General presentation of the show

English version of Assoiffés
text
Wajdi Mouawad
translation
Linda Gaboriau
direction and text collaboration
Benoît Vermeulen
with
Nico Gagnon
Marie-Eve Huot
Benoit Landry
set and costumes design
Raymond Marius Boucher
ligthing
Mathieu Marcil
sound design and original music
Nicolas Basque
video design
Martin Lemieux
direction assistant
Catherine Vidal
set and costumes design assistant
Jasa Baka and Isabelle Duguay
production and technical management
Joanne Vézina
technicians
Nicolas Fortin and Alexi Rioux
©Eugène Holtz
All ages over 14
Starved — Théâtre Le Clou
1/5
The Company
Under the codirectorship of Monique Gosselin, Sylvain Scott and Benoît Vermeulen,
Théâtre Le Clou was founded in Montréal in 1989 for the purpose of creating shows for
teen audiences. The company focuses on three categories: adolescence, early
adolescence and urban tales. A total of over 300,000 spectators in Québec, Canada,
France, Spain, Sweden and Russia have enjoyed the company’s ten productions.
Since theatrical performance is a key gathering place, it is essential that young people
have access to new and original works that are written from and relevant to their current
reality. Théâtre Le Clou’s approach, based on research and experimentation both at the
writing and directing levels, encourages collaboration throughout the creative process and
up to performance time. Adolescence is both a triumph of freedom and a time of extreme
fragility. Portraying this tension is the impetus behind Théâtre Le Clou’s shows. Reflecting
the fragmented, impulsive and defiant quality of that stage of life, they are sometimes
chaotic, often rebellious, and always edgy.
In 2003, Théâtre Le Clou was the recipient of three Masques awards (Best Script, Best
Direction and Best Production for young audiences) from the Académie québécoise de
théâtre for the show Au moment de sa disparition (Desert Dream) by Jean-Frédéric
Messier, directed by Benoît Vermeulen.
Recognition came again two years later when the production Romances et karaoké
earned the same three awards at the 2005 Masques awards ceremony. Romances et
karaoké was chosen Best Production for young audiences, Benoît Vermeulen won the
Masque for Best Direction once again while Francis Monty received his for Best Original
Script.
Our show Assoiffés (Starved) has been nominated Best Production for young audiences
at the 2007 Masques awards ceremony. In automn 2008, the Association québécoise des
critiques de théâtre (ACQT) awarded Assoiffés with the Prix de la critique 07-08 in the
young audiences category.
Théâtre Le Clou also runs the Les Zurbains project, in which contemporary tales are
written by professional authors and teens, then staged every year at the partner venues:
Salle Fred-Barry at Théâtre Denise-Pelletier in Montréal, Théâtre jeunesse les Gros Becs
in Québec City, Toronto’s Théâtre français and National Art Centre in Ottawa.
“Adolescence is an incredible time, seething
with passions, ideals and newfound freedom.
This energy is what stimulates us artistically.
The resulting works show young people how
open theatre can be, how it’s an art that
surprises, provokes and enriches our
relationship with the world and with
ourselves.” - Artistic direction
Starved — Théâtre Le Clou
2/5
The Show
Starved tells the story of Murdoch and
Norvège, a talkative teenage boy driven by
a need to be heard and a teenage girl who
conceals all, refusing to say a word. It is
also the story of Boon, a legal
anthropologist whose meeting with the two
characters leads him to revisit his own
teenage years and a long-abandoned
dream.
Starved blends reality and fiction, humour
and drama to create a mysterious world in
which the boundaries of time collapse. This powerful play deals with evocative themes: the
meaning of life and, most importantly, the desire to live.
With Starved, the ninth production by Théâtre Le Clou, Wajdi Mouawad delivers a text that is
original, lucid and deeply committed. Benoît Vermeulen reprises the astonishing form he
used in Au moment de sa disparition (Desert Dream) and Romances et karaoke.
Starved was created in October 2006 during a residence at Théâtre Lionel-Groulx in SainteThérèse, in collaboration with Salle Pauline-Julien in Sainte-Geneviève.
The creative team incorporated groups of teenagers and school classes into the creative
process, then presented the show to them at the read-through, dry run and early
performance stages. Each session was followed by a discussion where comments,
suggestions and criticisms were applied to the process. The students also participated in a
workshop with the actors and director.
Starved has been presented on over seventy occasions in Québec, Canada and France.
The script by Wajdi Mouawad in collaboration with Benoît Vermeulen is published by
Leméac/Actes Sud-Papiers. Please note that the published version is different of the version
playing on stage.
A Review
« Starved is one of those productions that
won’t leave you unscathed, a kind of darkly
comic gem. Why? Because you won’t soon
forget the force of its cry. Because Murdoch,
the rebellious young teenager, is one of the
most compelling theatrical characters we’ve
seen here. Because Benoît Vermeulen’s
direction is dazzling […]. Because Raymond
Marius Boucher’s stage design is outstanding
and the entire show speaks to teenagers in
their own language while sharing their
outrage. »
Michel Bélair, LE DEVOIR, November 21, 2006
Starved — Théâtre Le Clou
3/5
Production Team
Wajdi Mouawad, Playwright
A cosmopolitan man of the theatre whose works are performed all over
the world, Wajdi Mouawad grew up in Lebanon and lived in France
before arriving in Quebec in 1984. He graduated from the National
Theatre School of Canada in 1991 and is at once a playwright, director
and actor. For four years (2000-2004), Wajdi Mouawad was at the
helm of Montreal’s Théâtre de Quat’Sous. In 2005, he and Emmanuel
Schwartz founded two companies that produce original plays as a
transatlantic dialogue, one in Quebec, Abé Carré Cé Carré, and the other in France, Au
Carré de l’hypoténuse. Since 2007, he is the artistic director of the National Arts Centre
French Theatre in Ottawa. In 2009, he was the associate artist at the Avignon Theatre
Festival. His many productions include Littoral (2000 Governor General’s Award), for which
he also wrote the screen adaptation, Incendies, Forêts, Seuls and Ciels. As a director he has
taken on playwrights such as Chekhov and Pirandello and adapted Cervantes and Irvine
Welsh for the screen.
Benoît Vermeulen, Director
As co-artistic director of Théâtre Le Clou, he has directed many of the
company’s original productions: Les trains, Jusqu'aux Os!, Noëlle en juillet,
Les Zurbains (1998-2002, 2004 and 2005), Au moment de sa disparition
(Desert Dream) and Romances et karaoke and Éclats et autres libertés.
He also directed the original play Les mauvaises herbes by Théâtre
Bouches Décousues. He has lent his acting talents to many productions
with Théâtre PàP, Le Carrousel, Théâtre Denise-Pelletier and Groupe
multidisciplinaire de Montréal. In April 2006, he participated in the new
original play by Il va sans dire, L'Autre monde, at Espace libre. In 1997, the Canada Council
gave him the John Hirsh Award for his work directing the plays Jusqu'aux Os! et Noëlle en
juillet. In 2003 and 2005, he was awarded the Masque for best director for the plays Au
moment de sa disparition and Romances et karaoké. Since 2007, he has been in charge of
the Youth Programming section of the National Arts Centre French Theatre in Ottawa as an
associate artist under artistic director Wajdi Mouawad.
Starved — Théâtre Le Clou
4/5
Artistic Direction
Monique Gosselin, Sylvain Scott
and Benoît Vermeulen
Isabelle Boisclair, general director
Éric Potvin, booking and communications
Geneviève Therrien, administrative assistant
Marie Ichtertz, booking (France)
Jean Duchesneau, technical direction
Théâtre Le Clou
5425, rue de Bordeaux, espace 121
Montréal (Québec) H2H 2P9
Canada
phone: 514 596-1616
fax: 514 596-1622
email: [email protected]
web site: www.leclou.qc.ca
© pictures - Angelo Barsetti, Marc Dussault, Eugene Holtz, Simon Ménard, spinprod.com
Théâtre Le Clou is funded by :
Starved — Théâtre Le Clou
5/5