The Suburban
29 octobre 2014
Par Linda Zlatkin
Lisez la critique
On Thursday Oct. 23, the world premiere of the English-language musical inspired by Michel’s Tremblay’s 1965 play Les Belles-soeurs was officially launched at the Segal Centre. The house was full and the laughter was flowing as the audience focused on the all female cast of 12 women (mothers, daughters, sisters, and neighbours) who entertained them in the 1960s-style kitchen of Germaine Lauzon’s home.
The play, set in the Plateau Mont-Royal area of Montreal of the mid-60s, takes place on a single night when wife and mother Germaine (Astrid Van Wieren) invites her family and friends over for a stamp-licking party. She has been living a life of dreary domesticity until her luck changes when she wins 1 million trading stamps from her local grocery store (redeemable for a tantalizing array of consumer goods).
Germaine solicited their help so that she can place all the booklets in boxes. However, the fun-filled party she envisions is quickly clouded by the realities of jealousy, gossip, competition and bitter longing. You feel the women’s regrets, misfortune and unmet desires.
Germaine does not realize how cruel and selfish she is to ask these women to help her, a message that is clearly evident from the very beginning through her dialogue and songs. Of course the others would be jealous and catty. And they are not getting anything out of helping her — except a Coke.
These women are far too preoccupied with their own unhappiness to possibly feel happy for Germaine, who doesn’t grasp this at all until the end.
This amusing and interesting play, with an undercurrent of sadness, is light on the surface with lots of depth to get you thinking. You get a wide snapshot of these working-class women through their songs and conversation. And when they give each other little digs, you see their passive-aggressive claws come out, too.
The story also brings out the mother-daughter relationship between Germaine and her snippy daughter, Linda Lauzon (Élise Cormier) as well as Germaine’s relationship with her estranged sister, Pierrette Guérin (Genevieve Leclerc).
Belles Soeurs is directed by René Richard Cyr, adapted by Brian Hill and produced by Allan Sandler. The music is by Daniel Bélanger and the English lyrics as well as music adaptation and additional music are by Neil Bartram.
Due to popular demand the play has now been extended to Nov. 16
29 octobre 2014
Par Linda Zlatkin
Lisez la critique
On Thursday Oct. 23, the world premiere of the English-language musical inspired by Michel’s Tremblay’s 1965 play Les Belles-soeurs was officially launched at the Segal Centre. The house was full and the laughter was flowing as the audience focused on the all female cast of 12 women (mothers, daughters, sisters, and neighbours) who entertained them in the 1960s-style kitchen of Germaine Lauzon’s home.
The play, set in the Plateau Mont-Royal area of Montreal of the mid-60s, takes place on a single night when wife and mother Germaine (Astrid Van Wieren) invites her family and friends over for a stamp-licking party. She has been living a life of dreary domesticity until her luck changes when she wins 1 million trading stamps from her local grocery store (redeemable for a tantalizing array of consumer goods).
Germaine solicited their help so that she can place all the booklets in boxes. However, the fun-filled party she envisions is quickly clouded by the realities of jealousy, gossip, competition and bitter longing. You feel the women’s regrets, misfortune and unmet desires.
Germaine does not realize how cruel and selfish she is to ask these women to help her, a message that is clearly evident from the very beginning through her dialogue and songs. Of course the others would be jealous and catty. And they are not getting anything out of helping her — except a Coke.
These women are far too preoccupied with their own unhappiness to possibly feel happy for Germaine, who doesn’t grasp this at all until the end.
This amusing and interesting play, with an undercurrent of sadness, is light on the surface with lots of depth to get you thinking. You get a wide snapshot of these working-class women through their songs and conversation. And when they give each other little digs, you see their passive-aggressive claws come out, too.
The story also brings out the mother-daughter relationship between Germaine and her snippy daughter, Linda Lauzon (Élise Cormier) as well as Germaine’s relationship with her estranged sister, Pierrette Guérin (Genevieve Leclerc).
Belles Soeurs is directed by René Richard Cyr, adapted by Brian Hill and produced by Allan Sandler. The music is by Daniel Bélanger and the English lyrics as well as music adaptation and additional music are by Neil Bartram.
Due to popular demand the play has now been extended to Nov. 16