Dossier de presentation - Le Carrousel, compagnie de théâtre

TEXT : SUZANNE LEBEAU
DIRECTION : GERVAIS GAUDREAULT
TRANSLATION : JOHN VAN BUREK
WITH LUDGER CÔTÉ, MAUDE DESROSIERS, EMILIE DIONNE
RESUME__________________________________________________________________________
Pierre Avezard, nicknamed Petit Pierre (1909-92), was born prematurely, “unfinished”, as he would say. Half-blind, almost
deaf and mute, he couldn’t learn to read and write. He was taken out of school when he was seven and provided with the
trade of innocents: cowherd. In the fields, Petit Pierre observed nature, animals, and men at work. He saw that machines
invaded daily life, and that the world was constantly changing.
Everything that moved, on paws, on wheels, or by other means, was truly fascinating to him. In solitude, he spent his time
analyzing, dissecting, and reproducing movement: first in his mind, and then. . .
While the world was going through the most horrible times, Petit Pierre spent almost forty years creating a merry-go-round,
a poetic machine of unique beauty and so mechanically complex that even engineers had difficulty explaining it. A
masterwork of art brut, Petit Pierre’s merry-go-round is a thought-provoking metaphor for the evolution of humankind in
the twentieth century.
Adults and young peolple aged 9+
PRESS CLIPPING___________________________________________________________________
“Poetic. Polished. Intelligent. With Petit Pierre, the Quebecers in the company Le Carrousel work together marvellously
to get a room full of kids, snatched away from the turbulent games of the playground, to hold their breath for an entire
hour. A beautiful story is told, full of poetry and great history lessons: history with a big 'H´ and the other kind, that of
Pierre’s life.”
Isabelle Mastin, La Voix du Nord.
“Everyone will take something with them of this moving show called Petit Pierre. You gave him a voice that life did not
give him. I greatly appreciated the intelligence of the direction, which seems to be totally transparent. God, how much
work it takes to be both so light and so serious! I loved all these levels of reading, this layered confection of this little man’s
story and our own stories, as we are also little people before history.”
Pierre Lecarme, Le Dauphiné libéré.
“It must be said: Petit Pierre is not theatre for children. It’s theatre, pure and simple. True theatre. Marvellous theatre. . .
The emotion and truth of the actors’ play, the simplicity and ingenuity of the set, the intimacy of the lighting – it all transports
the audience into the story of a man who was different, solitary, charming, and ingenious, who lived through the history of
his century more with his instinct than with reason.”
L'Union, Reims.
CREATIVE TEAM___________________________________________________________________
Text : Suzanne Lebeau | Direction : Gervais Gaudreault | Assistant director : Ming-Chu Yu | Translation : Camille YihJune Chia | Cast : Ludger Côté, Jade Pi-Yu Shih and Szu-Ni Wen | Set and props : Francine Martin | Costumes :
Marie-Pierre Fleury | Lighting design : Dominique Gagnon | Sound environment : Nicolas Rollin | Hair and make-up :
Pierre Lafontaine | Set and stage manager : Nicolas Fortin | Production manager : Dominique Gagnon | Set
construction : Productions Yves Nicol | Props production : Sylvie Boucher, Antoine Chouinard, Paul Duhaime,
François Gosselin, Martin Huot, Jackie Morin, Jean-Philippe Morin, Claire Meilleur | Stage mechanisms : Roger
Desgagnés, Gérard Dostie et Martin Giguère
Special collaboration
Léon Avezard, Caroline Bourbonnais (La Fabuloserie), Laurent Danchin
PRODUCTION HISTORY_____________________________________________________________
Premiered on January 15, 2002 by Le Carrousel at Espace Malraux – Scène nationale de Chambéry et de la Savoie in
co-production with Espace Malraux – Scène nationale de Chambéry et de la Savoie, Centre culturel de Villefranche-surSaône, Yonne-en-scène (France), and Théâtre du Vieux-Terrebonne (Québec).
Premiered in Spanish on March 8, 2007, at Teatralia Festival in Madrid, and in Chinese on July 10, 2009, in co-production
with the Taipei Children’s Arts Festival.
2001–2002 SEASON _____________________________________________________________________57 PERFORMANCES
IN FRANCE : CHAMBÉRY; VILLEFRANCHE-SUR-SAÔNE; AUXERRE; NANTERRE; VITRY-SUR-SEINE; BÉTHUNE; NARBONNE; VOIRON;
LE HAVRE; FESTIVAL MÉLI’ MÔME, REIMS
IN QUEBEC : TERREBONNE; CARREFOUR INTERNATIONAL DE THÉÂTRE, QUEBEC
2002–2003 SEASON _____________________________________________________________________68 PERFORMANCES
IN EUROPE : GENÈVE; ÉPINAY-SUR-SEINE; GRANDE-SYNTHE; BREST; DÉCINES; ÉPERNAY; VILLEFONTAINE; BÉTHONCOURT; MULHOUSE;
LE CREUSOT; ARLES; TARBES
IN QUEBEC : MONTREAL; BELOEIL; LACHENAIE
2003–2004 SEASON _____________________________________________________________________53 PERFORMANCES
IN EUROPE : GRADIGNAN; BLAGNAC; THONON-LES-BAINS; VIRE; SARZEAU; LORIENT; BLANQUEFORT; REDON; TREMBLAY-EN-FRANCE
IN QUEBEC : LENNOXVILLE; LONGUEUIL; CARTIERVILLE; ST-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU; ALMA; VALLEYFIELD; SAINTE-THÉRÈSE;
MONTREAL, THE BOROUGHS OF OUTREMONT AND SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE
2004–2005 SEASON ______________________________________________________________________4 PERFORMANCES
IN QUEBEC : NEW RICHMOND; RIMOUSKI; BAIE-COMEAU
2006–2007 SEASON _____________________________________________________________________10 PERFORMANCES
IN SPAIN : FESTIVAL TEATRALIA IN MADRID, ALCALÁ DE HENARES, AND VILLANUEVA DE LA CAÑADA; VALENCIA
2007-2008 SEASON ______________________________________________________________________17 PERFORMANCES
IN MEXICO : FÓRUM UNIVERSAL DE LAS CULTURAS, MONTERREY; ESCENARIO 2007, GUANAJUATO; INBA, MEXICO
2008-2009 SEASON _______________________________________________________________________6 PERFORMANCES
IN TAIWAN : TAIPEI CHILDREN’S ARTS FESTIVAL, TAIPEI
2014-2015 SEASON ______________________________________________________________________20 PERFORMANCES
IN QUEBEC : MONTRÉAL, MONT-LAURIER
PUBLICATIONS_______________________________________________________________________________
Lanctôt Éditeur (Quebec), 2002; Éditions Théâtrales (France), 2007; Revista Tramoya (Mexico), 2007.
A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR
It starts with a book that I find between the piles of paper of daily work, on my son’s bed, in my briefcase, on the livingroom table, among the cookbooks. The words and images, which tell the story of Petit Pierre and his merry-go-ground,
besiege my soul. I think about it when I get up, when I go to sleep, when I wash the dishes, when I’m walking. I think about
it when I come upon a bright smile; I think about it when I come across a homely face, one of those that make your head
turn.
In the book, I find the address of La Fabuloserie, the fabulous woman. I write to her, as if throwing a bottle into the ocean,
and I receive an invitation. Ms. Bourbonnais, the loving guardian of the marvellous merry-go-round, tells me about Léon,
the brother of Pierre Avezard. Léon tells me about Petit Pierre, his family, their land, and Laurent Danchin. Laurent Danchin
refers me back to La Fabuloserie, and for two weeks I ferry back and forth between the Petit Pierre’s merry-go-round and
his land.
I imagine the seasons and the decades. I rock the suffering baby. I take the boy by the hand when he leaves school. I
look at the timid, taciturn young man who hides under his beret, at the old man who laughs all alone. I love Petit Pierre,
who talks to me about life, topsy-turvy and unexpected, more powerful than hunger, cold, and war. I love the merry-goround, which talks to me about the art that breathes in each of us, stronger than . . .
Suzanne Lebeau
A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR
Why reprise this play today? There are works that defy time, that are beyond time; they remind us that history repeats
itself and that everyday life is woven together by the little things.
I chose to bring the story of Petit Pierre to the theatre by creating a metaphoric, evocative space. As I immersed myself in
this universe, I heard two voices, those of history writ large and history writ small, sometimes as echoes, sometimes
fluttering back and forth.
I imagined a Petit Pierre through impressionistic strokes, in order to preserve his mystery. I realized that I could not
reproduce his merry-go-round, that I could never, on stage, portray its beauty and truth.
Caroline Bourbonnais, the guardian of the merry-go-round, understood this and encouraged me to create from Petit
Pierre’s work an autonomous theatrical machine, a place where the story is expressed, a dramatized place for living. “Lie,”
she told me, “with your head and your heart.”
I hope that my lie does not betray his truth.
Gervais Gaudreault
SUZANNE LEBEAU
THE AUTHOR
Suzanne Lebeau first intended to make a career as an actress. But after founding Le
Carrousel with Gervais Gaudreault in 1975, she gradually left acting to devote herself
exclusively to writing. Today, she has 27 original plays, three adaptations, and a
number of translations to her credit and is internationally recognized as a leader in
playwriting for young audiences. She is among the most-performed Quebec
playwrights in the world, with more than 150 productions of her works on all continents.
Her plays have been published in many countries and translated into 23 languages;
Une lune entre deux maisons, the first Canadian play written specifically for young
children, L’Ogrelet, and Le bruit des os qui craquent, have been translated,
respectively, into six, thirteen, and ten languages.
Suzanne Lebeau’s exceptional contribution to the flourishing of theatre for young audiences has earned her numerous
awards and distinctions, including the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama in 2009; the Prix Sony Labou Tansi
des lycéens in 2009; and Prix des Journées de Lyon des auteurs de théâtre in 2007 for Le bruit des os qui craquent, a
play premièred by Le Carrousel and Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui in 2009 and staged in 2010 by the Comédie-Française. In 1998,
the Assemblée internationale des parlementaires de langue française made her a Knight of the Order of the Pleiades for
her body of work, and in 2010 the Government of Quebec awarded her the Prix Athanase-David, the most prestigious
lifetime achievement recognition for Quebec authors. She received in 2012 the Hommage CINARS Award and in 2013
the one of RIDEAU, the network for performing arts presenters and one of the most important international gatherings
regarding the francophone arts scene in America, and the Gascon-Thomas Award from the National Theatre School of
Canada (NTS) for his outstanding contribution to the development of theater in Canada. In 2015, she received a career
award from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec in recognition of her exceptional contribution to her art.
Experienced pedagogue, she taught writing for young audiences at the National Theatre School of Canada for 13 years
and acts as a consultant for young authors in Canada and other countries, contributing to the emergence of new written
works. She also gives conferences and workshops in different countries around the globe.
GERVAIS GAUDREAULT
THE DIRECTOR
Founder and co-artistic director of Le Carrousel with Suzanne Lebeau, Gervais
Gaudreault performed in the company’s early productions. However, he was soon bitten
by the directing bug. In the 1980s, he directed Une lune entre deux maisons, Le
Carrousel’s first show to tour internationally. Since then, he has directed most of the
company’s productions, including L’Ogrelet, Petit Pierre (Technical Merit award from
the Canadian Institute for Theatre Technology), and Le bruit des os qui craquent (critics’
award, theatre for young audiences category, from the Association québécoise des
critiques de théâtre). In 2011, he directed Le bruit des os qui craquent in Spanish with
the actors of the prestigious National Theatre Company of Mexico. He has thus become
the principal architect of the unique artistic signature that has become Le Carrousel’s calling card.
During his career, Gervais Gaudreault has directed almost 30 plays, including a dozen productions in foreign languages
(English, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, and Polish). He is also invited to direct shows produced by other companies; his
credits include Corneille’s Le Cid at Théâtre du Trident, Je suis d’un would be pays by François Godin at Théâtre
d’Aujourd’hui, and Dissident, il va sans dire by Michel Vinaver for Les Tréteaux de Haute-Alsace de Mulhouse. Gervais
Gaudreault taught vocal techniques in the Option-Théâtre program at Collège Lionel-Groulx from 1992 to 2001; from 1998
to 2003, he directed public readings at the National Theatre School of Canada. His expertise has earned him frequent
invitations to France, Argentina, and Mexico. Currently, he is developing an international research and creation centre for
theatre for theatre for children and youth: The Cube.
THE CAST_________________________________________________________________________
Emilie Dionne
After graduating with a diploma in acting from Collège Lionel-Groulx’s Option-Théâtre program
in 2001, Emilie Dionne appeared in more than 200 French- and Spanish-language
performances of Le Carrousel’s production of Petit Pierre, a play by Suzanne Lebeau and
directed by Gervais Gaudreault, touring in Quebec, France, Switzerland, Spain, and Mexico.
She is also in the French- and Spanish-speaking casts of Le bruit des os qui craquent.
She has been invited by directors Luce Pelletier, Normand Chouinard, Martine Beaulne, and
Marc Béland to work in their productions. She played Hermione in Oreste, produced by Théâtre
de l'Opsis, Marguerite in L'Hôtel du libre-échange at Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, and the starring roles of Kit in Top
Girls at Espace Go and Marguerite in La petite scrap at Théâtre PàP. In September 2014, she was in the cast of Le
Vertige, directed by Luce Pelletier of Théâtre de l'Opsis. She was in the movie La vie secrète des gens heureux, and her
television credits include Rumeurs III, L'Héritière de Grande Ourse, and season 2 of 19-2. Following an internship with
Gervais Gaudreault, she is continuing her education in voice as well as regularly working in dubbing, and she teaches
diction at the theatre school of CÉGEP de Sainte-Hyacinthe.
Maude Desrosiers
After she graduated from the Option-Théâtre program at Collège Lionel-Groulx in 2001, Maude
Desrosiers continued her training by attending workshops on masked play, puppetry, voice, and
singing. As an actor, she has been in the cast of four productions at Théâtre Tout à Trac: Le
tout pour la toux, L'Oiseau vert, commedia dell'arte..., and La princesse Turandot. She has
performed throughout Quebec and in France, Spain, and Mexico (2003 and 2007) with Le
Carrousel in Petit Pierre, in which she played in French and in Spanish. She was also in Tout
comme elle (2006) with Les Sibyllines directed by Brigitte Haentjens, and she will be in Théâtre
Ébouriffé’s next production, in collaboration with Le Carrousel, Des pieds et des mains.
Maude Desrosiers has always cultivated a special passion for teaching and voice work. Thus, she provided voice and
diction supervision for the different productions of Théâtre Tout à Trac, of which she was an administrator for several
years.
Ludger Côté
Ludger Côté discovered theatre with the Troupe des Treize at Université Laval, which he
attended from 1993 to 1997. After completing a master’s degree in microbiology, he entered
the Option-théâtre program at Collège Lionel-Groulx in Sainte-Thérèse, where he was selected
to play starring roles. At the same time, he acted in four plays, directed by Frédéric Dubois, with
Théâtre des Fonds de Tiroirs in Quebec City. A faithful contributor to Le Carrousel since 2001,
he played the lead role in the show Petit Pierre almost 200 times in Spain, France, Mexico,
Quebec, Switzerland, and Taiwan. He also was in the cast of Nuit d’orage, played more than
150 times.
In 2011, Ludger Côté was in the cast of Éric Noël’s Faire des enfants, directed by Gaétan Paré, at Théâtre de
Quat’Sous. He is also involved in the first production of Les Défricheurs, called (Dévoilé), presented at Théâtre La
Chapelle in March 2013.
Show photographs : François-Xavier Gaudreault and Jacques Driol. Other photographs : François-Xavier Gaudreault,
Ethel Laurendeau, Julie Artacho, Jean-Christophe Verbert.
THE COMPANY____________________________________________________________________
Convinced of the need for a true artistic encounter, Le Carrousel places at the core of its creative approach the
question “What should we say to children?” and reflects deeply on artists’ self-censorship when dealing with
young audiences. Supported by creative research that breaks through limits and boundaries, artistic
directors Suzanne Lebeau and Gervais Gaudreault have used their passion to form a repertoire of original works
that are considered, in Quebec and abroad, to be milestones in the history of theatre for young audiences.
This unique vision of childhood and art, manifested in the emotional charge and intensity of Suzanne Lebeau’s
texts and the inventive sensitivity of Gervais Gaudreault’s directing, has made the company’s reputation on
national and international stages. For 40 years, Le Carrousel has sought to tear down the walls between
audiences and between practices, out of the conviction that theatre for children must also reach out to and even
disturb adults.
70 international tours | 25 premieres | 73 international festivals
4,500 performances | 1,000,000 audience members
Repertoire translated into 23 languages | More than 45 publications around the world
Le Carrousel and its team | Artistic Directors Gervais Gaudreault, Suzanne Lebeau | Associate Artist Marie-Eve Huot
| Executive Director Véronique Fontaine | Administrator Nathalie Ménard | Technical Director Dominique Gagnon |
Manager, Outreach and Development Fanny Oberti | Communications and Tour logistics Ludger Côté | Administrative
Secretary Marie Moiny
2017, rue Parthenais, Montréal, Québec, Canada. H2K 3T1
Telephone: (514) 529-6309 Fax: (514) 529-6952
Email: [email protected] Web site: www.lecarrousel.net
THEATROGRAPHY OF LE CARROUSEL
By
2014
2013
2012
2009
2006
2002
1997
1994
1993
1991
1989
1987
1984
1982
1979
1978
1977
1976
1975
Suzanne Lebeau
CHAÎNE DE MONTAGE
GRETEL ET HANSEL / GRETEL AND HANSEL
UNE LUNE ENTRE DEUX MAISONS / A MOON BETWEEN TWO HOUSES
LE BRUIT DES OS QUI CRAQUENT / THE SOUND OF CRACKING BONES
SOULIERS DE SABLE / SHOES OF SAND
PETIT PIERRE
L’OGRELET / THE OGRELING
SALVADOR / SALVADOR – THE CHILD, THE MOUNTAIN AND THE MANGO
CONTES D’ENFANTS RÉELS / TALES OF REAL CHILDREN
CONTE DU JOUR ET DE LA NUIT/ A TALE OF DAY AND NIGHT
COMMENT VIVRE PARMI LES HOMMES QUAND ON EST UN GÉANT / A GIANT IN THE LAND OF MEN
GIL / BURT, d’après Quand j’avais 5 ans je m’ai tué / When I Was Five I Killed Myself
LA MARELLE / HOPSCOTCH
LES PETITS POUVOIRS / LITTLE VICTORIES
UNE LUNE ENTRE DEUX MAISONS / A MOON BETWEEN TWO HOUSES
PETITE VILLE DEVIENDRA GRANDE / A CITY IN THE MAKING
LA CHANSON IMPROVISÉE
CHUT! CHUT! PAS SI FORT!
LE JARDIN QUI S’ANIME
TI-JEAN VOUDRAIT BEN S’MARIER MAIS...
By
2010
Michèle Lemieux
NUIT D’ORAGE / STORMY NIGHT
By
2005
Geneviève Billette
LE PAYS DES GENOUX / THE LAND OF KNEES
By
1999
Dominick Pareauteau-Lebeuf
L’AUTOROUTE
By
1996
Normand Chaurette
PETIT NAVIRE
By
1988
Hélène Lasnier
242M106
PRIX ET DISTINCTIONS
-
Prix Collidram (France, 2010); Le bruit des os qui craquent;
Prix Sony Labou Tansi des Lycéens (France, 2009); Le bruit des os qui craquent;
Prix des Journées de Lyon des auteurs de théâtre (France 2007) and Distinction de la Comédie-Française
(France, 2008); Le bruit des os qui craquent;
Prix littéraire de la citoyenneté du département de Maine et Loire, (France, 2002); Salvador;
Masque awards for original text and lighting design, Académie québécoise du Théâtre (2000); L'Ogrelet;
The Assemblée internationale des parlementaires de langue française made Suzanne Lebeau a Knight of the
Order of the Pleiades for her body of work (1998);
Prix Francophonie Jeunesse (1994) (Radio France Internationale/Francophonies Théâtrales pour la Jeunesse);
Salvador;
Theatre grand prize, Journal de Montréal (1991); Conte du jour et de la nuit;
Chalmers Children's Play Award; Les Petits Pouvoirs/ Little Victories (1985).