Dr. Rachel Wolff, a renowned scientist who heads a medical research institute, blocks the path of a priest who is about to give the last rites to a teenage girl at the hospital. The incident is recorded by the Catholic father on his phone. When it is broadcast on social media, the crisis will erupt and become a national scandal.
Welcome to the information fog of the social media age. With Doctor, Robert Icke, one of the most renowned creators of current British theater, writes a powerful text. By addressing the theme of identity, of groups as well as individuals, his play touches on subjects that polarize society: racist prejudices, the notion of privilege, abortion, gender identities, science, medical ethics …
The play also plays with the expectations and preconceptions of the public in a new and surprising way. The show is multifaceted, with several layers of reading.
Marie-Ève Milot, director
She qualifies Doctor of “moral thriller”. “It’s really an incursion into the interstices of power and dissensus,” continues the director. The piece makes us think and understand, from the inside, what it means to be at the heart of the debate, and to question the culture of banishment. »
The noise of history
Marie-Ève Milot directs a cast of 11 performers, including Pascale Montpetit, who has become rarer in the theater for around ten years. “I’ve wanted to work with Pascale for a long time,” she says. I offered him a role in my first play, Dog(s), but she couldn’t. »
” I am doctor. I don’t like labels,” says Rachel Wolff, the very complex protagonist defended by Pascale Montpetit. “When she makes this gesture towards the priest, she does not see that it will cause controversy. It all came down to a micro-event, a gesture that escaped him and which, ultimately, will have repercussions on the rest of his life. »
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Pascale Montpetit plays Doctor Rachel Wolff.
Robert Icke’s play premiered in London in 2019, with Juliet Stevenson in the lead role. It is freely adapted from Professor Bernhardi, a text by the Austrian Arthur Schnitzler written more than a century ago, which addresses interreligious conflicts. “It’s hard to get along each other with the din of history which overwhelms us like a wave,” says the character of the Catholic priest.
For both women, this line sums up the show very well. Their artistic approach favors divergent points of view and multiple perspectives.
No human being is an island. And yet we all walk down the street as if we were the protagonist and the people were extras.
Pascale Montpetit, actress
When asked to look back on his former theater roles [dans les années 1990, elle jouait en moyenne dans quatre ou cinq productions par saison], she throws the ball back at me. “You’re the one who can tell me.” I never look in the rearview mirror. I prefer to project myself into the future. What interests me is not to do the same things again. Doctor, it’s something I’ve never played, a piece which is very much about words, dialogue, debate. »
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Doctor is the second staging of Marie-Ève Milot at Duceppe.
“When I take on a new role, I ask myself what my playing field is, what cards I have in hand. If I have to play a halberdier [un militaire, un fantassin] who spends three hours holding a spear, I will arrange to have fun; by making micro-movements, rotating the head slightly…”
Doctor promises to deliver a complete and engaging theatrical experience for both artists and audiences.
Doctor
By Robert Icke. Director: Marie-Ève Milot. With Alexandre Bergeron, Sofia Blondin, Alice Dorval, Nora Guerch, Ariel Ifergan, Tania Kontoyanni, Pascale Montpetit, Sharon James, Harry Standjofski, Elkahna Talbi, Yanic Truesdale.
Duceppe’sFrom October 18 to November 18