Jade never knew her father. Her mother, an actress and singer constantly on tour, avoids the subject with her teenager. But at 13, her head full of questions and driven by an infinite desire to find this missing father, Jade invents an ideal, a father’s dream, around Banksy, this committed artist introduced to her by her friend Tom. Filled with hope and doubts, the young girl takes the road to London in what turns out to be an initiatory quest.
After I am William, offered in 2019, the author Rébecca Déraspe and the director Sylvain Scott (Théâtre Le Clou) reconnect around Make the walls scream, a brand new creation, in which they explore the power of art, but also a lot about filiation and the eternal need for love and affection. Driven by an astonishing gift, that of imagining everything that happens behind the walls, Jade (Inès Talbi), a bit like Banksy who paints the torments of an era on the walls, sees the pain of people behind the facades of the houses, their daily life, the distress of a child, for example, who asks his mother why she no longer has any hair. There is in this piece, both touching and profound, all this game of discovery around Banksy, street art. A provocative artist whose works are projected on a screen above the stage throughout the show.
But there is also the quest for paternal and, at the end of the road, maternal love. Because, in all this desire to find her father, Jade also seeks to win over her mother (Geneviève Alarie), with whom she will re-establish precious ties. And there is Tom (Gabriel Favreau), a tender boy who gently accompanies and supports the determined Jade in this crossing. Geneviève Alarie is fabulously extravagant as a singing mother, and just as solid in her role as Angela – the woman whom Jade will meet on her journey. Gabriel Favreau goes from his role of Tom to that of Angela’s daughter with enviable ease. While Inès Talbi plays with naturalness and authenticity a candid Jade, sparkling and overflowing with ideals.
This is the strength of the play, which remains, in the end, perhaps a little too niche and complex for the youngest (around 11 years old) who were present at the Maison Théâtre — the context presented before the beginning of the play by the actors is, for this purpose, necessary in order to allow young people to fully grasp the scope of the text -, holds in this staging both sober and ingenious by Sylvain Scott. On stage, the actor-singers are accompanied by musician Laurie Torres and her drums. the beat, powerful, becomes a character, supports the actors in their performance. Moreover, the three artists have great voices, in particular Geneviève Alarie, who eclipses several professional singers. And, key element which knew how to make young people react, the recurring presence of this rat on stage – alter ego of Banksy -, played by Gabriel Favreau decked out in a huge head of the rodent made by Lyne Beaulieu. Famous.
Make the walls scream is an ode to the need and the right to tell stories, to become aware of pain, of inequalities, but also an ode to all the beauty and all the possibilities of art.