Impossible to contain the entire Saint-Laurent in a box of a few square meters? Yet this is what is happening at the Center du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, when the river is the heart and soul of a show of great beauty, carried by a breath that one would think came from the open sea. .
For The girls of the Saint-Lawrence, playwright Rébecca Déraspe (in collaboration with Annick Lefebvre) has composed nothing less than a maritime symphony for 10 voices. Here, the fates of eight women and one man are changed by the river itself (played by Elkahna Talbi). Or more precisely by the discovery of corpses spat out by this same river.
From Coteau-du-Lac to Blanc-Sablon, from Rimouski to Grandes-Bergeronnes, these corpses swollen with salt water act like electroshocks on those who have found them during a run or a kiss. The backlash is inevitable. There will be a before and after for Dora the journalist, Lili the deliciously quirky student, her roommate Charlotte, Mathilde who longs for her children and all the others.
Rébecca Déraspe has used all the effervescence of her writing to paint portraits full of tenderness of these drifting characters. Humor is always within reach, but it never eclipses the small and the big dramas that are played out on the banks of this sometimes lulling and nurturing river, sometimes deceitful and cruel. We can feel it, the author who grew up on the shores of the St. Lawrence loves the river as much as she fears it…
In the staging, Alexia Bürger manages to lead us on a boat with nothing more than microphones, some lighting effects and sound effects that are genius. On this bare stage, the water is heard more than it is seen. It gurgles, it splashes, it sparkles. The windows crash together. These noises testify in homeopathic doses to all the moods of the St. Lawrence.
Above all, the director knew how to choreograph this choral text in such a way that the performers reveal themselves drop by drop in the foreground before going back into the shadows.
The process might seem repetitive; on the contrary, it is almost hypnotizing. It’s a real ballet that plays out in front of us, recalling the tireless comings and goings of the tides.
PHOTO VALÉRIE PROVIDED BY THE CENTER DU THÉÂTRE D’AUJOURD’HUI
Louise Laprade (left) and Elkahna Talbi are part of the cast.
The 10 actresses (the feminine takes precedence here over the masculine, while Ariel Ifergan is the only man in the group) carry this text with remarkable ease, which seems to have been cut precisely for each of them. None stands out, because all are excellent. We will therefore have to name them all, because they succeed in moving us, making us laugh and transporting us without flinching for nearly two hours: Zoé Boudou, Annie Darisse, Marie-Thérèse Fortin, Louise Laprade, Gabrielle Lessard, Émilie Monnet, Elkahna Talbi, Catherine Trudeau and Tatiana Zinga Botao.
And when the final scene arrives and the identity of the corpses is finally revealed, the water gushes out on stage while droplets form in the corner of the spectators’ eyes. This spectacle of great humanity and undeniable grace deserved this finale, touching as possible. A real balm for the soul.
The girls of the Saint-Lawrence
Text by Rébecca Déraspe (supported by Annick Lefebvre), directed by Alexia Bürger. With Catherine Trudeau, Marie-Thérèse Fortin, Louise Laprade and 7 other performers.
Today’s Theater CenterUntil April 29