Since then converted into a Laval University School of Art, the building in the Saint-Roch district of Quebec City has long housed one of the most important women’s underwear factories in North America. Upon entering the hall of the former Dominion Corset (1886-1988), Marie-Josée Bastien immediately wanted to make it the subject of a show, one day. Very fond of history, the playwright and director discovered this part of the past through the presence of sound archives, which featured anecdotes about former workers.
This type of company seems a good vein to talk about the emancipation of women. From corsets to bras, the evolution of women’s underwear over a century seems to reflect the progress of society more broadly. You could say that women have become more free as their bodies are freed from the rigid frameworks of the social and moral structures of the time… “We made corsets for two-year-old babies [!], for pregnant women…” recalls Marie-Josée Bastien, also artistic director of the Théâtre Level Parking. An oppressive accessory.
“With the wars [mondiales], it has changed a lot. Because women started working, they had to be free to move. The whales have become cardboard, and therefore more flexible. Then the whale left, it became just a bra. Today, the textile companies have been displaced — there are no longer any in Quebec, other than for crafts. So we buy bras from elsewhere, with other kinds of exploitation. But that’s another topic…”
Relaunched by Michel Nadeau, the artistic director of La Bordée — a theater precisely located in Saint-Roch — Marie-Josée Bastien entrusted the writing of the project to the “tremendous” Isabelle Hubert (Gulnara’s Dress, Chinoiseries). They collaborated in the development of 34Ba “huge creation” that spans 100 years of history.
Nadeau notes, in the press release, that the commemorative plaque on the former corsetry “mentioned the contribution of the founders and managers of this jewel of the Quebec industry of the 19e and XXe centuries, barely emphasizing the role of the thousands of working women.
The Dominion Corset, is it a story of success or exploitation? “I think it’s both,” replies the director, who believes that this is generally the case in life: all things have their downside. ” It was a success story because it’s a Quebec company that has employed a lot of people. » The success of a company founded by French Canadians in an English-speaking world, which hired young women with little education. And, although underpaid, they had jobs.
“At the beginning, it was still a freedom for them, to leave the house instead of being stuck: either I get married or I become a nun. So to work, to have a social circle, to have money. But on the other side, there was the poverty wage, the obligation to be single, no recognition, “paternalistic treatment”. One last element that took time to change, as Marie-Josée Bastien implies…
Humor
The creators of 34B pay tribute to these workers. They read a “magnificent” book (THE ohworkers of Dominion Corset in Quebec, Mathieu Du Berger, PUL) containing many quotes from the workers. In addition, they collected several anecdotes from their fellow citizens. “There’s always someone who had an aunt working there. “Even the dresser of the Trident – where Marie-Josée Bastien has just played in spring awakening —, Hélène Ruel, who worked there in the 1980s, testified: “It was a beautiful gang, but the noise was unbearable. »
Crossing different eras, from 1897 to the closing of the factory in 1988, the play connects 54 scenes. “Isabelle Hubert has done such rich work. It’s like a mosaic of small scenes that form a large quilt. It’s really great. And not without humor. “We go through humor, through reflection, through pain, sadness. Isabelle has this great talent to open our rib cage by making us laugh, and suddenly, clack! how come i’m crying? (laughs)”, notes the director.
The play follows six workers from different generations. But the story, which sometimes mixes eras, also includes a character from today, a feminist student activist. This made it possible to name the exploitation without putting the word directly into the mouths of the workers. An element difficult to recognize at the time, thinks the artistic director of the Théâtre Level Parking. “It’s really when you get out of a situation that you do: it seems to me that I was the victim of exploitation. A contemporary character has a look at the situation 100 years ago, she can see that. So it became a character that punctuates the whole play. »
Each of the actresses embodies a main role, in addition to a large bouquet of other characters. “I had fun doing the distribution where each girl plays a role, often her opposite in energy, and then a man, a young one, an older one… It’s a beautiful playground for everyone. »
With this choral piece where short scenes follow one another, Marie-Josée Bastien stages “the biggest show that she has ever directed. “It was lace to put on this show. The actresses are heroines for me: we changed things until the last minute. A creation as we like them. We worked hard, we hardly took any breaks. We were practically at the Dominion Corset (laughs). A big challenge, but in happiness. »
34B also highlights the solidarity woven between the workers. The one who traveled to Africa “with friends working in craft cooperatives” notes that there is “a lot of female solidarity, in general, in the world, of women who take care of others, of benevolence, of communion “. The artist from Wendake, whose sister and mother are weavers, compares this sorority to a “fabric that is underneath everything”.
Moreover, the main decor of the room is an immense weave, which serves as a projection surface behind the scenes, created by a “circle of ladies from Wendake, who make quilts, small sets for babies, so that mothers who are going to give birth in Quebec City do not feel alone”.
Visiting this weaving group named Ohchionwahta’ — “needles” in Wendat —, Bastien saw “exactly the same scenes” as with the seamstresses in the play, 100 years later: we could have put in the show. »
The show evokes feminist struggles, but also the vulnerability of the first protagonist, who arrived very young from the countryside, vulnerable because she was left in great ignorance, including sexual ignorance, in this era dominated by the Catholic religion. “I was reading parts of the play to my goddaughters, who are 19-20 years old, and they were like, ‘It can’t be!’ But it hasn’t been that long. We’re going a long way! There is this idea of learning about history. And at the same time – it’s always my hobby – knowing the past, we are able to see further, to understand where we are going. It’s not a documentary or historical piece, but it uses history to understand who we are and where we come from. And that is important. »
As for women, 34B, which recalls the memory of previous generations of Quebec women, makes it possible to measure their progress. “There is still more to go. But we have come a long way. »