Almost twenty years after the founding of Joe Jack and John, Catherine Bourgeois still carries loud and clear the torch of a theater that questions social norms with relevance and playfulness. Now based in Espace libre, the company is better placed than ever to build bridges between genres, languages, experiences and disciplines.
“After all these years of itinerancy, explains the designer, a situation that is not ideal, but to which we had, so to speak, become accustomed, I was very surprised by Geoffrey Gaquère’s proposal. [directeur artistique de l’Espace libre]. Having an office, rehearsal space, an elevator and a theater where we can present our shows is just incredible. We are privileged and we are aware of it. »
Echoing a societal movement which consists in favoring the access of people with disabilities to roles of power, Catherine Bourgeois has, for the first time in the history of her company, chosen to entrust two of her faithful collaborators, neurodivergent artists, the ideation of a show. After Edon Descollines, who created The store is closing at MAI in 2021, it’s the turn of Michael Nimbley, an actor with undeniable charisma, to take us into his unusual universe with The waitresses are sad.
Catherine Bourgeois finds it important to set up structures, human and organizational resources that allow the inner world of neurodivergent artists to emerge, to take shape. “Michael has been working on his show since 2018, explains the one who has given herself the role of creative ally for the occasion. He came to the office once a week and threw ideas into a notebook. While respecting his artistic integrity, his aesthetics, his vision, I guided him, reminded him that he had to make choices among the many avenues open to him. Then, a place imposed itself: a western bar where waitress serve beer and line dance. »
From confinement to adventure
Michael Nimbley embodies a lonely author, a confined man who escapes into dreams, fleeing the loneliness of his cramped apartment by slipping into the skin of Morrison, a cowboy who goes on an adventure, accompanied by his faithful companion , the feline Ti-Mousse, and his precious guitar. “It’s a contemporary western,” explains the actor in his stentorian voice. It’s a lonesome cowboy. He goes from bar to bar. He travels from village to village. He walks in the meadow. He walks around all the time. He is free. He is strong. He drinks beer with women. He has to fun. I would like to do that, but I don’t have the right. I have to stay in my apartment. »
You will have understood that Nimbley takes great pleasure in putting on the cowboy boots and hat on stage. The experience seems downright liberating. “He doesn’t hate slipping into Tanya’s red dress either,” says Catherine Bourgeois. Tanya is Morrison’s ex-lover, a waitress and musician whose absence he mourns. It’s a coincidence, but Michael Nimbley wore a dress in Just Fake Ithe wears a robe in The waitresses are sad and he will wear a dress in the company’s next show, Six characters in search of an author, where it will notably be a question of cultural appropriation. »
women today
Although he imagined the universe in which he escapes, a dream life, fantasized, the hero encounters major difficulties there. “Morrison fails to fit in with the waitress, explains Catherine Bourgeois. Faced with his behavior, they rebel, they claim freedoms, they emancipate themselves, in particular by pushing back the limits that line dancing imposes on them. »
Camped by Anna Atkinson, Maryline Chery, Guillermina Kerwin, Natacha Thompson and Anne Tremblay, the five waitresses refuse to obey the text written for them by Morrison. “These are not the docile women of the 1950s that he expected, specifies the creative ally. They are women of today. In other words, they are not just sad, they are also angry. This is what causes a certain friction between them and Morrison, an opposition that allows the drama to arise, therefore the theater to exist. »
In addition to this feminist aspect, the show tackles head on the issues of isolation, loneliness and mental health. “We didn’t try to make a pretty piece that ended well or that boosted morale,” explains Catherine Bourgeois. In the end, Morrison is really taken down by his spinning life, so he dies of despair. This scene, which is called the labyrinth on the mountain, where the character invokes God, it has been there for years, it is a pillar of the show. »
In fact, several thorny subjects were discussed in the rehearsal room. “We talked a lot with Michael, explains Catherine Bourgeois. First, he understands well the distinction between fact and fiction. He also knows that life can be very heavy for some people. Probably the trickiest aspect is anger. “” Morrison is going crazy, intervenes the actor. He’s on edge. He is angry. He grabs his cat. He doesn’t want to hurt her, but he strangles her. »
“The character is caught in a vicious circle, specifies the director of Joe Jack and John. It arouses a lot of anger in him, an emotion that is, so to speak, banned in our society. This loss of control, we made sure to justify it with Michael. I think he understands what he’s playing, because he has experience: we’ve been working together since 2007. For me, the best thing is to see the obvious pleasure he feels in holding the reins of the project, to finally be the boss of something. »