Although the co-founder of Samsara Théâtre has worked with children for a long time, goes out into the field to meet them, take the pulse of what they are, what interests them, this time she felt like going further with them. Driven by this desire to explore new avenues, she offers Tonne of bricksa docu-theatre in which his daughter, Éléonore Gagnon, took part throughout the creation process.
The idea of working with his daughter was born five years ago, when the latter was only seven years old. Letting the idea mature, and her daughter, Liliane Boucher comes back to her during the pandemic. “I spoke to her again about this idea of doing theatre, research, and she was up for it. One morning I woke up and there was type that surrounded my living room. She told me that, it’s going to be our stage, ”recalls Liliane Boucher from Repentigny, where she was running her show before the grand premiere at the Maison Théâtre on November 17.
The family living room has thus become an improvisation ring, played by the daughter, directed by the mother. “We were just the two of us. But we didn’t keep much from that moment, apart from the complicity. Then, in February 2021, a team was formed around this idea of inviting a child to participate in the creative work. From one thing to another, carried by a team that favored spontaneity and improvisation, the piece was born with Éléonore at its center, who imposed herself, her mother will say, by her ease.
tons of bricks, it’s the story of a family that invents a play. Documentary theater in which the line between real life and fiction remains very blurred. “Basically, we were inspired by our daily lives to invent the story, but ultimately our daily life became to do theatre,” laughs Liliane Boucher. She explains that several lines from the show cross the border of fiction and find their way into their daily lives “because it works with [leur] daily “. This particular context has also given rise to some comical situations. “In the play, there is a scene with doctors. Just before we rehearse, Éléonore hit her head and she was bleeding a little. And there, we did this scene with my daughter who had real bandages on her head! says Boucher, surprised by this synchronicity. Same principle for David Leblanc, in the role of Éléonore’s dad, who has just become a dad in real life. “He discovers parenthood on stage and in real life, so it’s a beautiful magma”, continues the artist.
Create at the height of children
Of course, this idea of creating with the children, his child moreover, somewhat modifies the way of working. “There are ethical questions that I had to ask myself. I’m not just his mother, I’m the director, plus I’m the one producing the show, so I’m his employer. She had to [Éléonore] sign a contract, that she read the clauses, that she understands what she was getting into. We went to the UDA to see his rights. You shouldn’t take it lightly when you put a child to work,” says Boucher.
Added to this is the notion of attention, the hours of rehearsals which can be more difficult, demanding for a child. “At some point in the process, I realized that she didn’t have to be there all the time. Éléonore turned out to be a trippy improviser, she invented sequences, but when it’s time to rehearse and decide where the chair will go, left or right, we have a rehearsalist who replaces her from time to time “, adding that the little one can do a two-hour rehearsal very well, but rarely more.
This way of adapting to the rhythm of the child motivates Liliane Boucher and her entire team to question their way of working. “It’s a bit dizzying because it’s live performance. We all have this reflection around the show must go on. how far we go [avec les enfants] ? You know, an actor plays even if he has a cold, even if he has gastro, even if he hasn’t slept all night. But a child? How far do you push your machine? We are all in these reflections around health. It’s everyone’s health, you know! It seems that working with this child has also made it possible to “scan” the rest of the team and to wonder how much, for us too, the show must go on. »
Here, the child not only becomes a source of inspiration, but also a creator, the bearer of a play of which he is the hero, in addition to forcing — unwittingly — adults to adopt his own rhythm. By asking everyone to improvise, the entire Samsara team has also put themselves in a beginner’s state, at the same level as Éléonore in order to move forward with her in this adventure. “So that everyone is on an equal footing. Yes, because what is an adult? The piece asks that as a question. What is a child? The question is not that simple. Is it a state, being an adult? Is it a state, being a child? Playing on gray areas, Liliane Boucher thus invites young and old to come and live this new experience and at the same time to celebrate the art that actively participates in reality.