The extensive program of theaters gives an idea of the state of mind in Quebec; after several hatched seasons, the theatrical world seems to have read the coming autumn as a hope. With the memory of the confinements which is being absorbed, the watchword here shows a resolute desire to look forward.
The coming season will be an opportunity in particular for Anne Marie Olivier to present one of his own shows. After nine seasons at the helm of Trident, the former artistic director and co-general manager is returning to more personal projects with Mauritius, story of resilience. Depending on her sensitivity to different life paths, she will play this brilliant man, economist and civil servant, victim of a stroke – then of aphasia. What happens to the relationship with others with such limited access to speech? This “dramaturgic experimentation”, which will require a spectator to complete the story, will follow the simple struggle of a man to find the words.
At the Trident, the last autumn programmed by the theater woman will also open with Cabaret. The musical, known in its 1972 cinematography version, will bring back the madness of the Kit Kat Klub and the Berlin nights of the interwar period, in a delivery by the director Bertrand-Alain. choreographies ofHarold Rheaumewill accompany this production for fifteen actors and six musicians. On the program: entertainment and provocation, while the National Socialist shadow extends its hold.
On the side of La Bordée, it is women’s peace which will fully launch the season in September. By means of fiction, this show around prostitution will offer a reflection rooted in a marginal reality and yet strong consequences on society. The questions are numerous and divisive: should we, for example, completely legalize sexual services and their consumption? This piece of Veronique Cotepublished by Atelier 10, has already aroused reactions and is likely to continue to do so with its baptism on the boards.
On the Diamond side, we will launch the theatrical offer with some representations of seven branches of the ota river of Robert LePage — for those who would have missed this jewel during its visit three years ago. During this time, the room of Premier Acte will welcome for its part, at the opening of the season, We already smelled dynamite in the Stone Age. On a text and a staging by Charlie Cameron-Verge and Natalie Fontalvothe play will explore the “post-Third World War” aftermath of a Yes victory in a third referendum on sovereignty: an intriguing questioning of collective dreams… in a context where, Canada refusing the results of the ballot box, will be triggered a Quebec war of independence.
Gaia in the spotlight
The Twins of Arcadia, at Periscope, opens the ball for a series of pieces where the environment emerges as a recurring motif. On a text and a staging by Philip Soldevila, this “tragicomic theatrical-musical fable” frames a world of ecological upheaval and the exploitation of resources; a world that is doomed, while the birth of twins, a girl and a boy, in the kingdom of New Arcadia will raise a new question: to whom will the power fall?
Admittedly, environmental concerns have been punctuating theatrical seasons for a few years now. Consequence of a climate crisis increasingly at the heart of our concerns, the movement seems particularly marked this year. Still at Periscope, will follow in October Factory of the Amar Sisters Collective (Nikki won’t die), which chooses a post-apocalyptic setting where pollution has killed animals and turned the river into a dump. The staging of Frederique Bradet will follow two young adults in search of love and beauty, while industrial waste, bruising the bodies, threatens to do even more damage.
La Bordée will continue at the end of October with Grosse Ile, 1847. On a text and in a staging of the versatile Emile Proulx-Cloutierthis production for eight actors retraces the journey of tens of thousands of women and men who, in the 19e century, left Ireland and famine for our continent. At a time of climate change and human migrations, this documentary theater will offer a historical return as a detour, as a side step to question human resilience and suggest a new look at the many crises that the years to come predict.