Renowned for its giant puppet shows, the Théâtre de la Dame de Cœur presents for the second year the story of Victor, an ambitious employee who, on his 25th birthday, vows to “succeed” in life. In the large 500-seat outdoor room, a gigantic version of the young man sits enthroned behind the small castle that spans 180 degrees. In the evening, it comes alive thanks to the know-how of the puppeteers. “It takes six people to move it,” says Élise Lessard-Mercier. It really is teamwork. Behind the scenes, she shows La Presse that this oversized puppet is installed on a bucket truck. His colleague Béatrice Deschênes-Gagnon is one of two artists who slip into the character’s head to bring his facial expressions to life. The place is very cramped and does not allow you to see the progress of the show. So how do you know when the puppet should move? “We really rely on the soundtrack,” replies Béatrice Deschênes-Gagnon.
During the show, which invites the public to question the balance between career and personal life, the great Victor is surrounded by a panoply of characters, including a ruddy hamster, a grandmother with a thousand advice, a piggy bank in the shape of pig and a smaller Victor. These giant puppets are rod puppets, “the specialty of the Théâtre de la Dame de Cœur,” says Élise Lessard-Mercier. To wear them, the performers must put on a harness into which the rod of the puppet is inserted. The harness alone weighs about twenty pounds. If you add the weight of the puppet, the total can climb up to 70 lbs, depending on the model. “Of course it’s heavy, but it’s what allows us to manipulate the puppets,” says the one who has worked for the company for more than 10 years. “We like that, working physically,” says his colleague.
While some rod puppets can be manipulated by one person, Victor’s requires a lot of collaboration. “What’s really special about this puppet are the legs. It’s something we haven’t had often,” explains Béatrice Deschênes-Gagnon. This means that not only must there be someone to carry the puppet, but someone must also move the legs. At the start of the show, a puppeteer also takes care of the arm movements, while another moves the eyes. Around the main character, “it’s really a whole choreography”, illustrates Élise Lessard-Mercier, who is one of those who wear Victor during the show. “It’s a puppet that’s quite complex to manipulate. She has many, many mechanisms. »
In addition to the rod puppets, there are puppets in the show, these stick figures carried at arm’s length. The most intriguing puppets, however, are the inhabited ones. “They are quite peculiar puppets. And no, they are not mascots,” says Élise Lessard-Mercier. Instead of being above the puppeteers, they are all around them. “I slip into it, in fact,” summarizes Béatrice Deschênes-Gagnon, who embodies one of the turkeys designed according to this principle. These two funny characters walk through the audience during the performance. And they are not the only ones visiting the room. Characters also pass above the spectators, while elements even arise from the floor. “For the spectators, being surrounded makes the experience even more immersive, more spectacular. It’s fun for us too because we are in contact with people. You can see their reactions,” says Béatrice Deschênes-Gagnon, who loves this art because “the possibilities are endless with a puppet.” “Breathing life into an object is magic,” agrees her colleague.
A few steps from the Théâtre de la Dame de Cœur, on the trails of the nature park of the Acton region, walkers have been able to admire for a few weeks the exhibition How to live 100 years, by photographer Arianne Clément. Between 2017 and 2019, she visited the five blue zones of the planet, the regions in the world where there are the largest concentrations of seniors. “The installation in Upton is an encounter between the sovereign beauty of the elderly and that of nature. Art and nature unite and merge to transmit their sumptuousness, poetry and wisdom to us”, describes the artist.
