Ascent to Espace Go, The night treatment is a black comedy as neat as it is singular.
From the fertile imagination of Evelyne de la Chenelière, this creation plays with the concrete and the absurd, dreams and reality, day and night. This lover of words presents a refined text, which mixes direct formulas like “what’s the point of dreaming if it’s like in life? with lyrical phrases.
Her story depicts a woman and her spouse having supper while admiring the landscape and their property being cared for by their gardener. Then their daughter returns, back from another runaway.
This picture repeats itself in a loop taking different tangents, according to the explanations of the four characters. Clinging to these words, the viewer grapples with conflicting versions of the same story.
The latter remains quite understandable, but it nevertheless requires an effort of concentration, since it is neither linear nor always coherent. The author has fun with the public by modifying certain certainties as the plot is redefined.
Wonderful Anne-Marie Cadieux
Anne-Marie Cadieux is brilliant in the role of this depressed but energetic mother who wants to act as if nothing had happened when her daughter reappears. The latter is embodied by Marie-Pier Labrecque. Henri Chassé slips into the skin of the father while Lyndz Dantiste plays the gardener.
This solid cast is masterfully led by Denis Marleau. Its staging is surgical. All the gestures, the intonations and the rhythm seem carefully measured in this proposal which lasts only one hour.
Stéphanie Jasmin’s scenography and video also command respect. The stylish decor is just perfect. It is extremely successful work.
Focused on words rather than action, this play containing its share of strangeness and a corrosive humor is certainly not for everyone, but it will appeal to those who like to think outside the box.
The room The night treatment is presented at Espace Go until April 2.
- The night treatment ★★★1⁄2
Directed by Denis Marleau
With Anne-Marie Cadieux, Henri Chassé, Lyndz Dantiste and Marie-Pier Labrecque.