The One Dollar Story | Diagon Alley ★★★

For her first solo at the theater, Sophie Desmarais did not give herself a gift. First, because the pandemic has turned the process of creating this piece, which she was to present in 2020, upside down. Then, because The One Dollar Story is a demanding and dense score that leaves him no respite for 90 minutes.

Luc Boulanger
The Press

The text by Frenchman Fabrice Melquiot is full of references to the 1960s, to artists and to the American counter-culture. The exercise is perilous, even for such a talented and powerful actress.

For 15 years, Sophie Desmarais has brilliantly played roles in cinema, theater and television. The actress is a rough diamond, capable of transforming herself, of going through all the emotional states. Here, his character will experience mourning, betrayal, enjoyment, revolt and suffering. A lot of suffering.

On the road

When, at the beginning, Jodie Casterman arrives alone on stage with her very heavy backpack, we already feel the weight of a lifetime on the shoulders of this 40-year-old woman. His existential quest will be long, confusing. And complex. Because his journey is full of mysteries, full of detours.

First there is this adoptive father who dies of cancer in a cabin under the fir trees of Oregon. Then her mother, Suzanne, an old hippie who would have had a romance with Leonard Cohen (and inspired his famous song) and who never loved her daughter. Jodie will have a revelation about the true identity of her biological father. This woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown will literally freak out before our eyes! Then decide to go in search of this father in New Mexico.

Cul-de-sac

However, despite a high-calibre performance, we have the impression of seeing a great performer playing an insane score. The spectator searches in vain for a passage, a key, to access his intimate and disturbing universe.

The character’s story constantly withdraws into itself, in an overflow of words that prevents us from accessing his drama.

Moreover, the artificial staging of Roland Auzet does not help the cause. The show turns psychotronic when Jodie has sex with… an alien! A mind-blowing scene, beautifully lit by Cédric Delorme-Bouchard, that said, but unrelated to the rest of the show.

The ending is better. We will eventually understand the reason for this mysterious $1 bill that Jodie keeps talking about (we have to justify the title of the piece). When she returns to the stage, after her cosmic orgasm, Jodie appears in a beautiful, colorful and traditional costume. Looking dignified. Her peaceful face suggests that the woman will (perhaps) end up living her life. We wish him. Because we couldn’t wait to get back to ours.