Saturday, May 19, 2018, at 7:30 pm in the NAC Azrieli Studio
One performance only, followed at 9 p.m. by the free event De plain-pied!

 

OTTAWA, Thursday, May 3, 2018 – OTTAWA – “Hi, my name is Jazia, I’m 14 years old …” Do you think you know all there is to know about today’s teenagers? Check your assumptions against the striking presence of three local young people, sharing the stage with two professional actors. Together, they take a stethoscope to the crackling, vertiginous heart of the adolescent experience. Unsettling, unconventional, entertaining!

Last March 24 and 25, a dozen youth ages 14 to 18 were invited to the NAC to participate in a creative workshop led by artists Anne‑Marie Ouellet and Thomas Sinou. Together, they explored a mix of acting and improvisation, truth and fiction, music and words. At the end of the workshop, three young people ages 14 and 15 from Lycée Claudel and De La Salle secondary school were selected to perform in the show: Jazia Djoudad, Soukaina Lkahya and Zachary Larocque.

On stage, an empty white space; bright light. We could be in a museum gallery, but the works on display here are teenagers and adults wearing headsets. Little by little they reveal themselves, through their tentative presence, through their disturbing or amusing statements. They talk about everything: themselves, their family, their future; they play Truth or Consequences, they trade clothes. What’s real in all of this? A meaningful and vibrant portrait of life captured in the moment.

 

Conceived by Anne-Marie Ouellet and Thomas Sinou // With Jazia Djouad, Zacharie Larocque, Soukaina Lkahya, Philippe Racine and Sara Simard // Sets: Romain Fabre // Lighting: Nancy Bussière // Lighting design assistant: Cédric Delorme‑Bouchard
Produced by L’eau du bain, in association with Usine C
Running time: Approximately 60 minutes with no intermission.

ARTISTS’ BIOS

Playwright and director Anne-Marie Ouellet is the indefatigable head prospector of the collective L’eau du bain (Nous voilà rendus, Le son de l’ère est froid, Impatience). With her faithful sidekick Thomas Sinou, she mines reality to unearth nuggets of gold/art to put onstage, setting up a mischievous, occasionally puzzling exchange between audience and actors, reality and imagination. A native of Alma, in Quebec’s Lac-Saint-Jean region, Anne‑Marie ranged widely during her professional training, from Chicoutimi to Paris (Conservatoire) by way of Montreal (UQAM). She currently teaches theatre at the University of Ottawa.

“I remember how as teenagers, my friends and I wanted the same rights as adults; we craved the freedom that was being measured out to us in dribs and drabs. We wanted things to go fast: fall in love fast, change fast, grow up fast …” Anne-Marie Ouellet

Thomas Sinou is the clever sound guy for the creations of L’eau du bain. Born in Marseille, he studied at the Institut supérieur des techniques du son before immigrating to Quebec in 2006. Thomas is interested in installations and the interaction between the audience, the actors and the performance space. To create hybrid shows that “give a voice to life unspoken,” he and his associate Anne‑Marie Ouellet boldly infiltrate a wide range of settings, from seniors’ centres (Nous voilà rendus) to groups of teenagers (Impatience).

L'eau du bain theatre company is interested in breaking down barriers: those that separate artistic mediums, those that distance the public from the work, and those that isolate individuals. The company uses a hybrid artistic language that combines theatre, performance and sound installation.

 

EXTEND YOUR EVENING WITH DE PLAIN-PIED! (Free event)

Meet at 9 pm in the Azrieli Studio Foyer and follow the guide to various locations in the NAC on a walking tour on the theme of night and its possibilities. Open to all, this itinerary designed by five imaginative teenagers will immerse you in a nocturnal exploration, whatever your concept of the night: introspective, utopian, possessive, hazardous, festive, magic ... maybe all of the above? Welcome to De plain-pied 2018!

The members of the Creation Unit who designed this unique evening are: Maxime Cerat, Charlotte Demers, Fauve Desrochers, Frédéric Hamlet-Gagnon and Florence Simard.

"The night is a freshwater spring where the souls of the world come to drink. It is a source of peace, but also of war and fear. It's easy to hide or attack in the dark. Night is a seedy and dangerous alley, a feverish disco, a starry sky, a cozy bed, a deserted McDonald's, a highway where we are alone together. It’s also deep music, existential crises, sobs of relief, sleeping bags, confidences, gin, phone screens. Night is a parallel existence."
Florence Simard

De plain-pied was created in 2015 by Mélanie Dumont, French Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director, Youth Programming. Conceived by and for young people, the event aims to offer them a space outside their usual frame of reference where they can give free rein to their creativity.