Until March 3rd you can enjoy Bon Awakening, Hamelin! enjoy, a play by graduates of the acting and scenography courses at the Conservatoire d'art Dramatique de Québec. The perfect opportunity to see how good the next generation of theater professionals are, full of energy and maturity.
The piece takes us into a storybook universe with an aesthetic worthy of a medieval world reimagined by Charles Perrault or the Brothers Grimm. A village where everything is always good, where we sing to express ourselves, where every day is like the previous one and where everyone plays a very specific role. It all starts on a Tuesday, the day of the traditional festival of the week, where we dance, sing, take part in a half-time and taste the famous “forest cake filled with cold fruits” that the baker has been preparing for as long as we remember.
But because there is always a but in the wonderful land of fairy tales, the mayor's son decided to steal the cold fruit today. And too busy being happy, the baker didn't notice. The cake served that evening is of a slightly different flavor and the banquet ends in endless debauchery (a great moment of carnivalesque charivari with Rabelais accents, overly funny and irreverent like many other moments in the play), so waking up is the closest thing Tomorrow is difficult to say the least for the villagers. With a lack of cold fruit, everyone struggles to escape the dictatorship of fortune, and the hypocrisy of the village motto (“Let everyone be happy, everyone happy, and let the unfortunate die”) is obvious to everyone. The discomfort, intimate frustrations and anguish that form a powerful cocktail for disaster to occur is certainly a tragedy in the making. What started as a Disney story then turns into a collective madness that nothing can stop. The arrival of the Pied Piper in the midst of this collective decay will allow for a period of soul healing. But as in the well-known story, refusing to pay for the services provided will have consequences.
Since last September, gaming graduates have been working on writing their collaborative creation. We can only recognize the quality of the text and interpretation of this next generation of theater. Creating a comedy about mental health without clichés, heaviness and excess is a challenge that this young troupe masters brilliantly with their most communicative energy. The lyrics of Good Awakening Hameln! are full of humor and references that give us insight into many levels of reading. Playing with the codes of the traditional narrative: Have a good awakening, Hamelin! provides viewers with well-constructed, complex characters that evolve throughout the play. Their caricatured facial features skillfully fulfill the purpose of the piece, which invites us to question our abilities to cope with mental health issues, both collectively and individually.
We liked the scenography, particularly the coherent universe of the village that develops on stage as the small, perfect society disintegrates and the houses move away from each other as the villagers isolate themselves. This rich and eclectic decor, designed by Jeanne Murdock, offers an aesthetic supported by numerous references, perfectly evoking the world of traditional fairy tales. Pleasantly highlighted by the lighting by Charlotte Poirier (to whom we also owe the accessories, whose variety and meticulousness we can appreciate), this decor manages to change the atmosphere without us noticing. Also worth mentioning are the costumes (Marie-Pascale Chevarie, guest scenographer), whose extravagance is reminiscent of the costumes of the typical characters of the Commedia dell'Arte.
Good morning Hamelin! is a rich, extravagant and hilarious piece that intelligently addresses difficult topics related to mental health. You only have a short time to enjoy it and then you can undoubtedly see the talent of the Conservatory's graduates blossom again in a theater near you…
Further information
- At the Théâtre du Conservatoire, 13 rue Stanislas, until March 3rd.
- Book your ticket.
- Cast: Elfée Beauchesne, Philippe Bernier-Moisan, Béatrice Casgrain-Rodriguez, Mathieu Desroches, Flavie Dornier, Jacob Falcao, Leilia Gagné, Melissa Iguer, Astrid Miranda La Roche-Francoeur, Jeane Latreille, Pierre Maestracci and Luka Provost
- Decor: Jeanne Murdock
- Lighting and accessories: Charlotte Poirier
- Costumes: Marie-Pascale Chevarie (guest set designer)
- Director: Alexandre Fecteau