A theatrical UFO is landing these days on the stages of Premier Acte in Quebec. Presented by the Théâtre Astronaute, The hip-hop Republic of Lower Canada offers a rap musical — yes, yes! — planted in a crazy and revolutionary galaxy, but above all close to home.
Passionate about hip-hop and fond of musicals, author Dominique Sacy traveled in the jubilant orbit of Alaclair Ensemble to bring his latest play back to Earth. The Hip-Hop Republic sets its scene in the language and rich universe of the five political-satirical rappers. It all begins in 2036: the collective, then at its peak in a Quebec irrigated by rap, sows the seed of revolution during a Saint-Jean concert. Two years later, Robert Nelson and his Picker Brothers won the independence of Lower Canada: the king is dead, long live the Republic!
The play nevertheless takes place 37 years after the sovereignty of Lower Canada, in 2075. Four decades, or almost, were enough for the sovereignist ideal to wear out until it no longer meant much: the height for a Hip-Hop Republic. The freedom acquired in 2038 therefore finds itself chained to new tyrants: money and “whipping”, a neologism which means “work” in Alaclair’s vocabulary. In this world of profit, the rich Joey Money gorges himself while the dispossessed hunger for a better distribution of “brown sugar” — “wealth” in the Lower Canadian dialect.
Me and my characters, we wonder how to bring back the revolt, how to bring back a time when, politically, big changes are happening.
“Me and my characters, we wonder how to bring back the revolt, how to bring back a time when, politically, big changes are happening,” explains Dominique Sacy. My play takes place in 2075, specifies the 30-year-old author, so my characters look at the glorious Lower Canadian era that occurred 40 years earlier, a bit like me, I look at the Quiet Revolution of around 60 years ago. They find themselves in a really bleak political world just like we, in my opinion, are in 2023.”
A “nostalgic future”
The play depicts a “nostalgic future”, in the words of its author, where historical parallels abound. In There hip-hop republic, the five “slims” of Alaclair Ensemble “are really like Harmonium or Beau Dommage at the time” of the quiet revolution, underlines the 30-year-old author. Robert Nelson, the artist name chosen by one of the members of the collective of political-satirical rappers, echoes the leading figure of the patriot rebels who, in 1838, proclaimed the “true” declaration of independence of Lower Canada.
In the play, Annabelle “the revolutionary” and her friend Zack represent a youth who dreams of reviving the exhausted ideals of the revolution. Both refuse to be satisfied with the little that a world, where everything can be bought, has to offer. “They have aspirations, read poetry, are in love with Miron,” illustrates Dominique Sacy. The anger of the two characters reflects that of their creator, who is also outraged by the commercial logic of existence advocated by the “lucid” people of today.
“Lucien Bouchard says that Quebecers don’t work enough,” laments the author. I don’t know what world he lives in, but I find it revolting. To see the quantity of burnout in my entourage currently, no, Lucien, the problem in Quebec is not that people don’t work enough. »
In The hip-hop republic, the antidote to apathy is partying. When the lure of gain preaches everyone for themselves, pleasure allows collective communion, the author believes. The creation of the work itself illustrated the point in the eyes of the director, Émile Beauchemin.
” This show-It made me fall in love with my job again, he explains. We had a lot of fun in rehearsal: we laughed every day, laughed until we cried together. It may be an anecdote, but by dint of repeating shows for three years in a context where we wore masks, where we could not touch each other and where we could sometimes only play two people at a time, finally finding ourselves in a room and laughing, partying, that’s part of the experience that we want to convey to spectators. »
Revolution with swag
Rap culture irrigates the play from start to finish, right down to its thoughtful scenography to recall the block parts from Harlem. The five actors move in the center of the audience, the latter facing each other while the characters display their swag on the beats concocted by Birdie Veilleux. The Hip-Hop Republic is intended to be a “quiet” show: before the curtain rises, a bar will allow you to have an aperitif. During the performance, the audience will be able to “scream, jump, flip if they want,” underlines the director.
No need to be initiated into hip-hop or the world of Alaclair Ensemble to appreciate the proposition, assures Dominique Sacy. At the start of the show, a Lower Canadian immigration agent will present the habits and customs of the Republic with, as a result, a presentation of his dialect nourished by the slang by Alaclair and fueled by the author’s findings. It won’t take Gilles Vigneault’s mind, therefore, to spend a fruity evening.
“Our revolutions always have to be remade,” believes Dominique Sacy, “because they can always be usurped or wear out. Pauline Julien said that it is through love that we change history. I think that’s the essence of the play: the more you develop love for your community, the more it gives you the taste to fight for the common good. Above all, political struggle must be a celebration, and not a task to be done on a to-do list, concludes the author. Otherwise, it becomes an obligation like any other. »