To catch the very busy Brigitte Poupart these days, you have to take advantage of a brief break where she dines on the go. At the same time as she resumes her ambulatory show Until we die (last chance to see this popular immersive experience at Arsenal Contemporary Art, which will begin a European tour next summer), the multidisciplinary creator directs a first play at the Théâtre du Rideau vert, Never, Always, Sometimes.
The director fell in love with this award-winning work that actress Lauren Hartley had her read. She was first attracted by the theme of the text written by Kendall Feaver, an Australian living in England. “Touching mental illness is still very taboo in our society today, and even more so for a woman, I have the impression,” says Brigitte Poupart. We’re going to talk about what the disease causes in the person who suffers from it, and that’s very good. But we don’t talk about the enormous collateral damage that this causes among loved ones. So people feel very isolated. And here, we add one more layer, which is to have diagnosed bipolarity [chez] an 11 year old child. It’s very controversial. I have a great friend who is a child psychiatrist who tells me that we rarely give a diagnosis like that to a child. It’s very early. »
Anna (Lauren Hartley) is now 18 years old, has a lover (Simon Landry-Désy) and an ambition: to become a writer. But the one who, as a child, wrote very imaginative stories with precocious talent, the morbidity of which had worried her mother, now struggles to put the words together. She blames medication which is knocking her out and has therefore decided to stop this treatment which she considers to be a brake on her creativity. Despite the opposition of her mother (Annick Bergeron), who has raised her alone since the death of her husband, and of her psychiatrist (Marie-Laurence Moreau), who warns her of the devastating consequences of this sudden withdrawal…
Brigitte Poupart compares Never, Always, Sometimes to a psychological thriller. “We’re always sitting on the edge of our seats as spectators,” because we never know where the story will take us. And it’s all a question of perception, she emphasizes. “That’s what I like about the room: it’s not black or white. Everyone is right, somewhere. And all the characters are dignified and courageous. But they face this disease in a different way. And I think we question a lot about the notion of family: what does a family mean? Is it just blood ties? Anna becomes very attached to her psychiatrist. »
She sees in all these characters “anonymous heroes”, whose challenges are found in the intimate sphere. A “very beautiful story”, which is not devoid of hope or even humor, to which the director was able to bring the touch of dreaminess and poetry that she loves. By the sets — by Nadine Jaafar — and the lighting — by Cédric Delorme-Bouchard. “I play with perspectives too. The story is so realistic that I was able to contrast universes that can explode a little. » And thanks to the sound, which ends up being distorted, we enter Anna’s troubled mind.
Diagnostic
Like the original (The Almighty Sometimes), the title of the piece translated by Maryse Warda refers to the answers checked by the mother in a medical questionnaire. Words chosen during her childhood, which will have been decisive for Anna’s life. She can no longer interrupt her medication without causing her body to collapse in distress.
Where does identity end and illness begin? “I’ve been taking the pills for so long, I don’t know who I am without them,” Anna complains. She questions the very diagnosis of bipolarity, made when the little girl was troubled by the death of her father. “Was the diagnosis wrong, too early? Was it necessary to medicate so early? » Brigitte Poupart adds “that there are people who need medication, because it helps them live. There is a lot of distress. But in the play, what is disturbing is that it was her mother who accepted many things for her. And then you reach adulthood and there are people who have decided for you. You are faced with a fait accompli, and that is going to be your life. » In short, we are faced with a work which does not provide an easy answer or solution.
The director has documented herself on bipolarity. “And at the start of rehearsals, we also opened the door: we talked a lot about people we knew, about personal experiences. And just within the cast or crew, we all had someone, in our family or in our circle, who suffered from a mental health issue. She therefore believes that many spectators will recognize themselves in the piece.
Lack of resources
Concerning medication in young people, we think, for example, of its use in students who have been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. “I was lucky, I was spared, I think,” says Brigitte Poupart. Because probably I would have been put on Ritalin when I was little. I have always been very hyperactive by nature. I need to do lots of things at the same time, that’s what calms me down. Do just one thing [à la fois], it bores me. At school, I was allowed to get up and stand. I did a lot of sport to try to evacuate [mon énergie]. So, I have the impression that today, I would have been medicated! »
She does not comment on the phenomenon. “I don’t have the data to say if it’s real or if we’re overmedicating, if it’s the easy solution because it camouflages another, more serious problem. We don’t have resources to help people. » In fact, she believes that he is “there, the boo-boo.” We have lost a lot of our progressive side in Quebec. The school has deteriorated greatly. Teachers were talking about it during the strike. We let go. And there are no resources in schools. So I worry that our solution is to medicate everyone.”
There is a lack of professionals to help teachers, thinks the designer. “And we’re talking about children going to school without having eaten. In France, for 3 euros they have a full meal for dinner. There seems to be no sense of community here. I can’t imagine newcomers: if they have a problem child, where can they turn for help? We already find it difficult. There is also this in the play which is interesting: the mother is also destitute. »
How do you look after your own well-being when your daughter is in crisis? “The lack of resources, I think that’s what also isolates. Finding support groups is very difficult. So, these people who have mental health problems gather in the street, ostracized. We have seen this since the pandemic. »
For Brigitte Poupart, creativity was “definitely beneficial”. “And I think we’re bad gang creators who suffer from that, she adds, bursting out laughing. It becomes a catalyst. » She found a way to channel her hyperactivity into her profession. “For example, directing often requires an effort of concentration [qui convient] to a brain capable of taking in several things at the same time: people are talking to you, there is sound, you have to watch an interpreter play, give notes… Your brain must be at 50,000 places at a time. I can do that. So, if I had been medicated and I had only been able to concentrate on one thing, I would not have been able to develop what I have developed over the years, which is a bit like my signature :d ‘being able to do exploded, different things. »