I am a product | Simon Boudreault and the image factory

Author in residence at La Licorne for two years, Simon Boudreault wanted to tackle the theme of marketing in a squeaky comedy that would make us think. He also wanted to address the control of our image in society. Then he came across an article on product placements in the grocery store, the great concern of their presentation on the shelves. “And I realized that it’s not just products that we market today, but also individuals,” he says. He had just found the title of his new play.

With I am a product, the author is therefore attacking this era of the image at all costs, of the fabricated and omnipresent image under the reign of social networks. Of course, marketing, self-staging, existed long before Facebook and Instagram. But nowadays, no sphere of society escapes it.

“In business, in politics, with our private lives, everyone builds a social identity, a personality built from scratch,” says Boudreault. And what I like about writing is to highlight features of our contemporaries, without judgment or morality. ”

The author of How i became a muslim and D for God is also founder of the company Simoniaques, which produces the show presented to the Great Unicorn. Boudreault also signs the direction and directs Éric Bernier, Catherine Ruel, Alexandre Daneau, Louis-Olivier Maufette and Houda Rihani, Moroccan actress well known in her country of origin and who is baptized on the boards of Quebec.

The story revolves around her character, Jihane, a Moroccan immigrant in her forties who can not find a job in Quebec.

A non-practicing and unveiled Muslim, she is considered “an insufficiently visible minority” by employers who want to give their companies a fabricated image of diversity. And buy a good conscience.

“Jihane will therefore decide to wear the veil to pass a job interview in a marketing firm,” explains Simon Boudreault. She is immediately hired, but the president will use the talent of his new employee to win back her former lover, a renowned entrepreneur who has turned against the Arab community after making racist remarks on television. In short, not everyone does things for the right reasons. ”

With I am a product, the author and director tackles delicate current affairs topics. “I find that we are being put more and more in small boxes. Each person is closed in on him according to his culture, his sex, his age and all the prejudices resulting from it. But under the flip side of humor. “I come from improvisation and I love comedy. For me, comedy is a big genre. You can defuse many conflicts with laughter, ”he concludes.

At the Big Unicorn, from November 23 to December 18

Visit the site of the Great Unicorn

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