On the banner announcing the programming of Usine C, the name of Cédric Delorme-Bouchard is written in large letters between those of Brigitte Haentjens and Angela Konrad. A sign that the 31-year-old designer is now part of the big leagues. “These are two women I admire. It’s very flattering to find myself in the same season as them”, launches the director with humility.
Met in a café in the Village, two blocks from Usine C, Cédric Delorme-Bouchard talks to us about his “global” approach to theatre. For him, all the elements — the lighting, the sound, the music, the body, the text — are part of the same toolbox which he uses to construct singular objects for the stage. A graduate in theater and scenography from UQAM, he is influenced by various disciplines, but his “home base” will always remain the theatre: “The freedom of creation is immense in the theatre. For me, it’s a meeting point between dance, opera, visual arts, etc. »
PHOTO SIMON GAUTHIER, PROVIDED BY THE COMPANY CHAMBRE NOIRE
A scene from the show The employees at the Prospero Theater
A multidisciplinary artist, he likes to create works that juxtapose forms and multiply scenic challenges. To bring out all the light. Literally and figuratively. He is always looking for new ways to tell stories. The employees is a good example. If the light remains at the center of the proposal, it dialogues with the other dramaturgical elements — the movement of the performers, the text of Olga Ravn, the sound coating of Simon Gauthier — in the same breath.
Major transformation
The nave, his next creation with music by Messiaen, will be performed by eight dancers and four pianists, and produced by the company Ballet Opéra Pantomime, at Usine C, where he is artist in residence. The director has transformed the main hall into an arena, dominated by a huge illuminated altar.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Cedric Delorme-Bouchard
The empty space on a board is my sandbox. I like to use it to destabilize the public. Depending on their place in the room, each spectator will have a different experience. We haven’t seen a setup like this at Usine C in a while.
Cedric Delorme-Bouchard
For him, art serves to make us live new experiences. Both human, sensory and emotional. “There is also a Cartesian side to art,” says the young man who also studied pure science. When I prepare a show, I often have to make very rational decisions in rehearsal. It’s very concrete, a plateau. You see immediately if an element works or not. »
Cédric Delorme-Bouchard likes the “distance” of theater from the real world. “I have an interest in all that is sacred and invisible. Mysterious. The theater allows me to escape into another universe. Between utopia and dystopia. As in Greek tragedies, where the protagonists need to put the world at a distance to better interpret its mysteries. »
Through his works, Cédric Delorme-Bouchard explores the luminous and infinite horizons of theatre. And invites us to think beyond reality.
The employees. Until May 6, in the main hall of the Prospero Theater.
The nave. At Usine C on May 12, 13, 16 and 17; on July 16 at the Orford Musique festival, in a version revised for the venue.