Graduating in 2020, in one of these pandemic cohorts for which difficult tomorrows were predicted, Madeleine Sarr nevertheless did not take long to have her talent noticed. On stage, the following year, with What time did we die? ?, Then Marguerite: firethe actress then composed an irresistible Cleopatra in the epic Rome, where his charisma shined. A role for which she won the prize for best female performance awarded by the Quebec Theater Critics Association.
A “great experience” and a completely unexpected offering for the performer. “I’m always a little surprised by what’s offered to me,” she says. Not because I don’t have confidence in my abilities, but because I don’t expect anything, in the best way. I know that’s my job: not knowing what’s coming. And it relieves me to tell myself that everything is open, that everything is possible. But I am very aware of how lucky I am. This gives me confidence and the desire to continue moving forward. »
Sarr, who had loved working with Catherine Vidal at the National Theater School, jumped at the chance when the director offered him a role in The Seagull, created at the Prospero theater. Chekhov’s classic paints a “profoundly human” portrait of a community of characters, with their disappointed romantic relationships, their disillusionment with their lives. It displays, precisely, two young artists wishing to make their place in the theater, in the shadow of the success of their elders.
An aspiring actress, Nina made her debut by playing a text with innovative aims (the direction of this work in the play was also entrusted to an emerging director, Sophie El Assaad) written by her suitor Treplev, the son of a great narcissistic actress who doesn’t believe in her talent. But Nina became rather infatuated with her lover, an established author.
“Nina has convictions, for better and for worse,” describes Madeleine Sarr. She is looking for something greater, freedom. She wants to take life through her and I find that extremely touching. She is ready to do anything to experience what makes her tick. » The passion of his character does him good. “Some of his beliefs upset mine. I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but we live in a very painful world. And my faith in humanity is always tested. Nina gives me hope. That she is convinced makes me want to be too. And it seems like I understand more and more that this is the right attitude. We never go wrong, when we are sure of something, to go all out. »
In the second act, when she returns to her hometown after two years of ordeal, the fresh young girl is turned upside down. The show put on by Catherine Vidal, however, offers a Nina who is stronger than the interpretation we usually give. “I think she sees how far she’s come, too. Especially through the eyes of Treplev, who is still in the same spirit, in this unfinished desire to become a great writer. She realizes: yes, she has just spent two years of hell, but she has moved forward, she has reached somewhere else. And it’s better than staying in this doldrums. In Chekhov, there are many characters who want to leave, and often they don’t leave. She left. Already, it’s an accomplishment. It’s a bit like that, Nina: I’m going to go there, whatever, and it’s going to bring me things or take things away; but I cling to life, even if it’s hard. She inspires me! »concludes the actress.
Adaptation
The production benefits from a unique adaptation by playwright Guillaume Corbeil. A text dotted with contemporary references, in the Quebec language “very natural in the mouth”, but which retains the essence of the original piece. “It works very well,” says Madeleine Sarr. It’s a very human universe where the characters have conflicts and are in love. So I think it had to sound natural in the way we act and speak. The closer it is to us, the more true it is. And having read Guillaume’s version helped me understand the issues a little more, too. »
We favor a game that is “more realistic, I feel like saying less caricatured than what we might have seen in the past — although I haven’t seen a lot of Chekhov. But there is something very current, very in my body. Chekhov plays out a lot in the relationship with others.”
The show begins by playing with the fourth wall: the audience will enter via the Prospero stage, and will be greeted by the cast. “We include the spectators, they are part of the play, of what we are saying. We sometimes call them as witnesses. Again in this concern for connection, for: we talk to each other for real. »
Thanks to Geneviève Lizotte’s scenography, with its hanging multicolored ribbons, the audience will be immersed in a festive “fair” atmosphere, which we do not, a priori, associate with the Russian author. A surprise that the actress sees as an asset. “I think it’s in this vision of deconstructing what we have [comme idée] preconceived about Chekhov. And that it will change the disposition in which spectators arrive at the theater. And that’s great. Already, it arouses curiosity, listening. »
The actress is surrounded, she rightly emphasizes, by a group of “terrific” actors: Renaud Lacelle-Bourdon, Macha Limonchik, Mattis Savard-Verhoeven, Igor Ovadis, Olivia Palacci, Daniel Parent, Simon Beaulé-Bulman, Nathalie Claude, Frédéric Desager. “I laugh a lot in rehearsal. I find us good, funny. There is cohesion. I always come out of rehearsals feeling lighter. These are learning moments, also very sweet, despite what the characters are going through. There is a lot of empathy. »
For her, The Seagull is the happy conjunction of several elements: a director, colleagues with whom she gets along very well and “the freedoms that the adaptation allows us in our acting. Yes, it will be good. (laughs) I am very proud of what we do. I can’t wait to share it with the public! »
To grow
Beautiful return of things: the show which revealed Catherine Vidal, The big notebookr, is one of the first that Madeleine Sarr saw, in high school. “And I said: whoa, this is all possible! It expanded my world. This created world, which I know will no longer be there tomorrow. There is something magical there! »
However, the young woman never decided that she was going to become an actress. “I followed a natural course of things. I started doing theater in high school. I was hooked and felt like I was in the right place. » She continued her studies at ENT for “personal achievement”, saying to herself “it’s a very demanding school, I’m going to grow, evolve, it’s going to teach me things about myself. I am very “academic” in life, I have the impression that I am in a big school. I like to learn. I like having things imposed on me. And to be directed by directors because there is a framework, a vision, where I can find my freedom. And I find that in my job, at the moment. »
Sarr wants roles that “take me out of myself, surprise me, confront me, in all kinds of genres”. “You always have to refresh your self-confidence in this profession. But a bit like Nina, the desire to move forward is always stronger than anything that could hold me back. »