This creation signed by Laurence Dauphinais and Maxime Carbonneau plunges us with delight behind the scenes of the realization of the Golden Record. The precious disk sent into space aboard the probe Travel in 1977 contained a wealth of information about life on Earth for other forms of intelligent life.
At a time when we fear the worst catastrophes, wars and cataclysms, on our little blue planet, it is not far-fetched to wonder what trace humans will leave on this Earth – which they are gradually destroying. (and knowingly). No wonder, in this context, that we turn to the heavens.
It is from this observation that Laurence Dauphinais and Maxime Carbonneau designed this documentary piece, which tells the story of the process of creating the Golden Record, led by astrophysicist Carl Sagan with NASA. Already, in the 1970s, the American scientist was interested in extraterrestrial life (today a plausible hypothesis) and the means of communicating with “them”.
If this disc were to end up in the hands of an extraterrestrial civilization (elsewhere in the cosmos), what message would we want to send to it? How to describe or represent our life on Earth? How can we demonstrate our knowledge? Will this “polaroid” of our terrestrial life still be valid in five billion years?
PHOTO GUNTHER GAMPER, PROVIDED BY THE DENISE-PELLETIER THEATER
Olivier Morin, Simon Landry-Désy and Évelyne Rompré in a scene from If you ever listen to us
These are some of the questions Carl Sagan asked himself when designing the Golden Recordwith a team of scientists and artists: astronomer Frank Drake, science journalist Timothy Ferris, his fiancée Anne Druyan, visual artist Jon Lomberg and his wife Linda Salzman Sagan, also an artist.
Laurence Dauphinais and Maxime Carbonneau recreate for us this epic process that culminated in the selection of some 300 musical pieces, sound clips (sounds of a train or plane, rain, but also a heartbeat or of a kiss). A selection of images, a message of greetings recorded in 55 languages, a word from the then American President, Jimmy Carter, as well as from the UN Secretary General of those years, Kurt Waldheim.
If you ever listen to us thus takes us on this crazy adventure, complicated by a romantic intrigue inside the creative cell.
Robin-Joël Cool embodies the character of Carl Sagan with aplomb. He is surrounded in a beautiful way by Évelyne Rompré (Linda Salzman Sagan), Olivier Morin (Frank Drake), Simon Landry-Désy (Timothy Ferris) and Phara Thibault (Anne Druyan). Together, the five actors make us live the vivid emotions that this group of artists and scientists must have felt during the conception of the famous disc.
One of the most interesting segments is the selection of musical pieces (90 minutes of music) – the majority being instrumental, a bias justified by the fact that extraterrestrial living beings do not speak our languages.
The creative duo were able to romanticize certain elements of this historical narrative, such as the reasons why Carl Sagan finally agreed to include the piece. Johnny B. Goodeby Chuck Berry, the only rock’n’roll piece recorded in the Golden Record. It is these little nuggets that give an interesting color to the piece whose (known) history is perfectly summarized on Wikipedia.
As to the actual content of the Golden Recorda nice application – which can be downloaded at any time (by typing If you ever listen to us) – was designed by La Messe Basse and gives us access to everything there.
If you ever listen to us ends with a strong image of the satellite, which takes one last picture of Earth before leaving our solar system. A photo that makes us aware of the fragility of our planet. And the fact that we may be due to send another message out into the cosmos. This one could take the form of an SOS. Hoping he gets to his destination.
If you ever listen to us
By Laurence Dauphinais and Maxime Carbonneau, who are also directing.
With Robin-Joël Cool, Évelyne Rompré, Olivier Morin, Simon Landry-Désy and Phara Thibault.
At the Théâtre Denise-Pelletier until November 25.