What if a play was no longer necessarily ephemeral and doomed to die after its tour? This is the goal that playwrights and theater companies have set themselves by investing in podcasting, sometimes before the presentation on stage. A way to document their efforts and convince the public to see their play, but also to give another life, digital this time, to their stories.
“Initially, I wanted to tell the story of my grandmother in a play. But the pandemic pushed me to rethink the project to make it a podcast. I didn’t want to wait, I needed to express myself. […] I never would have thought that I would be asked after the fact to go on stage anyway, ”says Camille Paré-Poirier, who is presenting his play these days. I will come less often at the Theater d’Aujourd’hui.
For four years, the young author recorded her exchanges with her grandmother Pauline, who was beginning to show signs of dementia. “I wanted her to tell me about her life before she couldn’t do it anymore and she disappeared,” she explains. Over the course of her visits to the CHSLD – and her phone calls, pandemic obliges – Camille Paré-Poirier got to know her grandmother better, but she also saw her decline.
His idea of creating a fiction then turned into a documentary project testifying to the tragic reality of seeing a loved one disappear. As for the idea of a presentation on stage, she momentarily took the edge to see the podcast born. someone immortal in December 2021. Unfortunately, Pauline passed away without having had time to listen to the podcast or see the play.
Go further
Having created a podcast before performing on stage allowed him to deepen his proposal. She was able not only to take a step back from her grief, but also to benefit from the comments of the public. “In the play, I go further in my reflection on the loss of a loved one. I can also fix some things. The podcast was meant to be a tribute to my grandmother, so there are excerpts that I didn’t put in, things that I didn’t say, I took shortcuts. »
Another advantage: the podcast has become, without it being planned, a showcase for his play. “Several people have confirmed to me that they want to see the play because they have listened to the podcast,” reports Camille Paré-Poirier.
It’s such a shame to invest so many years of research into a story that 80% of society never hears about.
Other plays that had a podcast life before their theatrical run saw the same benefits. “Some will think that we sell all the punches by releasing the podcast first. But on the contrary, we make the public want to see the play, ”says actress Marie-Joanne Boucher, who co-hosts the podcast. Polytechnic project. To face. “Especially since they are two different objects. The podcast is mainly about our approach. The piece is not identical, even if it was nourished and influenced by the podcast. »
Marie-Joanne Boucher even believes that this podcast-theater journey can help create new audiences for theatre.
Alex Ivanovici, co-founder and artistic partner of the company Porte Parole, which produced the piece, agrees. He observed the same situation with I love Hydro. Certainly, in this case, the piece had first had a life on stage before being declined in podcast. But when the piece went on tour again, the enthusiasm was all the stronger. “We saw people looking forward to the next tour after discovering the podcast, which has been listened to by hundreds of thousands of people. And these are not necessarily people who would have gone to see the play in theaters at its debut,” he explains.
Another digital life
But for Porte Parole, investing today in podcasting is not just about convincing people to go to theatres. Above all, there is a desire to give a second life to the stories so that they can reach a wider audience.
“It’s such a shame to invest so many years of research into a story that 80% of society never hears about. Many people never go and will never go to the theater. We must therefore reach them where they are, online,” says playwright Annabel Soutar, also co-founder of the company.
His team now seeks to systematically develop a “multi-platform vision” for each of the projects. In addition to being interested in podcasting, Porte Parole is currently developing a format adapted to the screen. “The objective is to present on TV — or on a viewing platform — a documentary theater play performed by a troupe of actors. Then, there will be two gatherings in Montreal and Quebec to collect testimonials from citizens, since this is an issue that affects just about everyone. And after, there will be an adaptation on stage, ”explains Alex Ivanovici, without being able to give more details on the project for the moment.
“There is a real paradigm shift. For a long time, we have been delighted with the ephemeral quality of theatre, but isn’t this ultimately a tragedy? he concludes.