Let’s not beat around the bush: attending the “infectious existential musical” by Sophie Cadieux, Mélanie Demers and Frannie Holder is a privilege. Firstly because it is not every day that creators of this caliber, each at the peak of their respective art (theatre, dance and music), cross swords in complete freedom. But even more because their Internal Affairs are of sovereign singularity and rare authenticity, that they are of public interest and that they deserve, however unusual they may be, however atypical, however confusing some would say, a large-scale platform like that of the ‘Espace Go.
In a fascinating environment, a creation by Geneviève Lizotte (scenography) and Sonoyo Nishikawa (lighting) which alone is worth the detour, three women unleash their dreams and their fervor. In this cave, this lush cavern, a glowing and hairy setting, both underground and underwater, mineral and organic, extraterrestrial and uterine, prehistoric and futuristic, three sisters sing, they dance, they say in chorus or in solo the past and the present, what is fleeting and what is perpetual, finality and eternity.
An exhilarating dive into the depths of the feminine, an introspection that is never banal, the 70-minute show addresses with poetry, by shouting and whispering, by chanting and murmuring, the battles to be fought, the loves to be celebrated, the forces to be deployed. It is a question of the state of beings and bodies, but also of that of peoples and territories. Articulated around the rich notion of borders, those that must be broken down, abolished, pushed back or even recognized, the representation will leave no one indifferent. Shocking, perhaps, but certainly not indifferent.
Fairies are always thirsty, we can’t help but think while attending this show led by three artist-citizens motivated by their doubts as well as their convictions. Of the heroines of Denise Boucher’s play, created more than 45 years ago, those ofInternal Affairs are undoubtedly the heirs. In an exceptional scene, three modern-day witches, women in comfortable clothes that nothing can stop, convey their immense power and their incredible resilience. “In a big pot, we collect dark thoughts, slander, backbiting, mockery, insults, offenses and outrages. All these things that eat us up from the inside, we eat them. »
With visceral, not to say animal, choreographies, poignant tunes and heady choruses, striking and relevant incantations, Cadieux, Demers and Holder give birth to an object that is both baroque and coherent, the unique fruit of their extraordinary meeting and ‘a courageous journey through them-
themselves, but they also manage to assert their individualities, to make their respective concerns heard. Thus, Sophie Cadieux’s words on motherhood are imprinted on us. “If we stopped losing ourselves and realized […] that our endless bodies are only surrounded by those of our mothers and they by theirs and so on […] We would have to admit that we come from wombs that have experienced all the order and disorder of the world. And that’s all we’re capable of. »