It was while consulting the site of L’Officiel des spectacles in Paris that the thing jumped out at me. I was looking at the list of theatrical productions playing this fall and saw (once again) how good a balance there is between drama and comedy in the City of Lights.
Posted at 8:15 a.m.
With us, forget it! When autumn arrives, we fall into drama. In the big drama. You will tell me that the comedies offered in Paris are not all brilliant, it’s true. And they are mostly presented in private theaters. In Quebec, theaters that are in motion from September to June are largely subsidized. In short, a good old cliché persists: seriousness in subsidized theater and laughter in private.
This belief that the theater that makes you laugh cannot make you think remains well anchored. However, one can entertain by feeding the brains of the spectators. Ask Molière what he thinks about it.
I combed through the seasons of major theaters in the metropolis. Apart from a few rare productions that should cheer us up, I’m thinking of Twelfth night offered by the TNM, the pieces propose very serious themes.
Notice, I have nothing against dramatic works, quite the contrary. But I wish I had more choices. And that is not possible. I naively thought that after two years of the pandemic, theater directors would make an effort in this direction. This is not the case.
Laughter is first and foremost a sound. And it’s the absence of that sound that terrifies everyone. A comedy that elicits no laughter kills everyone. And when it does, we know it right away. On the other hand, if a drama is shown, no sound, apart from that of the yawn, can betray the producer’s choice.
Spectators go home wondering if they were the only ones who found the play boring. Hence the importance of the role of critics.
This omnipresence of drama is very much felt in our television. Oh how bad things are on the small screen. Life is difficult for the characters of STAT, 5e row, Before the crash, For you Flora, Cerebrum, Indefensible, The breakaway, Anna and Arnaud, The honorable, Alerts, The perfect moments and The flaw.
After three thirty-second promos of these shows, I put on some Bee Gees to cheer me up.
It is fascinating to see that entertainment has been entrusted almost exclusively to quizzes and talk shows. Apart Discussions with my parents, Without an appointment, Neither do I, Between two sheets and Happiness (back in January), you have to fall back on quizzes and cooking shows to have fun.
That the humor comes mainly through these shows shows how difficult it is to design good comedies. Writers and directors will tell you.
Several factors have an influence on the choice of program atmospheres. My colleague from Sun Richard Therrien spoke to me about a basely technical aspect. Since broadcasters are mostly looking for 60-minute episodes, we tend to go for drama. Creating a story that is meant to elicit laughter for an hour takes a lot of work. And talented!
Otherwise, there would be series like The beautiful discomforts per ton.
In literature, too, we love drama. But hey, the consumer has the freedom to create a balance in front of the immense choice available to him. One can always follow a heavy novel by another of the ” feel good “.
I would like more laughs in the theater and on TV, but the fact remains that the halls are full and the ratings are exploding. The figures of the first Monday on which appeared STAT and Indefensible were quite impressive.
To understand this, you have to go to the side of science. According to several studies, fictional drama makes you happy.
Researchers from the University of Oxford claim that watching drama is a “natural painkiller”. Even if you witness atrocities, this experience helps to bond with others and release endorphin, the hormone that increases pleasure and decreases stress and pain.
A Dutch study, from the University of Tilburg, proved what many already thought: the drama of others, presented in the form of fiction, makes us appreciate more the positive aspects of our life. This is the effect of the famous “the more we compare ourselves, the more we console ourselves”.
Drama consumption leads to an increase in short-term happiness. Crying releases oxytocin, the hormone of love, trust and social connection. People who took part in the Dutch study said they felt a sense of happiness about 90 minutes after watching the sad movie they were shown.
Seeing a “worse world than ours” feels good. Hence the rise in popularity of dystopias, these fictional and nightmarish stories that reflect our societies and our fears. The successes of Handmaid’s Tales, black-mirror and Don’t Look Up are largely attributable to this.
I started this column by telling you about my fears in the face of this avalanche of tragedies that falls on us when autumn arrives. I will end it by telling you that in the end, this is reassuring. The more dramas we invent, the more it will mean that the planet is not doing too badly, in the end.
When the real dramas supplant the fictional ones, then we can worry.
Thereupon, I will reread the last Houellebecq. It’s so funny !