This summer I tasted Quebec culture in every way imaginable. From Saint-Jérôme to Terrebonne, through Gatineau, I have enjoyed plays, shows and films from our region.
And I’ve had the best… and the worst.
As much as I was amazed, amazed, dazzled and impressed by the quality of what is being done in Quebec, I asked myself questions.
WHAT TALENT!
I was able to preview The Tricheurs (which opens today) at the Outaouais Film Festival in early June. I loved this scathing comedy from Louis Godbout, a former philosophy teacher with a view of humanity that is both cynical and clear-headed. No political correctness here. And the final punch is just… delicious.
I loved the theatrical version of Symphorien, written by Louis Saïa and Pierre Huet, executed up to the quarter turn thanks to the explosive staging by Pierre Séguin and Louis Saïa. Finally a show for all generations!
I had toes up with delight to see the pleasure Michel Rivard and Normand Brathwaite had in playing Sainte-Marie-la-Mauderne, the theatrical version of Ken Scott’s La grande séduction. And I laughed a lot at the jokes about Québec solidaire and Jean-Philippe Wauthier. (By the way, Normand, your beard suits you perfectly!)
I flipped Confessions, it shows Luc Picard’s full talent in front of and behind the camera. I felt a little proud when I saw the names of my colleagues Félix Séguin and Éric Thibault in the credits as the film is based on their book about the killer Gallant.
At the Sylvain Lelièvre tribute show, I was touched by Stéphane Archambault’s interpretation of La Lettre de Toronto, the best song in his repertoire.
Finally, I enjoyed seeing (and for the eighth time) Notre-Dame de Paris by Luc Plamondon and Richard Cocciante. Gilles Maheu’s production still amazed me with its ingenuity. What does Bruno Pelletier eat to be so fiery at 60? Well, after the flowers, here are the pots.
A few questions…
1 – To audiences of plays: What’s the idea of speaking as if you were in your living room? When you watch TV, the actors don’t hear you. But in the theater they are on stage and your loud comments are really disturbing!
2 – To all listeners: What part of the sentence: “Close your cell phones” do you not understand? When you text your friends in the middle of a dark room, do you know you’re disturbing others within a 20 meter radius?
To all viewers (bis): Standing ovations, systematic at all shows, in the seconds after the curtain closes, is that really necessary?
3 – To the professional critics, why are you more lenient on Quebec movies/shows? You feel it in your lyrics when you say to yourself: “That’s not bad… for a work from here”.
4 – To Venue Owners: Why are you turning the premises into a North Pole branch? The air conditioning does not have to be minus 40! Next time I go to the Place des Arts (which is where it’s coldest) I’ll get my hat and mittens and take out my canoe.
