What is happening on our stages right now? Never have we seen so many novels or cinematographic works adapted for the theater.
After Wildlife Handbook, novel by Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard, now its author adapts Royal at Duceppe. The premiere took place Thursday evening. During this time, A heart inhabited by a thousand voicesby Marie-Claire Blais, is presented at Espace Go after being reviewed by Kevin Lambert.
I can also tell you about Never wipe away tears without glovesby Jonas Gardell, which the Trident and Duceppe recently offered,Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, which, after Quebec, will go to the Théâtre Denise-Pelletier next season. Note that these same two theaters took over last year Plouffeby Roger Lemelin, at the very time when La Bordée was adapting Where I hideby Caroline Dawson.
The launches of the 2024-2025 season are just beginning and we can already say that this trend towards adaptation will be very strong.
The TNM will bring to the stage The woman who flednovel by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette. The trajectory of the confettiby Marie-Ève Thuot, and Paul at home, by cartoonist Michel Rabagliati, will be reworked for Le Trident. As for the novel My Red Life Kubrickwork by Simon Roy, it will be offered at the Théâtre Denise-Pelletier.
Still at this same theater, the duo Félix-Antoine Boutin and Sophie Cadieux, who have already adapted Fanny and AlexanderBergman’s film, will now tackle Donkey Skinbased on the story by Charles Perrault.
Being in the secret of the gods, I can tell you that in the coming days we will announce the theatrical adaptation of a Quebec novel which has achieved enormous success in recent years.
Film scripts are not left out. Two women in gold, The decline of the American empire And The king dances have all been adapted on stage. And as if that weren’t enough, we also draw from the television side: Symphorien And Me and the other (which will be presented at the Théâtre du Vieux-Terrebonne next summer) have inspired private producers.
How should this phenomenon be interpreted? Are we so lacking in inspiration?
First, it must be clarified that this movement is not new. The TNM has already given in the genre with the adaptation of literary works (The Odyssey, Don Quixote, The swallowing of swallows, The winter of strength). But professionals in the theater sector with whom I have spoken in recent days all agree that this trend is very strong at the moment.
Theaters face many challenges. They have to find all sorts of ways to keep their heads above water. Adaptations of works that have a strong resonance with the public are one avenue.
Among the people who will go see Royal Or The woman who fled, there are those who already know the work having read it. But there are also those who are attracted by buzz. I was told that tickets for the theatrical adaptation of Decline of the American Empire were all sold out before the opening night, at Espace Go, in 2017. As for Royalits advertising claims that 15,000 tickets have already been sold.
Does the transposition of a novel to the stage automatically result in a good play? The answer is obviously no. The talent of the person who will rework the work and the work of the production team count enormously in the success of the company. But when the goal is achieved, it can provide something extraordinary.
“This approach sometimes allows us to highlight dimensions that are in the minor in the novel,” Paul Lefebvre, dramaturgical and artistic advisor at the Center for Dramatic Authors (CEAD), told me. “It allows certain elements of the novel to be deployed. »
The latter does not believe that this avalanche of adaptations, which is part of a vast movement of hybridization affecting all spheres of culture, harms the creation of original works or the exploitation of the existing repertoire.
That said, a work adapted from a novel or a film script still takes the place of a “real” play in a program. Should playwrights be worried?
“A novel is not made for the stage,” a well-known author in the world of theater who is keen to defend his territory told me. This exercise is risky. I believe this movement shows how confronting the creation of an original work is for a director. »
Her point of view is interesting, because a theater director confided to me that these adaptation proposals often come from the directors themselves. And also authors or actors who want to delve into the heart of a literary work or character.
I notice that this phenomenon joins another trend which consists of wanting to completely adapt the great classics. To do this, we cut, we reduce, we butcher, we rearrange, we reinterpret. Again, the result can be successful or completely unsuccessful.
There are two ways of seeing these experiences of crossbreeding and adaptation to the “taste of the day”. Purists will see this as a basely commercial operation intended to lure spectators. Others will applaud these initiatives which aim to offer us a hybrid and new form of art.
Theaters have been asked so much to “reinvent” themselves and find ways to attract audiences. And it has been said so often (I am one of them) that theater directors do not care about the interests of the spectator that it is difficult today to blame them for trying new things to get us off our couches.