After seeing all the media space devoted to fire District 31 and how much the Quebec public loved its characters, who can still deny the social impact of a TV series? This is one of the topics raised Ten four. Created in Toronto in 2019, the play was born out of the brief participation of its author, the playwright Jason Sherman (The Unicorn presented his Three in the back, two in the head 25 years ago), writing a detective series.
Translated with punch by Jean Marc Dalpé, ten four immerses us in the arduous creative process of four screenwriters trying to give birth to a new television series, under the pressure of creating a success. The writing takes an unexpected turn when one of the writers, Colin, a victim of severe racial profiling, draws inspiration from his harrowing experience to craft a hard-hitting episode. However, the team is supposed to create a program on police officers “who save the world”… Colin (excellent Irdens Exantus), he rebels against a project that he considers a propaganda tool for the forces of the order.
The piece therefore raises very topical questions: are artists required to report the truth, what is really happening in the world? How does entertainment shape society?
industry satire
The satire of the television industry, a competitive environment where artistic integrity and principles are soluble in money and careerism, and where authors are forced to compromise on their initial ideas, is not absolutely unique.
But Jason Sherman uses it to make a social critique of systems that struggle to change, where we do not give voice to voices that deviate from the mold; the two echo each other. Even, as in the case of Colin, when you claim to have hired a creator precisely because you liked his particular artistic “voice”. Not to mention this poor beginner screenwriter (convincing Laura Amar), the only woman in the quartet, interrupted every time she opens her mouth…
Defy expectations
Didier Lucien’s effective staging manages to keep alive, gripping, a well-crafted, but somewhat lengthy play, which also includes situations that are not so obvious to animate: the closed-door meetings of authors drafting their ideas.
These increasingly tense exchanges between screenwriters are well rendered by the cast, including Alexandre Fortin and a very fair Norman Helms as a disillusioned author.
In this show that has fun thwarting expectations, where satirical comedy rubs shoulders with social reflection, the tone also sometimes departs from realism. In this respect, the enjoyable scene where the ambitious producer (a very tasty Marie-Hélène Thibault) is portrayed as a Mephistophelian temptress is most eloquent…