Ten years ago, author Olivier Choinière began a theatrical project with André Brassard, when the latter was alone and sick. If the project did not see the light of day, Choinière continued it with the actress Violette Chauveau. Both artists had a unique relationship with the director: Brassard was Choinière’s teacher and mentor; Violette Chauveau, one of his muses. The show they will create, inspired by Beckett’s The Last Band, could well launch the season with a bang.
We can’t wait to see the new production of this play, described as “the black diamond of Quebec drama.” Written in 1976 by the poet and novelist Jeanne-Mance Delisle, this dramatic text depicts the moral misery of a reclusive family in Abitibi. This is dominated by a despotic father who covets his eldest daughter. Marc Béland directs Frédéric Boivin and Nathalie Mallette in the role of the cursed parents, and Eve Duranceau, Christophe Payeur, Sarah Laurendeau and Gabrielle Lessard in that of the children.
The mythical family imagined by Roger Lemelin, who had his glory days on radio, on TV, then in the cinema, is at the center of a theatrical adaptation signed by the author Isabelle Hubert. Among the imposing cast of 14 actors, we find Renaud Lacelle-Bourdon who plays Ovide Plouffe. Maryse Lapierre’s production premiered at Trident in January 2020, just before… you know what.
Nine performers will share the stage to bring to life this text by the American Clare Barron, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for theater in 2019. Sophie Cadieux orchestrates this dramatic comedy which features a dance team made up of teenage girls (and a boy) who wants to win the prize of a prestigious competition. Their teacher offers to do a choreography on Gandhi’s legacy… But the closer the D-Day approaches, the more the tension mounts.
The playwright Pascal Brullemans and the director Nini Bélanger are teaming up again for this project which promises to be disturbing to say the least. Homicide delves into the psyche of a boy who committed a sordid murder before releasing it widely online. A question arises: what truths hide behind the figure of the monster? Dany Boudreault and Christian Ranger on the interpretation, Navet Confit on the music, Cédric Delorme-Bouchard on the light… Tantalizing!
The year: 2250. The location: a military center in Colorado. In Seeker, David Boutin plays Lomond, a man who, following a genetic mutation, has the ability to see, feel and share the memories of others. He will have to use this power to solve a riddle that could have consequences for all of humanity. This powerful text by Marie-Claude Verdier won the Michel-Tremblay prize in 2022. The play returns to the intimate room of the Center du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui. A chance for those who missed the first series of performances.
Jean-Marc Dalphond and Marie-Joanne Boucher have been working on this documentary theater project on the Polytechnique massacre for more than four years. After the launch of a podcast on OHdio last December, their play will be produced at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, directed by Marie-Josée Bastien. This creation by the company Porte Parole, co-produced with the TNM, will be on view from November 14 to December 13. A tour is also planned for 2024.
Debbie Lynch-White has often deployed her talent on stage as well as on the small and big screen. Here she will carry on her shoulders the solo Tremors. The text signed by Torontonian Christopher Morris, and directed by Édith Patenaude, recounts the ethical questioning of Marie, a humanitarian worker in Africa. What role did this idealist really play with the people she was meant to help?
Samuel Cantin is one of the most joyful (and most offbeat) cartoonists currently creating in Quebec. Good news ! His album Whitehorse (Pow Pow editions) will be adapted for the boards this fall, in a staging by this great lover of absurd humor that is Simon Lacroix. We will follow the setbacks of Henri, a failed writer who sees his sweet Laura leave to shoot a film with the libidinous Sylvain Pastrami. Watch out, jealousy on the horizon! A production of the Théâtre Duceppe.
