It will be a great uninterrupted breath that will lead to a great cry, that of freedom, that of the affirmation of a personality larger than life. The rich universe of Diane Dufresne will be at the center of Belmonta musical theater piece in which strong and diverse women will shine and which will be presented fifteen times in August at the Alphonse-Desjardins theater in Repentigny.
“I also had the right to want to let go of my cry”, sang the great lady of Quebec song in Belmont Park, one of his greatest pieces, which inspired the title of this new Open Eye Theater show, directed by Jade Bruneau. The latter believes that the permission that Diane Dufresne had given herself to creak her voice, to disturb, in a way, remains a key element of the course of the diva. This cry remains “necessary”, she says, for women in general, and those who are artists in particular.
“When you wear several hats, sometimes it bothers, says Jade Bruneau. Diane, she bothered a lot, then I think she was good in it, it’s as if she said: “I’m bothering you, but so much the better.” There was a kind of letting go: this is what I am, 360 [degrés], multicolored. Then that, we still have a lot to learn from that. »
On stage, they will be five women to shine the different facets of Diane Dufresne, or, as Jade Bruneau says, “five great primary colors that make up her entirety”. Geneviève Alarie will play the madwoman, Catherine Sénart the diva, Laur Fugère the little girl, Laetitia Isambert the lover and Catherine Allard the artist. With them, only one man, the clown, interpreted by Pierre-Olivier Grondin.
The whole team of Belmont was gathered on Monday morning to give a taste of this spectacle. The strength of Diane Dufresne, recently inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, is obviously at the center of the work, at least of its opening segment presented to the press. And the performers say they are imbued with it.
The famous cry, “I think it can be a form of liberation, a kind of openness, permission let’s say, affirmation”, noted Geneviève Alarie, supported by the nods of her stage colleagues. “And Diane, she did that anyway, she screamed for a lot of women. “And Laetitia Isambert to add:” It made it possible to go beyond the lines, to color outside. »
In Belmont, the five facets of Diane Dufresne will guide the male character of the clown, who will gradually emancipate himself through contact with them. The show will be little or not carried by a linear narrative, but this deployment of the clown as a multidisciplinary artist will be “the little red thread” that runs through it all. “My presence is more of an accomplice presence, somewhere, more than an opposition,” notes Pierre-Olivier Grondin.
In one breath
The preview offered by the troupe revealed a tightly woven show, far from the classic enfilades of this kind of proposals, where the scenes played alternate with the scenes sung. In Belmont“everything is knitted, it’s as if it’s a breath, it’s like a momentum”, explains Jade Bruneau.
The actors sometimes complete the sentences of others, often sing, sometimes solo, sometimes in chorus, but the rhythm is relentless. The six performers are also still on stage.
When you wear several hats, sometimes it bothers you. Diane, she bothered a lot, then I think she was good in it, it’s as if she said: “I’m bothering you, but so much the better.”
The musical director, Marc-André Perron, sees the proposal of Belmontas “a kind of long poetic caress where the music weaves a link in all that”. And the boat will sail almost constantly during the 90 minutes of the show. “Which makes the moments of silence become deafening,” he adds. We use it as a tool almost as much as music. »
It should be noted that Diane Dufresne and her spouse and professional accomplice, Richard Langevin, gave their approval to this creation, born humbly in 2018 before maturing for some time, among other things due to the pandemic. Moreover, Belmont is in line with similar works also produced by the Théâtre de l’Oeil Ouvert, including Clemencyon Clemence DesRochers, CorriveauAnd the giantesson Rose Ouellette, aka La Poune.
“These are women who have marked our Quebec cultural milieu at different levels,” notes Jade Bruneau, visibly inspired by these great ladies.
In any case, the six actors of Belmont see in this occasion a way of giving back, but also of receiving. “I don’t know if Diane Dufresne needs this gift, I don’t know what it will do to her, but she gives us a gift, underlines Catherine Sénart. Because she gives us the space of this permission she has given herself. She had a lot of guts and audacity, and we get that as a gift, it’s fantastic. »