Peau d’âne: A feminist fairy tale on stage for ages 12 and up

October 17, 2024 – OTTAWA (Canada) – The National Arts Centre (NAC) French Theatre continues to “break free of our constraints,” to use its seasonal slogan, with a rereading of the famous narrative by Charles Perrault. This chilling tale, originally of a bygone era, however dealing with burning current issues, has been revamped by Félix-Antoine Boutin and Sophie Cadieux, writers and directors of the text. Produced by Théâtre Denise-Pelletier and Création Dans la Chambre – which presented the tabletop work Au jardin des Potiniers at the NAC in June 2023 – and in co-production with the NAC French Theatre, Peau d’âne is a bewitching show that has accumulated enthusiastic comments since September 25, the date on which it saw the light of day in the theatre directed by Claude Poissant (Faire le bien).

“In fairy tales, heroines are often made to wear dresses, shoes, and rings, which they lose or regain over the course of the story. In Peau d’âne, she must put the skin of a dead animal on her back… and we had to dig into that! We also found that there was, in this tale, the material of a real coming of age. Everyone encounters this stage one day, the one where we must free ourselves from our family and what they expect of us.”

– Sophie Cadieux, co-author, co-director and performer

It’s a familiar story: When her mother dies, a young princess wears a magic female donkey’s skin to escape the lecherous gaze of her own father, the king, who has already begun hunting for someone to replace the queen at his side on the throne. Éric Bernier and Sophie Cadieux brilliantly embody all the characters revolving around the young woman in search of her authentic skin, and therefore her freedom, a breathtaking game of mirrors and metamorphoses which summons a multiplicity of stage languages.

“It’s a show where design really plays a big role. The text is quite present, but we worked very closely with all the designers to develop an overall stage writing. […] We are trying to ensure that languages can really come into contact, that there is a certain horizontality in the collaboration with all these artisans. And the public is also always at the heart of our thoughts in creation.”

– Félix-Antoine Boutin, co-author and co-director

Inspired by Jacques Demy’s film of the same name, Peau d’âne sets the stage for a dreamlike experience that combines poetry, scenic magic and comical anachronisms. There’s no moral to this show, just an opening into a world of possibilities…

 

ALL THOSE SKINS

In conjunction with the performances, an exhibition of dresses and costumes echoes the theme of the stage version of the story imagined by Cadieux and Boutin, whose two dozen costumes in the play were designed by artist Elen Ewing. In addition to three dresses designed by Ewing for other productions, the exhibition includes seven costumes for female characters created over the years in the NAC's costume shop under the direction of Normand Thériault. Born out of a desire to highlight some of the facets of this often overlooked art form, the exhibition invites visitors to admire the full texture of a craft that reveals a large part of identity in all its complexity. In the Babs Asper Theatre lobby, from October 31 to November 2.

 

HALLOWEEN

As the show premieres on October 31, we invite everyone attending this performance to come in costume – we will be!

 

PERFORMANCE AND TICKET INFORMATION

Babs Asper Theatre

Thursday October 31 and Friday November 1 at 7:30 pm, and Saturday November 2 at 3 pm

It may be possible for members of the media to attend the matinee on November 1.

Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes without intermission

Tickets from $31

To purchases tickets, visit https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/35985 or call 1-844-985-2787 (ARTS). To find out what you need to know before accessing the building and facilities, click: https://nac-cna.ca/en/visit

Visit the NAC website to learn more about the 2024-2025 NAC French Theatre season.

 

THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNER

The National Arts Centre Foundation would like to thank Official Hotel Partner Ottawa Embassy Hotel & Suites.

 

ABOUT THE NAC  

The National Arts Centre is Canada’s bilingual, multi-disciplinary home for the performing arts. The NAC presents, creates, produces, and co-produces performing arts programming in various streams — the NAC Orchestra, Dance, English Theatre, French Theatre, Indigenous Theatre, and Popular Music and Variety — and nurtures the next generation of audiences and artists from across Canada. The NAC is located in the National Capital Region on the unceded territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation.

 

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Sylvain Lavoie

Communications Strategist, French Theatre

National Arts Centre

343-588-0743

sylvain.lavoie@nac-cna.ca