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Wow, this is serious theatre… Une critique de Dave Olsen

I just saw my first Michel Tremblay: À toi, pour toujours, ta Marie Lou.  Now I know why his work is so highly regarded.

Actually, I’m almost shocked.  Writing about the working class has never been a way to attain fame and fortune, but surprisingly he has received overwhelming critical acclaim for doing just that, and with a clear bias toward women.  Hmm, openly homosexual in the 60s, writing in Joual (dialect of French in Quebec), strong women, working class politics, and condemning of the Church.  How did he even survive?!

Take a trip to Theatre Seizieme and find out first hand.  Written in 1970, À toi, pour toujours, ta Marie Lou is not only rare for its time, it’s radical for any time.  Orchestral in its flow, full of swearing, and unremittingly harsh in its portrayal of the reality of this family, it’s both timeless and perfect for Quebec in 1970, all at once.

When you see this (there’s English surtitles on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays as well as meet the artists on Fridays), give yourself time to absorb the set…it not only sets the stage, it’s an award winner guaranteed.  Outrageously stunning.

But the players make this script come alive.  Joey Lesperance plays Leopold, the abusive husband and father and wow, does he ever.  But before you let yourself ease into the simplicity of writing Leopold off, Tremblay subtlety lets the 3 other actors, all women, expose themselves in a way that will make you wonder.

Foremost for me was the character of Manon ( Siona Gareau Brennan).  She hates her father but was given the gift of his physical genes and worse, learned his behaviour unwittingly.  I’m not sure I’ve seen this portrayed before and it reflects the reality of the dysfunction that engulfs us all.

Marie Lou ( France Perras) shines as the mother, ceaselessly knitting and spewing her own brand of abuse.  Just as I did, Manon idolizes her mother as the martyr that saves her, but the reality is far different.  Her sister, Carmen ( Julie Trépanier), tries to help her see through this fog throughout, but has taken a path so radically different than the acceptable religious one, she is rebuffed at every opportunity.

I hope Theatre Seizieme follows up with Sainte Carmen de la Main, which follows Carmen later in life and poses a very different question.

In the meantime, there are only 20-30 tickets left in the entire run of À toi, pour toujours, ta Marie Lou, which ends next Saturday, October 25th.  I understand another show may be added, so stay tuned to their website to get in on that action.  You may see your family on the stage, but you won’t be disappointed!

And if you still haven’t had enough film, the Amnesty International Film Festival starts tonight (Friday) and runs all day Saturday in the Alice MacKay Room, in the lower level of the Central Library in Downtown Vancouver.  And it costs the same as everything did before civilization overran the planet: absolutely nothing.  Enjoy!

Dave Olsen, Reellife