Four people enter a theatre. At times fearful, at other times amused, they wander around like tourists, clumsily playing and testing each other under the inquisitive gaze of the audience. This small sample of humanity, tightly knit by improbable situations and mundane accidents, gradually transforms the stage’s empty space into a universe overflowing with possibilities… and absurdity.
By creating a strange, playful vivarium of sorts, Alix Dufresne and Étienne Lepage’s acerbic and witty dramaturgy rattles social and theatrical conventions. Living somewhere between performance and philosophical thinkspace, Malaise dans la civilisation reveals exuberant beings flirting with the limits of moral values. Impulses are unleashed, rules are broken, and human nature is laid bare. The results are unusual, hilarious and disturbing!
Production Étienne Lepage (Quebec)
Direction Alix Dufresne, Étienne Lepage
Text Étienne Lepage
Cast and co-creators Maxime Genois, Jonathan Lachlan Stewart, Debbie Lynch-White, Alice Moreault
Set and costume design Odile Gamache
Lighting design Leticia Hamaoui
Music Robert Marcel Lepage
Technical direction Seoyoung Park
Executive production DLD
Coproduction Festival TransAmériques + L’ANCRE – Théâtre Royal (Charleroi) + Maison de la culture Marie-Uguay + Espace Le vrai monde ? + Salle de diffusion de Parc Extension + DLD
With the contribution of Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie