Gathered around music, seven young people from different backgrounds sing and play to express their sorrows, their hopes, their loves and their friendships, to tell their stories without censorship and in complete privacy. The only adult at the center of this heterogeneous group, Huguette (Geneviève Goupil) listens to them, encourages them and supports them with the indulgence and openness of a mother. In a very first production, Skeletons arts vivants celebrates adolescence in its most tender and true aspects.
Written by a small group of emerging artists in collaboration with young people aged 13 to 16, Noise : the theatrical concert, the first production of Skeletons arts vivants, is an immersion into the heart of the torments and hopes of adolescents. Carried by themes dear to this age, the musical piece lets young people speak with all the enthusiasm that inhabits them. From the new one, the mysterious one (Nicolas Dupuis) who, in a comma-free joust, lets one hear his disappointment in the face of absent and resigned parents to this game of dodgeball conducive to the discovery of a budding love between Cindy (Aline Winant ) and Audrey (Maya Hegetschweiler) via Simon (Étienne Laforge), constantly lifted by a new crush, the play is performed with sincerity and aplomb by actors as enthusiastic as they are talented. In the lead, Étienne Laforge, as a tender teenager, bursts onto the stage with an endearing, sparkling character, carried by a humor and lightness which balances the whole. Just like Maya Hegetschweiler who, in addition to playing a self-confident teenager, sings divinely well. Gaël (Émilie Versailles), shy, reveals himself at the end of the play in an equally moving singing number.
But still…
The piece is, as its title indicates, supported by singing and music, which serve as real supports for the whole. All the characters push the note while playing different instruments live on stage — guitar, bass, drums, piano — as an extension of themselves. And this is what makes the strength of the whole, this extension of their emotions which pass through the melody. Without it, without this element which allows them to occupy the space, the text and the different paintings are a matter of déjà vu, of these themes heard and read a thousand times, of these typical characters which make up the microcosm of adolescence. A completely plausible universe, which however lacks audacity.
The direction by Héloïse Desrochers keeps the focus and attention on the story. Dance, singing and choreography unfold in a cozy setting. A wall covered with vinyl records and record covers, all lit by a few small lamps, creates an atmosphere in tune with the music and the intimacy of the subjects to which the protagonists suit us. Finally, the text, chanted and sung in Franglais, very anchored in its time, is part of an identifiable reality and echoes this ephemeral period that is adolescence. Unfortunately, this language contributes to reducing the scope of adolescent theater, which here remains stuck in themes and writing that tend to compartmentalize it.