Anne, Annie, Annushka… She goes by all these names without anyone ever seeing her. In fact, seldom has an absentee taken such a place as in Attacks on his lifea major play by British playwright Martin Crimp, presented with panache at Usine C as a Quebec premiere.
Posted at 10:39
On a bare stage, four actors with agile verbs. Together, they imagine the past, the present and the future of a woman with blurred outlines. Anne. Sometimes a long-distance traveler, sometimes a terrorist, a porn star or even a brand of car, Anne dons the finery that these four storytellers are willing to give her.
Where is the truth, where is the lie? Impossible to say. And it is in this significant uncertainty that the public will be left throughout this visually exceptional show, but oh so destabilizing for those looking for a red thread to cling to.
Because Martin Crimp – and with him, the director Philippe Cyr – does not provide keys to better understand this monster of text. He leaves us with a head full of doubts, with the impression of being sometimes dropped by what is happening on stage. Whatever. Who can claim to really understand the world in which we live, especially in the era of social media that spits their false truths and their war propaganda?
A true exercise in style with fully assumed formalism, Attacks on his life is one of those experiences that appeals to the senses more than to the intellect.
And here, the senses are served. First by the masterful performances of the four actors chosen to weave this merciless web: Karine Gonthier-Hyndman, Ève Pressault, Maxime Genois and Iannicko N’Doua. They carry this Olympic score head on, without ever flinching. Directed with formidable efficiency by Philippe Cyr, they manage to make these swirling replicas as accessible as possible.
The director Philippe Cyr has never been afraid to tackle titanic projects. As proof: it is to him that we owe the staging of the colossal spectacle I love Hydro. Here, he manages to make beauty and ugliness cohabit, in a most successful contrast effect. Often, smiles give way to dread… and the most terrible words are spoken in a shimmering stage space.
PHOTO DANIEL HUOT, PROVIDED BY USINE C
Cédric Delorme-Bouchard’s lighting adds a touch of beauty to this visually very successful show.
Philippe Cyr also invited two guest artists, the singer Camille Poliquin and the dancer Gérard X Reyes, on stage for very successful numbers that offered some respite to spectators confused by this extraordinary show.
The director will even dare, in this pandemic era when the other often represents the danger, to have his actors play as close as possible to the public. Their eyes fixed on those of the spectators, they will speak of Anne again and again, with a shamelessness that freezes the blood.
In the end, the visual beauty of this production ends up prevailing over the horror of the words written by Crimp, in particular thanks to the spectacular scenography by Étienne René-Contant and the very inspired lighting by Cédric Delorme-Bouchard. Together, they designed a luminous setting for a room with dark corners. Very dark…
Attacks on his life
By Martin Crimp. Directed by Philippe Cyr. With Karine Gonthier-Hyndman, Ève Pressault, Maxime Genois and Iannicko N’Doua.
At Factory C.Until April 30, 2022.