The room Whitehorse presented at Duceppe recounts the descent into hell of the writer Henri (Sébastien Tessier), after his friend Laura (Charlotte Aubin) tells him that she has landed the leading role in the new film by a beloved Quebec filmmaker. This theatrical adaptation of Samuel Cantin’s graphic novel, which deals with jealousy and ambition, will make the audience laugh practically from start to finish, promises the director, Simon Lacroix.
At times, “it’s really stupid,” he says, about the work whose performances begin Tuesday and will continue until December 16. Met at the Duceppe creation center, MM. Lacroix and Cantin specify Duty that some scenes are more serious. Spectators will thus dive into the heart of the characters’ emotions.
The decline of Henri, who gradually loses his grip on reality, is more marked in the play than in the comic strip, believes Samuel Cantin, who wrote the theatrical text with Sébastien Tessier and Guillaume Laurin. The latter plays Sylvain Pastrami, a director beloved by the Quebec public, with whom the protagonist will have a bad time. “Poor Henri is a bit in his enemy’s house,” relates the director, revealing that certain passages border on the grotesque genre.
Mr. Cantin’s absurd humor blends perfectly with the theatrical genre, says Simon Lacroix, a comic strip lover. Whitehorse, the two volumes of which were published respectively in 2015 and 2017. The play is in certain respects in the tradition of the playwright Eugène Ionesco to whom we owe The bald singer Or Rhinoceros, he raises. In this regard, he mentions the scene where the DD Von Strudel (Frédérike Bédard) gives Henri the unprecedented diagnosis of “turtle syndrome”, condemning him to become deformed in the two years that follow.
The passages discussing Sylvain Pastrami’s crazy film about the caribou in Whitehorse are also of this caliber. “It’s enjoyable, these are really moments when we fly », Comments Simon Lacroix, sending a knowing look to Samuel Cantin.
From comics to stage
Many choices had to be made to transpose the voluminous comic strip into a play lasting an hour and a half, says Mr. Cantin. “We knew, from the start, that we wanted to focus more on the first volume, which is less eccentric,” he explains.
If Samuel Cantin wrote a second volume filled with giant pelicans flying over the Yukon, it’s because comics gave him the freedom to do so, he explains. Simon Lacroix notes that this aspect of the graphic novel could have been adapted to the theater using puppets. “But it seems like we took the gamble of really anchoring it in something real. »
References to issues of recent years are also made in the piece, such as those to the #MeToo Movement with the presence of the libidinous and narcissistic Sylvain Pastrami. “It was not created to denounce,” however, specifies Mr. Cantin. “For me, he’s not a realistic character, like someone from the artistic world. It is enough “cartoonish” all the same, but he’s a director who is rather “fucked”. »
To attach or not to attach
Will spectators be able to feel affection for the characters, despite their failings? “It’s an interesting question that we still ask ourselves today… to know to what extent we should become attached to them, because they are detestable too,” says the director.
The latter relates having discussed with Henri’s interpreter about a rather nasty reply addressed to Laura towards the end of the work. “I told myself we were going to hate him. Sébastien replied that he thought it was good that people hated him at this point in the play. » Samuel Cantin then hastens to ask Simon Lacroix what scene it is. “Perhaps you could remove it, I don’t want people to hate it,” says the author, laughing.
According to Mr. Cantin, Henri tries to manipulate others, but without much success. “His neuroses are on the table, he is so honest,” he observes. The fact that the protagonist constantly shoots himself in the foot gives the work a lighter tone, he continues.
The actors also deliver a performance reminiscent of the style of the ninth art, adds Mr. Lacroix. “At first, I wondered if we gave them little microphones so that they could speak realistically. Then, at a certain point, we said to ourselves that we should instead opt for a loose game. This is perhaps where it becomes a bit comical, because, when Henri is shocked in the graphic novel, his hands are clenched and he has a big face,” he says, mimicking the grimace of the protagonist.
Those who don’t know the graphic novel Whitehorse have an interest in traveling to attend theatrical performances, just like fans of the work of Samuel Cantin, believes Simon Lacroix. “Actually, the play and the comic are quite different. And it’s interesting to see how history has been transformed,” he says.