Stage echoes | The creative effervescence of Clara Prévost

Twice a month, The Press presents news in the world of theater, circus and dance, in Montreal and Quebec

She plays (Jules & Joséphine), she writes (Mount Analogue) and she realizes (Between two). Among others. The author, actress, director and producer Clara Prévost is carrying out several projects these days. We spoke to him.

We catch Clara Prévost in mid-air, between two performances of Jules & Joséphineat the Fred-Barry room of the Théâtre Denise-Pelletier, in Montreal.

The play written by Philippe Robert is a sort of homage to Jules Verne, produced by the Théâtre Advienne que peut – by Frédéric Bélanger, who directed the play. Clara plays Jules Verne’s Quebec cousin. She bets him that she will cross the Atlantic in less than 30 days – by balloon, by boat, etc., all in a nod to the author of the Around the world in 80 days.

If she succeeds in joining him in Nantes within the prescribed time frame, the two cousins ​​will give each other “permission” to live their respective dreams: Joséphine will continue to travel, rather than marry and become a housewife, and Jules will make it a reality. his dream of becoming a writer rather than a lawyer, as his family wishes.

“What I like about the shows at the Théâtre Advienne que peut [Les aventures de Lagardère, D’Artagnan et les trois mousquetaires], is that the return of the public is always extremely joyful, Clara Prévost tells us, her eyes lively. The spectators leave nourished, lightened, amazed, it’s as if it awakens their child’s heart. »

She composed her character while never losing sight of the overall picture of the play.

This dive into the world of Jules Verne – even through the band – pleased him. “It’s a universe that turned me on. I would like to read his books, but I don’t have time! »

We understand it by seeing the productions that occupy it pass by. Next week she will flip the coin Mount Analogue, which she co-wrote with choreographer Wynn Holmes. It is a free adaptation of the unfinished novel by René Daumal. An alpine adventure novel inspired by Hinduism in which a group of friends set off in search of a mysterious mountain.

“The idea came from Wynn Holmes, who contacted me to write the text, because it’s a show where there is a lot of dancing and music,” Clara Prévost tells us. It’s an unfinished novel that ends with a comma. But as it is a spiritual quest, in which the mountain is an analogy, the fact that it ends with a comma is not insignificant, it is even quite poetic. »

Mount Analogue is a piece written for an actor – Jean-François Casabonne –, six dancers and six musicians.

“I didn’t want it to be simply a narration, so my challenge was to involve everyone, without there being any repetition with the danced or sung segments,” explains Clara. Everyone is playing, singing and dancing, we are all out of our comfort zone with this show. We worked back and forth with Wynn and Hubert [Tanguay-Labrosse], who composed the music. »

In Clara Prévost’s adaptation, as in the novel, said mountain is invisible, and its base or its “bedrock” has the property of curving the space around it, which means that we go around it without even thinking about it. realize it. The Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky had also made a dreamlike adaptation of this novel, The sacred mountain.

You have to go there with an open mind, Clara Prévost tells us with a burst of laughter.

To complete his already busy winter, the short film Between twohis second film (which stars Valérie Tellos and Mattis Savard-Verhoeven), will be presented at the Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma.

Between two is the story of a couple who are thinking of having a child. “They are questioning the different cycles of life. In a state of in-between, in the dizziness of a seemingly banal decision, but which turns everything upside down. I didn’t want to talk about the flashes of the beginning or the twists and turns of the end of a relationship. I wanted to romanticize the banal, the ordinary, the questions that everyone asks themselves. »

Clara Prévost likes to choose “substantial” projects where she has “power” over what is said, over what is created. “I love the game, but not at all costs,” she told us. I am more selective than before. And I love making films. I want to go that way a bit. But right now, I’m exploring all of that. »

Jules & Joséphineat the Fred-Barry room of the Théâtre Denise-Pelletier until March 8

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Read our review of the show

Mount Analogueat the Espace Go theater from February 27 to March 10

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Between twoat the Cinémathèque québécoise on February 26 at 5:45 p.m. as part of the Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma

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Also on display

Calls me Mohamed Ali

There are nine Afro-descendant performers to take the stage of the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (TNM) to present the rhythmic and scathing prose of the Congolese playwright Dieudonné Niangouna. The play dazzled critics and the public during its appearance at the Festival TransAmériques, then at the Théâtre de Quat’sous. Here she comes to the big stage of the TNM, to denounce with sharp words the ordinary racism and discrimination that still hits the black community. An immense and essential spectacle, because it is still (too) hot with current events.

At the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, from February 23 to March 3

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Stéphanie Morin, The Press

Apology

Presented at La Bordée, in Quebec, this dramatic comedy from Great Britain stars Kristin Miller, an art historian. On her 70th birthday, this baby boomer who was in all the fights is forced to look at her former activism with a different eye. A text on the ideals (and what remains of them) of this generation wishing to change the world to the music of Give Peace a Chance. The actress Marie-Ginette Guay is surrounded here by a cast of five performers, in a production by Michel Nadeau.

At La Bordée, from February 27 to March 23

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Stéphanie Morin, The Press

Liebestod

Director, author and performer Angélica Liddell arrives at Usine C to present one of her most recent creations, Liebestod. Based in Madrid, this leading figure on the European scene was inspired by the final aria of Tristan and Isolde by Wagner, but also bullfighting and the paintings of Francis Bacon to create a work where the desires of life and death merge. This tragedy, received a standing ovation in Avignon as well as in Paris, is in Montreal for only three performances. In Spanish with French and English surtitles.

At Usine C, February 22, 23 and 24

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Iris Gagnon-Paradis, The Press

The Mirror

The renowned Australian contemporary circus troupe Gravity & Other Myths is back in Montreal with a new creation entitled The Mirror. Artists and designers question here the notions of entertainment and authenticity in the era of omnipresent screens and the continual representation of oneself on social networks. To do this, director Darcy Grant added a technological dimension to the show with the use of an LED wall and several selfie sticks. A show for ages 8 and up, which lasts 75 minutes with electronic music in the background.

At TOHU, from February 21 to March 3

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Stéphanie Morin, The Press

Detrás del Sur: Dances for Manuel

Percussion, songs, urban and contemporary dance mixed with African rhythms will be part of Danse Danse with the arrival (a first!) of the Colombian troupe Sankofa Danzafro. The dancer and choreographer Rafael Palacios seeks in his work to deconstruct the stereotypes associated with the black body, in a country where the Afro-descendant population is the second largest on the Latin American continent. This creation, entitled Detrás del Sur: Dances for Manuelpays tribute to Chango el Gran Putasa monumental work by the writer, doctor and anthropologist Manuel Zapata Olivella, a fresco tracing the history of the black African diaspora in the New World.

At the Théâtre Maisonneuve, from February 21 to 24

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Iris Gagnon-Paradis, The Press