bluff | Three actors in three cities for a single show

The limits imposed on theatrical representation are once again pushed back. A new technology now brings together on stage actors who are several hundred kilometers apart. And no, it’s not science fiction.

Stephanie Morin
The Press

For five years, the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) has been developing telepresence software adapted to the performing arts. Its name: the Scenic station. The objective of this web platform is to allow the creation and simultaneous broadcasting of events between several cities in Quebec.

The director Mireille Camier, of the theater company Quitte ou Double, decided to take this technology head on for her new production, entitled Bluff.

Here, the text is delivered simultaneously by three actors present in three different cities. The audience (or rather the three audiences) enjoys the show not online, but in a performance hall, with a live performer in front of them.

Thus, for the first performance, scheduled for August 24, Sarianne Cormier will be at the Monument-National in Montreal, Étienne Jacques will play at the same time at the Petit Théâtre du Vieux Noranda while Véronique Pascal will occupy the stage of the Coop Paradis in Rimouski. In the three rooms, an identical decor has been erected.

But through the magic of Scenic, the performers will be brought together for a trialogue as real as if they were side by side on the boards, promises Mireille Camier.

“Scenic is a technology similar to videoconferencing that we all used during the pandemic, but adapted to the visual reality of the scene, with professional-caliber cameras and projectors. The result is very immersive. We really get attached to the characters, including those who are only present virtually. You even end up having the illusion of a physical presence on stage. »

So, the director proposes a play on the effect of technology on our relationships… using technology as the main scenic tool?

“Yes,” she says. Here, Scenic’s technology overcomes the distance. We realize that we can develop close relationships, feel very close to someone despite the miles that separate us. »

remote preparation

For the three performers of Bluff, all the preparation was done remotely. Including the improvisations that served as the basis for the collective text written by Jean-François Boisvenue and Sophie Gemme. “It’s a show like I’ve rarely done,” explains Sarianne Cormier. The audience feels the presence of the other actors on stage, but I am alone! It’s very solitary work, even more so than for a solo, where you’re more in control. »

She adds: “The big star of the show is not the performers, but the technology that envelops the audience. The piece sums up the post-COVID-19 mood well. With the pandemic, it has taken on another meaning; it resonates more deeply, because our relationship to telepresence has changed. It has almost become a way of life! There are vital questions in the text…”

Bluff will be the first play presented simultaneously in three cities thanks to Scenic. But several other projects have already taken place, since the software is implemented in 23 rooms across the province.

And other projects are in motion, explains Mireille Camier, who acts as an advisor to the SAT for creators who want to use the platform. “Scenic fosters new creative interactions. It also means that everything doesn’t just happen in Montreal. Creation can be done anywhere in the country. Creation becomes less Montreal-centric. »

Bluff will be presented on August 24 (Montreal, Rouyn and Rimouski), September 15 (Montreal, Rouyn and Alma) and September 19 (Rouyn, Gaspé and Sherbrooke).