The season, as we know, is fond of annual retrospectives, but this new creation has the particularity of focusing specifically on theater. Both a celebration and a critical look back at the past year, Today tonight is an idea from Alix Dufresne. The actress and director took advantage of the carte blanche given by the Center du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui to realize an old dream: to host a late show American style — the form the show takes.
The satirical magazine takes a look at the Quebec scene (not just Montreal and Quebec, a little in the region too) of 2023, the shows presented or the numerous changes in artistic direction. But it also addresses the major issues facing the theater, at a time when it is going through a crisis: difficulty in filling theaters since the pandemic, forced cancellation of scheduled shows, due to refusals of subsidies. Alix Dufresne wanted to create “a big theater festival to remember why we do it, to cheer up together and to tell ourselves that we must not give up. But we must also be aware: if we do not name the problems, they will not be resolved. At the same time, the irony is that our way of solving them is just to make a big party “.
To write this “crazy project”, which required a lot of work, the one who was formerly an advertising designer-editor formed a writer’s room. She recruited two young actors and authors: Mélodie Bujold-Henri for “ puncher nasty” and Guillaume Chapnick for his very absurd humor. To the script edition, the comedian Isabelle Sasseville notably brings an outside eye to ensure that the show is not only intended for theater regulars, but can make even spectators who have not seen the plays laugh.
The team revisited all of the year’s programming. “One thing was very important for us: tackling everyone equally,” notes Mélodie Bujold-Henri. We spare no one. » Including, of course, the institution that produces the show. “But the jokes are always made with a lot of love, and I think it will show. »
In this fake show TV show using the codes of the small screen, Alix Dufresne receives characters (COVID-19 for example…) for interviews transforming into sketches, played by the talented Ève Landry, Debby Lynch-White and Olivier Morin. And, every evening, the host will welcome a real special guest. In order: Marie-Soleil Dion, Anne Dorval and Anne-Élisabeth Bossé. On stage with a bandGab Paquet created original songs for the occasion.
Molière angry!
Love and humor do not preclude genuine criticism. “I open the show saying: “We’re going to look at what’s been done that’s very good, that’s decent and that’s very mediocre,” says Alix Dufresne. Today tonight also questions the proliferation of documentary theater and plays inspired by reality (“there is a crisis affecting how to write fiction and tap into our collective imagination”), as well as the lack of “real risks” in the programming. We will see Molière himself come and present a podcast where he denounces the fact that his work is too often staged… “We use humor to take a critical look at, yes, what is lacking in the profession, but also at our way of [l’exercer], summarizes the director. We are not here just to say: there is no money, so that excuses everything. We also take our responsibilities as artists. And we laugh a lot at ourselves. »
The main question that “eats” Mélodie Bujold-Henri remains the difficulty of bringing together spectators in theaters. Currently studying at the National School of Humor (“I’m arming myself to write better for the theater,” she hastens to point out), she observes that the humor world does not seem to experience this difficulty. to mobilize its audience. She wonders if it’s not because people “have a hard time realizing that theater is aimed at them. It may seem like it’s very airtight. Then [sensation] that it doesn’t concern them is going to be bigger. I think that there is also the difference with humor: we think that this [forme artistique] is accessible and the theater is not. But this is not true. »
Guillaume Chapnick is especially concerned about the barrier created by these subsidies which are not paid to artists. “There are super talented people who want to do theater and who aren’t able to do it right now. » He himself will create a first self-fictional piece, Shevchenko, at the Jean-Claude-Germain room in March. “The main characters are three young men. I don’t think these are people who see themselves in the theater a lot. » “You also talk about the Ukrainian community, about generations of immigrants,” adds Alix Dufresne. Regarding the audience deficit, the creator notes that members of cultural communities are interested in theater: they simply want to be better represented on stage.
Essential
Mélodie Bujold-Henri notes the presence of “a multitude of testimonies at the moment on social networks: there is a great wave of speaking out among theater artisans, actors, creators. To say: we are exhausted from working voluntarily. It’s like a general admission of fatigue.” And, as Dufresne notes, unlike employees in the education and health sectors, artists cannot go on strike to demand better conditions. “We have no social safety net. »
For the creator, we must “valorize the arts in our institutions, in our media. We have so much trouble having pre-papers [des entrevues où les artistes parlent de leur spectacle à venir, comme celui-ci]. If we don’t talk about us, if we no longer subsidize us, it’s hard to convince people to come [dans les théâtres] “.
She also recalls the very damaging message that was conveyed during the pandemic: “We were told for three years that we were not essential. And we said that to the public! We can [fermer] easily, that it will not be a problem for collective survival. It sure hurts. »
But for Alix Dufresne, the problem is political. “We must choose to vote for politicians who have culture at heart! It’s not just their fault if they don’t value culture. It’s also about us: when we elect these people, what does that mean about our relationship to art? We make collective choices. »