Review | The Big Darkness: Laughing at the End of the World

The Théâtre du Futur, this company that handles absurd humor with delight, is back in service at the Stables. The big darknesshis whimsical new dystopia, choppers left, right, unicyclists and metal-listening “hairs” with equal pleasure.

Posted at 2:00 p.m.

Stephanie Morin

Stephanie Morin
The Press

Things are bad in Quebec. Soaring banana prices sparked riots and shattered what little social cohesion remained. People are leaving the city to create small rural communities made up only of like-minded people. Fans of intuitive agriculture gather at Graine B (pun alert here!), those nostalgic for the 1990s retreat to Charny… In Saint-Ludique-les-Blés, it is lovers of life-size games who have found refuge.

In this fragmented world, a protagonist searches for a place to lay down. It’s you. Yes you. Because in this crazy show, your story is told by Olivier Morin, Guillaume Tremblay and Navet Confit, to whom Myriam Fournier was added for the occasion.

This band of funny (or downright silly) artists multiplies the references to popular culture (those who were bored of the series Scoop will be delighted) and manages to trigger frank laughter with two or three pieces of string. To achieve this, you need a totally assumed creative madness, a state that the joyful troupe of the Théâtre du Futur can claim.


PHOTO JOSÉE LCOMPTE, PROVIDED BY THE STABLES

Kermit the frog (here renamed Stéphane) is a key character in The big darkness !

Ridicule does not kill, we see it a hundred times more than once in front of this unbridled play where one of our favorite characters is embodied by a puppet from Kermit the Frog, renamed Stéphane for the occasion. Puppet who does kung fu, too! You had to think about it… and not practice radical self-censorship to decide to bring this absurd idea to the stage.

Admittedly, the subject is often disjointed and the piece pulls in all directions at times. It is sometimes difficult to follow the creators in the twists and turns of their absurd humour. Certain references escape us, of course. The winks — and far-fetched puns — are too numerous to capture them all. But it would be sulking his pleasure to dwell too long on the faults of this show which would draw smiles to the most grumpy.

To take full advantage of your evening, you have to leave your need to understand everything in the locker room. No need to wonder about a possible moral to decipher: just get on the train to follow these artists who have made the future their main source of inspiration. With them, the future can be dark or bright, but it will never be boring.

The big darkness

The big darkness

Text Olivier Morin and Guillaume Tremblay. Directed by Olivier Morin. With Olivier Morin, Guillaume Tremblay, Navet Confit and Myriam Fournier.

Theater at the Stables.Until April 30, 2022.


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