The photo went around the world: on June 5, 1989, a democracy demonstrator stood up to a column of 17 tanks in Tian’anmen Square in Beijing. This photo came to symbolize the seven-week revolt that was bloodily crushed by the Chinese regime.
Nearly 35 years later, the French adaptation of the play Chimerica (contraction of “China” and “America”) is playing at the Duceppe theater. The work by British artist Lucy Kirkwood tells the story of American photojournalist Joe Schofield, who captured the image of the lone dissident facing the tank. The photographer embarks on a frantic quest to find this character nicknamed tank manwho would have found refuge in the United States.
The play, created in London in 2013, parallels the rise of the Chinese Empire and the decline of American power. This three and a half hour show (which includes an intermission) is supported by a staging described as spectacular, with a rotating set.
This play is considered a milestone in the Montreal theater community, particularly from the point of view of diversity: half of the actors are of Chinese origin, as are several members of the team behind the curtains.
“There are shows that serve as a bit of a springboard for diversity. I dare to hope that this show“that’s one of them,” says director Charles Dauphinais. He also discusses recent works Legacy And Manikanetishpresented at Duceppe, which shined the spotlight on black and Innu artists.
French-language plays featuring a Chinese cast are rather rare in Montreal. The Chinese-Quebec community is more oriented towards English. The team of Chimerica had to recruit three of the six actors of Chinese origin in Toronto (including two who lived in Montreal).
“I wanted certain scenes to be entirely in Mandarin. It was essential to have people of Chinese origin,” explains Charles Dauphinais. The Mandarin dialogues are translated into French on a screen.
Fear of reprisals
The recruitment of artists of Chinese origin has encountered another obstacle: members of the diaspora fear reprisals from the government of Xi Jinping because of their association with a highly controversial event in China.
The Tian’anmen revolt remains a taboo that is forbidden to talk about in the Middle Kingdom. Any reference to this movement for democracy is censored on the Web. The history books make no mention of it. It’s as if the “Tiananmen Square Massacre” never happened.
“During the auditions, there were actors who did not show up. They find it too delicate for them or for loved ones who remain there,” says Charles Dauphinais.
Members of the production, and not just those of Chinese origin, fear they will not be able to travel to China simply because of their participation in this show. It is no coincidence that it was a Canadian actor of Korean (and not Chinese) origin who played one of the main characters when the play was performed in Toronto in 2016. Paul Sun-Hyung Lee had to learn Mandarin for this role.
An international French
At the Duceppe theater, another Toronto actor, but of Chinese origin, sits at the top of the bill. “It’s strange for me to revisit that time [des événements de Tian’anmen] », says Derek Kwan, one of the rare gems capable of performing in Montreal in French and Mandarin.
The Torontonian visited Tian’anmen Square during a stay in China with his family just before the revolt in the summer of 1989. Derek Kwan was eight years old at the time. He remembers the kites flying in the sky above the vast esplanade in the heart of Beijing that Sunday.
The actor, who is also an opera singer, speaks English and Cantonese at home. He learned Mandarin and French in… Beijing, when he was a child. He had to study a foreign language at the international school he attended in the Chinese capital.
“As good Canadians, my parents insisted that I learn French, even in Beijing. They knew I would learn Mandarin in the street,” he says in excellent French.
In addition to the four languages already mentioned, this gifted person can get by in Italian and German. He also speaks sign language. “I like to get out of my comfort zone,” he sums up.
Derek Kwan is a little nervous about playing in French for the first time in Montreal. But he has experience on stage in the language of Molière: he played at the Sardine theater in Taiwan. The actors and other members of the production of Chinese origin are also citizens of the world. Most have roots elsewhere (China, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Madagascar), but live in Canada.
Culture shock
“For me, it’s important that the Chinese characters in the play correspond to reality. I want to avoid caricatures or stereotypes,” says Sophie Gee, a consultant of Chinese origin and director advisor who accompanies the team of Chimerica.
In one scene, for example, the director wanted the characters to react in a very emotional way. Bad idea: “There is a modesty in Chinese culture. »
For Charles Dauphinais, the scenes in Mandarin, between Chinese in China, are “the most human and the most stripped down” of the show. “Conversely, Western characters are extremely self-centered. Their ideal is to experience success, so that the light is on them and not on the people experiencing the event. »
The team expects the play to reach an audience as diverse as the cast, including members of the Chinese community. “The actor’s job consists of meeting others,” says actor Alexandre Goyette. I discover lots of new worlds. Theater opens up to diversity. We are there. We must stop being afraid of others. »