Doubts can make us fail, says a famous line from Shakespeare. They can also encourage us to start over to ultimately succeed.
A few years ago, the Australian theater man Bruce Gladwin read an article from the New York Times recounting that 32 men with intellectual disabilities had worked for “pinottes” in a poultry meat processing plant in Iowa for decades, always with the agreement of the authorities.
He quickly decided to adapt the subject into a play with the neuroatypical actors of his Back to Back Theater (BTBT). “It was a story of slavery, says Mr. Gladwin, joined in his country in tele-interview. We worked on the adaptation, and then we showed our proposal to relatives and collaborators. It was very bad…”
The BTBT comedians tried unsuccessfully to imitate the American accent. The production was not rising and towards the end of a frustrating presentation, one of the actors, Scott Price, got up, broke the 4e wall and shouted to the room: “Sorry, the show was bad, but here’s why this topic is important to all of us. »
He then developed his passionate point of view on his own cause. “It’s as if he had become an activist,” says the artistic director of BTBT. He was at the heart of what mattered with this story. We then decided to make it the subject of a new show and to stage a group of activists for the rights of people with disabilities who organize a public discussion [town hall meeting]. »
The new room The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes (title derived from Lafontaine’s fable The dog that drops its prey for the shade), presented as part of the Festival TransAmériques (FTA), uses addresses to the public on the condition of people with certain intellectual particularities. The proposal boldly explores how artificial intelligence is likely to transform the world. Doubts made fail, start over and succeed…
And it continues here
Bruce Gladwin has assumed the artistic direction of BTBT since 1999, a company founded in 1987. The troupe employs neuroatypical artists who play, but who can also participate in the writing and design of shows from a perspective that the director describes as “idiosyncratic “. The chosen themes deal with contemporary subjects and often follow one another, one creation leading to another.
“I came to BTBT after seeing a performance of the company,” says Bruce Gladwin. I was a recent graduate of a theater school and discovering this work, I understood that I could turn everything I had learned upside down. I felt like discovering a new artistic movement. BTBT’s stories were deeply original and the actors had a spontaneous and lively way of performing. It was beautiful and very inspiring. »
Quebecer Catherine Bourgeois, who founded the Joe Jack and John company in 2003, thinks no less. She too was shaken when she discovered BTBT’s work. “It was a pivotal moment for me,” she says. I was discovering a company working on the other side of the world in the sense that I was exploring myself by dealing with neglected contemporary subjects, by organizing the creative work differently in a desire for inclusion and collaboration. I felt less alone. »
She also works with neurodiversity artists. “I really appreciate their fundamental choices, which contribute in a very original way to creation. They offer points of view that are not very present in our societies or that we don’t hear enough of. Entering into conversation and creation with these artists is very rewarding. These actors nurture the diversity and multiplicity of perspectives. The quality of their presence on stage is also remarkable. These are actors who have not been broken by training schools. It is very stimulating and confronting for theatrical structures and the ways of creating and presenting theatre. »
Bruce Gladwin goes on to talk about one of the comedians, who has worked with BTBT for almost three decades. “He has been perfecting his art every day for 27 years. This is the case for very few actors in Australia. Because another advantage of working for us is guaranteed work. We allow the development of a career, of an artistic investment over the long term. »
His deep involvement allows him to draw original points of view on the world, society, others. The director mentions, for example, that the fact of not being in a couple, of not having children, of constantly being judged makes us see institutions, laws, power, the theater itself differently.
Mr. Gladwin gives the concrete example of the amplification of voices on stage. The microphones were first used to compensate for the lack of technical projection of the voice of the actors. Over time, they also served to echo murmurs and whispers.
“A good part of our work explores the relationship between actors and the architectural structures in which we present theater, sums up the artistic director. We built our own inflatable theater. We played outside the halls and then went back there playing with the characteristics of traditional theatre. »
Comedian, play yourself
At the time of the combined interview, Ms.me Bourgeois continued rehearsals at the Espace libre in Montreal where his company is in residence. His new work, which will also be presented at the FTA, is called Cispersonages in search of an author. This original creation also addresses the theatrical illusion, the relationship between fiction and reality. It raises very topical ethical questions about benevolence, representativeness, openness to difference.
“The play shows a troupe in a studio trying to put on a play, explains the director, assuming the Pirandellian references. We are therefore talking about artistic freedom, about speaking out. With all the discussions we have had around cultural appropriation in recent years, since we question the legitimacy for certain people to embody realities that they do not live, it became interesting to stage neuroatypical actors who play others. So there’s not much of a gap between who they are and who they play. »
The director even compelled herself to read texts contrary to her convictions in order to confront her own ideas on the subject. “As a society, we are opening up more and more to inclusion, but those first concerned by discussions around diversity or intersectionality are not at the table. So I wanted to ask questions about the game. I wanted to ask who has the right to perform what, who can access the stage. I have thought about these questions with my colleagues. I wrote a canvas and we continued with improvisations constantly asking what we have the right to say and play. »