Review: Sainte-Marie-la-Mauderne | Successful seduction mission

The task was not easy: to adapt for the stage one of the great popular successes of Quebec cinema, The great seduction. Well, the craftsmen of Sainte-Marie-la-Mauderne took up the challenge. They offer a very entertaining show thanks in particular to an ingenious staging.

Stephanie Morin
The Press

Remember that the film written and directed 20 years ago by Ken Scott takes place on an island in the middle of the St. Lawrence. The inhabitants of the place, called Sainte-Marie-la-Mauderne here, are struggling to earn a living and are counting on the establishment of a plastic recycling plant to save their community from massive desertion. However, several obstacles separate them from this objective, in particular the absence of a doctor permanently established on the island.

Led by Germain Lesage, self-proclaimed mayor of the village, the population will stick together to meet the demands of the recycling company and convince a doctor to take up residence in Sainte-Marie, while his (forced) passage through the Island should only last 30 days.

Michel Rivard incarnates with nuances a Germain ratoureuse with wish, and this, in spite of certain replicas too quickly articulated which became difficult to seize last Saturday. No doubt the effect of a little nervousness, when the team was only in its second performance.

Normand Brathwaite, whom we had not seen in the theater since the distant days of Houndstooth, is doing quite well. His character of Yvon is perfectly gruff, a bit playful perhaps, but without being excessive. And his lines each time trigger laughter in a room which, it must be said, is won over to him in advance.

As for Fayolle Jean Jr, he is impeccable in the role of D^r Christopher Lewis, a plastic surgeon who discovers diseases among the islanders that he believed to have been eradicated from the surface of the globe (including climbing athlete’s foot, etc.).

A word also about Chantal Baril, who embodies for our greatest happiness one of the women of the village responsible for listening to the conversations of D^r Lewis. Her very physical acting reminds us of what a formidable comic actress she is. In fact, the entire cast is solid and has been able to put in their mouths entire scenes that have almost passed into popular culture.

Successful staging

One of the great successes of this show, however, remains the beautiful staging of Frédéric Blanchette, who manages, with two or three pieces of string, to take us from one place to another, on an island swept by the wind. where the houses cling to the side of the rocks. The birds flying above the houses suspended by poles, the curtain which alone embodies the badly decorated house of Henry the banker (Alexandre Fortin), the village restaurant, the church, the village illuminated at night fallen… It is very nicely done. And the changes of scenery, made by the actors, seem to add to the feeling of community that unfolds on stage.

Better, Frédéric Blanchette had the brilliant idea of ​​ending the first part of the show with a musical piece. Michel Rivard took his guitar, Gary Boudreault took up the accordion, Normand Brathwaite found a box to do the percussion… A magical moment, full of warmth.

Decidedly, Emmanuel Reichenbach, of Encore Spectacle, had flair in adapting Ken Scott’s film to make it a summer play. He knew how to transpose the fine humor of the film, its endearing characters, its iconic scenes (even the cricket game is reproduced!), while updating the subject a little with replies on non-gendered toilets, social networks social and vegan food.

In short, quality summer theater is being offered over the next two months at the Théâtre Gilles-Vigneault in Saint-Jérôme.

Sainte-Marie-la-Mauderne

From a screenplay by Ken Scott. Adaptation Emmanuel Reichenbach. Directed by Frédéric Blanchette. With Michel Rivard, Fayolle Jean Jr and Normand Brathwaite

Gilles Vigneault TheaterUntil August 13

★★★★