Stage echoes | The sex of pigeons: echo among teenagers

The first impression is often decisive for the rest of a relationship. It is true in love as in the theater.

Stephanie Morin
The Press

It is to offer teenagers a first theatrical experience that is more like them (and which will perhaps make them passionate about living art) that Gabrielle Côté and Laurence Régnier imagined the show. The sex of the pigeonspresented until April 22 at Salle Fred-Barry of Théâtre Denise-Pelletier.

The two designers have been working on this project for five years now. “The idea came one evening when we were wondering about the first contact teenagers have with the theatre,” explains Gabrielle Côté. We wanted to think about a theatrical experience that would be more in tune with this period of life when we don’t want to be silent, don’t want to sit down. »

At the time, the co-director had just seen the show in New York Sleep No More, which takes place on five separate floors of the same building. “As everything happens simultaneously, you have to make choices. We liked the idea…”

To reach teenagers, Gabrielle Côté and Laurence Régnier had the idea of ​​taking advantage of one of the most accessible technologies in this digital age: that of the smartphone. “Instead of asking to turn off the telephone, this device which has been so unifying for adolescents during the pandemic, we want to use it as a starting point for a new theatrical experience, adds Laurence Régnier. For us, it’s also a way to decompartmentalize the authoritarian codes that govern theatre. »

In this ambulatory show where the stage is divided into three scenic spaces, the public is invited to follow on their phone the interactions of three teenagers through the (fictional) social network of their secondary school. Billy, Leo and Derek all skipped school that day, but each for different reasons. When an unexpected event occurs at school, a bond is woven between these students who have very little in common.

Each character has their point of view on what is happening at school. The public will discover it by consulting the school’s social network, but also by moving from one stage space to another, according to their desires.

In each space will evolve a flesh and blood actor, who will deliver a text written by one of the three authors of the show: Frédéric Blanchette, Véronique Côté and Marianne Dansereau.

In each case, the author has used his particular pen to bring these teenagers to life, sometimes full of humor or poetry, sometimes plagued by guilt or seeking their identity in a world that is sometimes beyond them.

The creators humbly hope that this extraordinary production resonates with an audience that many fear. “It’s true that teenagers are fiery, but we take the risk of giving them greater responsibility for their experience, without infantilizing them,” says Gabrielle Côté.

“The theater is a mirror of society and people are very connected in 2022,” adds Laurence Régnier. Teenagers who saw the show said they recognized themselves in it. If the show was a cartoon, teenagers wouldn’t buy into it. However, if a teenager’s first contact with the theater is positive, it can change his life. Otherwise, it can put him off to the point that he won’t want to attend theater anymore… Our hope is to create a little crack in the teenager…” A crack so that the theater can interfere in everyone and anchor itself there for real.

The general public representations of Pigeon sex are scheduled for April 15, 16 and 22.

Also on display

Luc Boulanger
The Press

To you I can say anything

At Prospero, in the intimate room, the Théâtre du Réel, whose mandate is to produce works inspired by real-life events, presents To you I can say anything. This piece by Hugo Turgeon is “a declaration of love” from the author to his mother and to the women who shaped his life. These will be defended on stage by Frédérike Bédard, Isabelle Drainville and Linda Laplante. The young actor Maxime Isabelle (Cafe Camera) completes the cast. The staging is provided by Gill Champagne.

From April 5 to 23

The Theater of the Future

The arrival of spring announces the return of the Théâtre du Futur to its residence Aux Écuries, with its new show, The big darkness“a luminous futuristic legend”, loosely inspired by the premise of The Wrath of the Meek, his previous opus which had been produced and broadcast on the web during “the darkest hours of the pandemic”. On stage, the co-artistic directors of the Théâtre du Futur: Olivier Morin, Guillaume Tremblay and Navet Confit. This creative trio promises us a “delirious road trip where musical eclecticism, satire and divination will be at the rendezvous”.

From April 12 to 30

Lackby Sarah Kane

“Any art worth its salt is subversive in form or content,” said Sarah Kane. And this production of La Fratrie promises the public to experience “the raw and haunting intensity” of this play by the cult British author.. Rarely mounted in Quebec, Lack is one of his last texts written just before his tragic death at the age of 28. “Four anonymous voices intertwine and covertly recount the sequels of irreparable and extreme violence: rape, incest, drug addiction, pedophilia, murder, suicide. A duty of confrontation of a glaring topicality. The translation is by Philippe Ducros, and the staging by Alexa-Jeanne Dubé and Patrick R. Lacharité.

From April 5 to 9, at Usine C

The employees

“When mysterious objects are brought aboard the six thousandth ship of a powerful space exploration corporation, the fragile cohabitation of its human and look-alike employees crumbles and descends into violence. This is the premise of the adaptation for the stage of the novel The employees, by Danish author Olga Ravn. A contemporary, captivating and dreamlike work, which forms raw material for the director and designer Cédric Delorme-Bouchard.

From April 7 to 12, at the Théâtre La Chapelle

The return of the public to the National School

For the first time in two years, the graduates of the National Theater School of Canada will perform in front of an audience, at the Salle Ludger-Duvernay of the Monument-National. The young troupe of actors, designers and technicians rises Ivanov, under the direction of Martin Faucher. This early work by Chekhov was created in 1887, when Russian society was going through profound upheavals, “hoping for a better world”. “With the rooms fully open, the students will finally be able to present to the public all the knowledge acquired during their stay within our walls”, says Frédéric Dubois, artistic director of the French section and director of the interpretation program of the School.

From April 12 to 16, at the Monument-National