We welcome the return of the friendly formula of 5 to 7 at La Licorne, perhaps a sign of a certain normality found. This relaxed, intimate context — which, let’s remember, allows you to enjoy both a short piece and a small snack — can also provide a good testing ground for young artists. With fondant, the Théâtre Bistouri gives way to the first text by Pascale Marineau, edited by an actress, Rose-Anne Déry. An all-feminine signature for a piece that ultimately deals with gender relations.
However, the show begins in a rather innocuous way, and in an environment that looks all the more harmless: the very cute, retro decor of a pastry shop in bright colors, designed by Anne-Sophie Gaudet. On this day of winter storm – a temperature that is hardly reflected in the customer’s costume – La Bibitte à sucre is deserted. Only a man came to take refuge there. He slips in, without however buying anything, and strikes up a conversation with the employee. An exchange made up of futile remarks, banter, jokes, but also growing discomfort, between the pastry chef full of good will and the nervous, clumsy visitor, as clumsy verbally as he is physically. We feel that he is hiding something. What does this non-customer really want? Is he just awkward in the way he demonstrates his love interest?
At first banal, the situation ends up tipping into a more worrying dimension, nourished by the isolation of the woman and the lack of transparency of her host, who imposes her presence. A turn not so easy that the author manages to operate. The text, which willingly plays on culinary metaphors (human relations are like making meringues, they say: delicate and easy to miss), first appears as a light and sweet treat, then evolves towards a more consistent and protein. A skilful illustration of an encounter full of ambiguities and unspoken words, from which a potential danger arises.
Marianne Dansereau portrays a direct and very open character with smiling dynamism. On the other hand, Marc-André Thibault endorses with conviction the hesitations, the agitation of the visitor. First displaying his vulnerability, the actor becomes quite chilling in this character who retains a part of his mystery.