In the center of the stage, a table filled with objects. Two participants come forward. The first, all dressed in black, the mop of a bright red, is still a minor; the second, graying hair, could be his grandmother. The older daughter grabs an old telephone and begins her monologue.
After 10 weeks of workshops, the participants (as luck would have it that the cohort was all female) were ready to present in front of the public the “darling moments” of their meetings as well as improvised scenes drawn from the lessons learned.
This is the second time that this intergenerational course has been given, after a first experience in the fall of 2019. The project, led by Émilie Grosset, responsible for communications and mediation activities at La Pire Espèce (resident company at the Théâtre Aux Écuries ), and the actress and worker Audrey Leclair, is a collaboration with the leisure and mutual aid center Patro Villeray. The initiative is however dependent on subsidies from the City, which makes the holding of a future workshop uncertain.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
From left to right, the elders who participated in the workshop: Angela Devincenzo, Marie-Claire Marci, Diane Lasnier and Lise Gratton. Profile: Antonia Leney-Granger, one of the two actresses who led the workshops.
Actress Antonia Leney-Granger, who led the workshops with Audrey Leclair, believes that object theater is a good way to open up to the stage for the first time. “Often, with objects, we have access to a kind of humanity, of vulnerability, to emotions that it is sometimes easier to find than if we are all alone in front of people. To tell something while looking them in the face, often it is more embarrassing for some people who have never done theater. ”
With the object, we manage to tell things as funny as they are touching, to which we would not have had access so quickly.
Actress Antonia Leney-Granger, who co-directed the workshops
Links that are forged
According to Antonia Leney-Granger, the beauty of this project lies in the links that are created between the participants. Samuel Lamoureux, in charge of the project at Patro Villeray, believes that there should be more intergenerational activities in the city’s network because they not only help to build bridges, but also to get rid of certain clichés, d ‘one side as the other. “Without wanting to, seniors become meaningful adults for teenagers,” he says.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Samuel Lamoureux, youth worker at Station 1317, at Patro Villeray
“And they become our significant teenagers,” exclaims one of the participants, Marie-Claire Marcil, causing general hilarity. For her, these workshops were profoundly saving, while she has had to deal with memory loss for two years. “I’m forgetting things, but that’s okay; it’s such a fabulous entourage, and I have always dreamed of doing theater. As it’s manipulation, I didn’t have to remember exactly what I wanted to say when it was my turn, ”she says, laughing.
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Audrey Leclair
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Antonia Leney-Granger
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“There were some great moments. We laugh, we play. We sometimes had more emotional moments, too, underlines Audrey Leclair. Each participant comes to tell something quite personal. For me, this is often where you find strength because the staff becomes so universal. “Everyone remembers with humor this workshop where we had to complete sentences – in this case” Being a woman is … “- when one of the participants mimed the act of cleaning.
Eva Castagner, 16, was part of the first cohort, in 2019. As soon as she knew that the workshop would be offered this fall, she signed up without hesitation and would do it again, just for these precious shared moments. as part of the workshops. She remembers in particular that evening when she and one of the older participants, Angela Devincenzo, stayed until the center closed to share life experiences.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Eva castagner
It is rare to be able to meet elders. So having an intergenerational cultural activity with elders was really fun.
Eva Castagner, 16
“We don’t say enough about how important it is for seniors to do activities with teenagers and children. It stimulates us, it gives us a little joy in life, ”underlines Lise Gratton, who used to participate in the activities of the Maison des grands-parents de Villeray, suspended since the start of the pandemic.
Diane Lasnier, she was particularly curious to discover the theater of objects. “From the start, I saw Antonia take a Thermos and show us what it was for,” she says. Then, she lifted it up and asked us what it represented: for me, it represented a rocket, but it could represent something else for another person. The object becomes the meaning of something. ”
“When I saw object theater, it was an opportunity for me to learn, especially when I saw that it was intergenerational. I really liked it, says Angela Devincenzo. I wanted to be with young people. It was wonderful, I learned a lot about myself and about the others… It was a great revelation. It’s going to be a mourning for sure. ”