Sensory and sound work, of a hybrid genre between podcast and theater, Where the dust settles is an impressionistic and extraordinary stage proposition. The show gently opens the season at the Center du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui.
Without being accomplished, Where the dust settles is an invitation to travel. In a poetic and meditative momentum, this piece, co-signed by Julien Morissette and Karina Pawlikowski, addresses several subjects in fragments: the couple, the family, separation, our place in the world…
From the outset, Julien Morissette (who plays and co-directed the production with Karina Pawlikowski) explains to the audience that they will be able to “close their eyes during the 75-minute performance”, without an intermission. He adds that “it’s normal to feel a little confused.” And invites the viewer to get lost and find themselves “in the twists and turns” of their own story.
PHOTO VALERIE PROVIDED, PROVIDED BY THE CENTER DU THÉÂTRE D’AUJOURD’HUI
Emmanuel Schwartz and Julien Morissette
The production reconfigured the Michelle-Rossignol room, in order to bring spectators closer to the stage space. It’s successful. We feel in a cozy cocoon, close to the performers. The decor evokes a sound studio, with a console, a record player, microphones on stand. But also the living room of an old house stuffed with oriental rugs and cushions, with, in the center, a coffee table on which are a puzzle and a teapot. And at the bottom a piano. A musician (Alexis Elina) is present to play magnificent pieces.
The story mixes fragments and memories. We talk about family and romantic relationships, about a couple breaking up (Émilie Bibeau and Emmanuel Schwartz, very fair) who will find themselves in fiction. But the subject, even the premise, remains the house as a metaphor for life. These houses that we live in or that we abandon over time. The house as a refuge to protect oneself from the outside; or a place of one’s own to realize oneself. Alone or with loved ones.
PHOTO VALERIE PROVIDED, PROVIDED BY THE CENTER DU THÉÂTRE D’AUJOURD’HUI
The actress Célia Gouin-Arsenault
Lack of theatricality
However, the dramaturgy is not defined enough to sustain our attention throughout the show. Without specific characters, the play remains difficult to follow, with its ruptures, its asides, its jumps in time. For example, Morissette addresses the family drama of Nick Cave, or the McGarrigle family and their love of music, without us really understanding the link with his story. Apart from the importance of the piano in the house and the musical legacy that the father wants to leave to his children.
In summary, the CTD’A invites us to an experiment between sound fiction and living art. An intimate and peaceful experience, to which we can adhere or remain indifferent, depending on our degree of openness to theatrical research. And according to our desire to get lost (or not) in this beautiful unfinished house.
Consult the part page
Where the dust settles
By Julien Morissette and Karina Pawlikowski
At the Today’s Theater Center. A production of Transistor Média, in co-production with the CNA French Theater.Until October 12.