She made a name for herself during the pandemic for her hilarious lip-syncs taken in particular from scenes on the small screen. For her new project, one of the most dizzying of her career, Ariel Charest drops her wig and makeup to embrace with the greatest vulnerability the solo piece S’aimer ben parcetée.
It is indeed impossible to hide behind stage sparages or technical effects when interpreting the unvarnished words of the author Cristina Moscini. In this autobiographical text, the Quebecer addresses in a direct, but nevertheless poetic language, the unhealthy relationship she maintained for years with alcohol. She approaches with great sincerity her years of drinking, her sex under the influence of alcohol, her difficult wakes.
From the drink put in her baby bottle to calm her childhood toothache to the traumas that life has thrown her way, the author probes the source of her alcoholism without judgment or misery. “She explains her escapades without romanticizing them,” says interpreter Ariel Charest. His language is humble, full of humor, very uninhibited. »
However, this stunningly truthful score was not easy for Ariel Charest to watch.
First recorded as a podcast during the pandemic, S’aimer ben packetée was the subject of a theatrical adaptation at the end of 2022 as part of the 5 to 7 evenings of the Théâtre La Bordée in Quebec. Carried by a very favorable wind, the show arrives on the intimate stage of La Petite Licorne from October 30.
For this move to the stage, Ariel Charest wanted to be directed by someone who knows her well. So she turned to her long-time friend Pascale Renaud-Hébert, with whom she studied at the Quebec Conservatory in the early 2010s.
Pascale Renaud-Hébert is of the same opinion: “We had to remove all the layers of play to approach the text in all its simplicity. The actor’s reflexes, the dross, the facial expressions that we can hide behind… All that has no place here. Cristina’s text is poetic, but it is never pompous. He is in truth, always. »
“For me, this path was not easy to find,” admits Ariel Charest. I often have the habit of arriving with a character already constructed in my head. Not this time. I am hyper connected with the public. You might think this is my story. »
The two friends worked on the text “to the nearest breath” to pinpoint this truth. “I like the surgical side of this text, its musicality. You need a precision that is not unrelated to what I do in my lip-syncs,” says Ariel Charest.
Beyond the expert work they had to do to capture the essence of each word, the two women admit that reading this text shook them. And made them look differently at their own relationship with alcohol. “Everyone can experience the decline in consumption,” illustrates Pascale Renaud-Hébert. Alcohol is part of our social and sometimes intimate lives. We party with alcohol, we fuck with a drink in our noses. We no longer know what pleasure is without alcohol. It is important to have this reflection on the place of alcohol in our society, where consumption is very normalized. »
It is no coincidence that the audience reacts strongly to the remarks and that the conversations often continue after the show. “People come up to me and squeeze my arm to talk to me about their father, their brother,” explains Ariel Charest.
The actress, very present on the capital’s stages, will present three shows in Montreal this season. In addition to S’aimer ben packageée, she will be in the cast of L’éveil du Printemps presented in January at the Théâtre Denise-Pelletier and will participate at the end of April in the revival of the interdisciplinary play Pissing standing without lifting one’s skirt at the Center du Théâtre d’Aujourd ‘today.
“I had no choice but to get a room in Montreal,” says the actress. Gone are the days when I slept on my friends’ couches! »
Théâtre La Bordée is showing the production Là où je me terre from October 31. An adaptation of Caroline Dawson’s autobiographical novel, by Michel Nadeau, directed by Guillaume Pépin. The story addresses the challenges faced by the author upon arriving in Quebec: the desire to become a perfect immigrant, to blend in with the group, her feeling of betrayal towards her culture of origin, her indignation at the treatment reserved for her parents , among others. “I believe that Caroline Dawson’s journey resonates with all the people who have had to uproot themselves from their country to put down roots in another, with all the mourning and rebirths that this entails,” explains the artistic director of La Bordée, Michel Nadeau.
The Denise-Pelletier Theater presents Les remugles ou la danse nuptiale est une langue mort, a play by Caroline Bélisle, in a production by the l’Escaouette theater in Moncton, New Brunswick. The show addresses themes like loneliness and withdrawal. “This work imbued with humor and poetry depicts the millennial generation, its dreams and its setbacks,” summarizes the production press release. The text received the Gratien-Gélinas prize in 2020. Marcia Babineau is directing the production, currently playing at the Fred-Barry Hall.
La Maison Théâtre hosts the Petit Théâtre de Sherbrooke and its “dreamlike-philosophical cabaret”, Prince Panthère, for audiences aged 10 to 14. Directed by Érika Tremblay-Roy and Gilles Abel, Prince Panthère is loosely inspired by the graphic novel Panthère by Brecht Evens. Founded in 1973, Le Petit Théâtre de Sherbrooke’s mission is to develop the practice and attendance of theater for young audiences. In 50 years of artistic practice, Le Petit Théâtre has created more than 90 shows, in French and English, presented in Quebec, Canada, the United States, France, Scotland, Belgium, Switzerland and South America. South.
The Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental will occupy the stage of the Théâtre Espace Libre from Tuesday evening, with the creation of Une conjuration, by Alexis Martin, directed by Daniel Brière. A piece inspired by the works of the painter André Masson and the writer-philosopher Georges Bataille. Two unique artists and thinkers brought together to write and draw the manifesto for the magazine Acephale, in the midst of the rise of fascism in Europe. “The show stages the conception of this pamphlet, as a cry from the heart of two individuals (Alexis Martin and Maxim Gaudette) terrified at the idea of seeing freedom fade away. And offers a sort of feverish engagement, where two artists summon poetry, laughter and visual arts in a challenge to the gods of the “civilized world”,” summarizes the press release.
The Collectif Chimère, resulting from the interdisciplinary collaboration of Johanne Madore and Pierre Przysiezniak, presents the NYX show at La Tohu. A “sensual and organic” circus fable only worn by women, NYX is inspired both by the Greek goddess of the night who bears that name, but also by the grandmother of the director Johanne Modore. This woman, seamstress and great storyteller, lived to be 106 years old. This show, presented as an initiatory quest between shadow and light by the designers, is aimed at ages 12 and over.