In the play Verdict, currently presented at the Gesù in Montreal, the statue of justice is blindfolded on stage. The spectator, for his part, has his own opened up by real pleadings in famous cases that have changed Quebec society. They remind us of our prejudices and our values in cases that have already been litigated, but which nevertheless remain terribly topical, such as the right to abortion, those of same-sex spouses and racism against Aboriginal people.
They put a social mirror before our eyes: would we make the same choices?
The formula is unusual: hand-picked pleadings are presented in turn by well-known comedians Marie-Thérèse Fortin and Paul Doucet. At the end of the last criminal case pleaded, that of the murder of a police officer, the spectators are called upon to be the “one-night jury” in an interactive formula and to vote: guilty or not guilty?
The actual verdict is then revealed to the public, and viewers continue their deliberations long after they have left the venue in the downtown metropolis. The experience of justice then becomes “much more personal,” said Marie-Thérèse Fortin in an interview with The duty.
The project attracted her because it “is a bit like a documentary” while constituting a return in time accompanied by a lot of completely “contemporary” reflections.
“We understand the weight of the precariousness of these decisions taken over time by society,” she explains, giving the example of the very recent invalidation by the Supreme Court of the United States of the case. Roe v. wade of 1973, which had protected the right of American women to abortion. The news fell during their rehearsals at the end of June.
“We think it’s settled, and then not. We can very well go back, ”argued the actress.
Justice continues to seduce the public: countless television programs take place in courtrooms. The theater is not to be outdone and has also staged real or imagined trials, such as Twelve angry men and Salem witches.
The actress found it fascinating to get into the minds of these litigators and see their strategies. The parallels between their performances in front of the judge and those of the actors on the boards are obvious. “There is a proximity that I find interesting to exploit”, including the game of emotion, she argued. “Advocacy is an art. »
For her, as for Yves Thériault, the common thread between these various pleadings offered is human justice and the path traveled by society.
In the case of Verdict, the idea for the show was born in the heads of the producers, Luce and Lucie Rozon, explained Yves Thériault who was responsible, with his accomplice, the documentary maker Nathalie Roy, for finding the key pleadings as well as the texts or the recordings — not a trivial matter — and to edit it. Original texts which, when spoken, had lasted for hours have been adapted so that only the essence is retained.
“But we wanted to respect the spirit and the letter,” he says.
As they wanted to target “highly publicized” causes, or others that had advanced Quebec, their choice fell on the first criminal trial of Henry Morgentaler, accused of having performed illegal abortions, the cause of the spouses of same sex dreaming of marriage, the depictions made by Me Jean-François Arteau (lawyer for the Council of the Atikamekw Nation) at the coroner’s inquest into the death of Joyce Echaquan and finally into the criminal trial of Basil Parasiris, who killed a police officer during a police operation deployed in 5 a.m., in his house, where he slept with his wife and children. The oldest trial dates back to 1973 and the most recent plea to 2021.
We needed a reminder of the facts and the context, but there was no question of stretching it out, explained the “content producer”, who has directed and scripted series and documentaries in the legal world for many years, such as Behind the scenes at the palace “we kept the strong moments, those that appeal to feelings and emotions”, rather than getting bogged down in legal details.
Embodied human lives
The two authors “went to seek the human fiber”, adds Mme Fortin, who in turn plays famous lawyers in some of the most famous cases of the last fifty years.
Because the pleading presented to exonerate Doctor Morgentaler is also the story of this young woman Véronica P., who was arrested just after setting her foot on the ground while getting down from the bed of the clinic where took place her abortion. The battle for same-sex marriage — recognition of their equality before the law — is also the love story of Nicolas and Philippe.
And thinking of the horrible death at 37 of Joyce Echaquan, an Atikamekw mother whose last words were degrading insults, she stresses that one of the strengths of this theatrical creation is that “we ask ourselves questions about our values and our excesses”.
Presented since October 6 in Montreal and on tour across Quebec from November 5 to May 10, 2023, Verdict is a production of Double Agents, with a staging by Michel-Maxime Legault, under the artistic direction of Pierre Bernard.