Mani Soleymanlou is not unemployed. The new director of the National Arts Center’s French Theater in Ottawa has chosen to open its first season with the resumption of its shows A (2010), Of them (2014) and Three (2017), presented now as the trilogy One. Two. Three. Met a week before the first performances, he explains that his new position required him to resume this reflection on collective identity. “The title of the institution forces me to think about what I am doing: French Theater of Canada, National Arts Center…I come from Quebec, I work in Ottawa, I have to do a French Theater of Canada…so what are the realities of French in Canada? »
Together with the various French-speaking institutions across the country, Soleymanlou found the forty actors who would take part in the project. Subsequently, the idea of a cross-Canada tour not limited to the expected cities was imposed: “We couldn’t just go to Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto because that’s where there are the money to host us! »
This subject of identity, Mani Soleymanlou has been carrying it for more than ten years now and, by his own admission, he does not understand it better today than at the time: “The only thing I realize is is that it is even more complicated and unclear than we think. The phrase “the more you know, the more you realize you know nothing” is a cliché, but it’s a bit like that! »
The other thing he seems sure of, as the conversation progresses, is being able to measure the extent to which identity (both individual and collective) can no longer be thought of in the same way: “In 2010, there was the actor, me, wondering “who am I?”. The idea of the Other on stage who asks this question was less present. The Other, who appears on stage today, is made necessary and present; there are still many flaws, but the Other is on stage. Except that now, the issue is not only related to immigration! In 2022, the quest for identity is multiple. We must add to the initial questioning a whole other section of society which also says to itself: “And me?” »
To ask questions
Mani Soleymanlou is one of those who prefer to ask questions and point out gray areas rather than offering answers. In this perspective, inscribing a reflection on more than a decade allows him to multiply the tracks.
“I want to be long-lasting and go against our time which exploits, shortens, manipulates, freezes this concept of identity which, for me, must be anything but fixed. It’s a way of seeing how an idea matures, develops, rots, evolves over time. And the time had come to question this thing which is a problem to be resolved collectively in order to mend this social fabric torn by the way we deal with identity. »
The text has been rewritten from conversations with the artists involved in the creation. Without being a collective creation, the piece reflects the individual concerns of the performers. “I wanted to hear and stage their words, reproducing a little the process of A and of Of them. It’s almost more the citizen than the artist that interested me, I wanted them to speak in their own name first. Afterwards, I developed a canvas with their words, but it remains raw material that we sculpt together. »
In 2017, Three was confined to the Quebec area. Inevitably, leaving the borders and surveying the country from east to west poses its share of challenges, both thematically and theatrically: “I tried to see what unites us in this country… it’s complicated! There are a lot of very rich notions that appear, but also old wounds that we still have to think about: the relationship of Francophones outside Quebec to Quebec, Francophones who hate being called “outside Quebec” and who say “we are not not subtracted from”; there are also notions of racism that suddenly appear, without it having to do with skin color. »
An angry charge
By Mani Soleymanlou’s own admission, this opens the door to an angry charge that he did not suspect in artists. From this anger, they try to draw fruitful theatrical material. “The question becomes, ‘What do we do now that people are on stage?’ What are we saying collectively? How do we talk to “we” if we are all about “I”? It’s hard to ask people who have just appeared to disappear for the community. »
In light of these reflections, the obvious conclusion seems to be an acknowledgment of failure. If Mani Soleymanlou recognizes and accepts it, this is not what interests him the most: “Basically, that means that often we hear, but we don’t listen. Everyone waits for the other to finish their sentence to pursue their idea. I don’t know yet how all this translates into theatre, I have a week left, but that’s my real observation. »
Ultimately, the artist feels that his show is about more than just identity: “The other day, I said it was a show about patience and the journalist looked at me with a funny face! We want to move forward quickly, both those who are tired of the identity debate and those who are in place now and who want things to go faster. But that takes time. Patience. You have to listen to people, not just hear them. »