théâtre du Rideau Vert.

• Read also: Pierre Brassard in the show Review and corrected: “it’s a stupid circus, I love it!”

Among his flayed, let us note among others Pope Francis and his “not so clear” excuses made in Quebec last summer, the slippage of Hockey Canada and its management of the crisis, the convoy of freedom, but also the dynamic duo that forms Chrystia Freeland and Justin Trudeau and the impromptu Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge.

The escapades or discomfort caused by certain political leaders as well as the re-election of the Coalition avenir Québec obviously colored this edition, in which Prime Minister François Legault appeared on stage in the guise of Pierre Brassard with a striking resemblance.

The rookie actor had also brought with him his Bleu Poudre character Raymond Beaudoin, to the delight of the public who waited for him all evening, in addition to personifying King Charles III – large ears and sausage fingers in support –, Gilles Vigneault, and his personal classic Pierre Bruneau, who for the occasion celebrated his retirement in the corridors of TVA where he met a sad Denis Lévesque and much less praised than his ex-colleague.

The little news – and revelation of this edition for many – Marie-Ève ​​Sansfaçon was more than excellent in her personification of Lara Fabian who sang, for the benefits of the sketch, for Éric Duhaime at “Live from the universe” . Applauded warmly at the end of her performance, you could have heard a pin drop when she performed as the audience was so attentive.

The dean of “Review and correction”, Marc St-Martin – there since 2006 – was also excellent, and this, in each of his presence on stage. Special mention to his Julie Snyder, always well executed, and to his energetic Jean-Marc Généreux who was able to get a lot of hearty laughs from the spectators, returning to the dances that have gone viral by politicians from here and elsewhere (Sanna Marin, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Manon Massé, and Dominique Anglade on the evening of the leaders’ debate).

Benoit Paquette, who offered a delectable Christian Begin, and Monika Pilon, a true chameleon, completed the cast in a brilliant way.

The humorous review, directed by Natalie Lecompte, had a total of forty flash sketches which were chained to the quarter turn, in this one hour and forty piece. The labor crisis and inflation are themes that were explored in different forms throughout the evening, from Pierre-Yves McSween, to the program “Les chefs!”, passing through to the revival of the musical “Annie” – as good as the original -, who at 12, “works too much at McDonald’s”.

Céline’s absence and videoconference

Celine Dion (Monika Pilon) who could not be “2022 reviewed and corrected” this year – yet a regular in the franchise – offered a video message to her admirers live from Las Vegas while sobriety… and mimicry.

Volodymyr Zelensky also presented a recorded message to the public at the Green Curtain “in zoom and in pipes” and “the CAQ announcement lady” said hello during the performance.

The troupe of actors also presented a pastiche of Paul Arcan’s morning show “Puisqu’il faut se levé”, a rhythmic skit which was very well received, and in which Mike Ward, Michel Bergeron, André Sauvé, Micheline Lanctôt, Dan Bigras and many others got up at the speed of light.

The annual outing was effective in general, apart from a few jokes that were a little easy, even too obvious. Some sketches could also have been cut in favor of elongated versions for some others. The – impressive – number of sketches caused some breathlessness, but hats off to the actors who managed to make up for the shortcomings in the texts and who masterfully held on throughout.

• The end-of-year play “2022 reviewed and corrected” is presented at the Théâtre du Rideau Vert until January 7.