Posted yesterday at 6:00 a.m.
What is this monumental seven-hour piece about?
The play tells the story of Hanako, a survivor of the Hiroshima nuclear bomb who was blinded by the explosion when she was 4 years old. We see the character grow throughout her life and in the last act of the show, she celebrates her 60th birthday. It is Hanako who ties together the seven stories that make up the play, even though each story is independent and completes itself. Incidentally, one of these stories – the third – served as the inspiration for the film. No. It is also the story of America’s encounter with Japan. We find all the themes dear to Robert, including the history of Quebec, which appears implicitly throughout the show.
Tell us about the genesis of this work.
In 1992, Robert was invited by a private producer in Tokyo to immerse himself in Japanese culture and he asked me to accompany him. For 10 days, we saw nô theatre, bunraku. Then, Robert asked to visit Hiroshima, because of what happened there in 1945. We were received by a survivor of the bomb. He told us his story: he was thrown into a ditch by the explosion and for several days he believed he was dead, because of the smoke and the ragged bodies surrounding him. He also told us about this very beautiful young woman who was disfigured by the explosion, so that her family removed all the mirrors from the house. As soon as we boarded the train back to Tokyo, Robert opened his laptop and started writing. The idea had germinated in his head.
How has the structure evolved over the years?
In January 1993, the show was presented for a night or two. It had been developed from collective improvisations. Then, Robert developed the text around Hanako’s kinship: the play went to three o’clock, then two years later, to five o’clock. In 1997, at the Festival TransAmériques in Montreal, we presented the full version, that is, the seven-hour version. Subsequently, the piece was presented everywhere: in Japan for the 50e anniversary of the bombing, in Europe, in New Zealand, in the United States…
PHOTO ELIAS DJEMIL, PROVIDED BY EX MACHINA
Richard Frechette in The Seven Branches of the Ōta River
In your opinion, does the piece still resonate so strongly after 25 years?
In my opinion, it resonates even louder. Twenty-five years ago, we lived in relative peace. We didn’t know about 9/11, Quebec had evolved, Lucien Bouchard was in power… Today, the Russians are waging war in Ukraine and are threatening to use nuclear weapons… It’s more than ever news.
What place does this piece occupy in your career?
I had already had the chance to play around the world with The dragon trilogy and The tectonic plates. I was working on other projects when Robert asked me to help create the seven branches. For five years, we traveled the world! I am extremely privileged. Especially since I’ve always considered myself a homebody and I don’t have a gift for languages! I thought for a long time that my career would take place only in Quebec… In the play, I play a lead role, that of Ambassador Walter Lapointe, but I also do extras. I play all that with equal happiness. For me, The Seven Branches of the Ōta River remains a fantastic trip. What is beautiful is that I will play the part on the day of my 67e birthday, September 3. And Robert has already told me that I will participate in his show on Riopelle. What a wonderful gift!
The Seven Branches of the Ōta River will be presented at the TNM from August 19 to September 4 and at the Diamant de Québec from September 17 to 25.