Great news in the world of Quebec theater: a creation by multidisciplinary artist and Indigenous actress Émilie Monnet will be on view this summer at the Festival d’Avignon, the most prestigious live arts event in Europe.
It was his show Marguerite: le feu that was included in the program of Tiago Rodrigues, the director of the Festival d’Avignon. The play was premiered last year at Espace Go in Montreal, staged by the author and Angélique Wilke. It is part of a triad, with a podcast series, Marguerite: the crossing, and an ambulatory journey, Marguerite: the stone, co-produced with the Center du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui.
Marguerite: The Fire evokes the forgotten drama of Marguerite Duplessis, an Indigenous slave who lived in Montreal in the mid-18th century. This woman was the first slave to fight for her freedom, starting a legal process against the authorities in 1740. She was immediately sent to a plantation in Martinique, where we lost track of her. Because “the collective memory is short”, confided Émilie Monnet before the creation of her piece.
The author, actress, director and activist of Anishinabe origin, has delved into the slavery past of our ancestors to bring to light the dark hours of colonization and arrangements between heirs in New France.
The show will be presented as part of the “in” program, at the Benoît XII Theater in Avignon, from July 7 to 11, with the cast of the creation: Anna Beaupré Moulounda, Catherine Dagenais-Savard, Émilie Monnet, Tatiana Zinga Botao.
The next Festival d’Avignon, the 77th edition, will be held from July 5 to 25, 2023.