Closera play by Briton Patrick Marber that became a successful film, dissects the mechanics of love with almost cruel detail. The work – renamed Against you – arrives on the boards of Duceppe in a rereading which adds a promising new dimension.
Published at 7:00 a.m.
Director Solène Paré chose to feminize the character of Dan, an obituary journalist in his mid-forties who will see his somewhat lukewarm life turned upside down after meeting a stranger in the street.
This role was played by Jude Law in the film directed in 2004 by Mike Nichols and which also brought together Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen on screen. Here, it is Isabelle Blais who plays Dan, one of the four electrons in this story where bodies attract and move away like magnets.
In Against youthe characters find themselves in a romantic crossover that takes on the appearance of a territorial war. When Dan meets Alice (played by Inès Defosse), she rediscovers a romantic impulse that had left her. The flame will become an inferno when his path crosses that of Anna (Alice Pascual), a talented photographer. Dan, however, will become the architect of his own misfortune by adding to the mix a man he met on the Internet, Larry (David Boutin).
“I like that a woman is considered a strong rival for the character of Larry, a male doctor who is the archetype of the good guy,” explains Solène Paré. When Anna’s character decides to leave Larry to go to Dan, she also expresses a desire to reinvent her way of loving and being loved. It enriches the relationship with genres. But homosexuality is not one of the themes of this play. We talk about the games of love, desire and cruelty, with several gray areas. »
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE
Director Solène Paré
In his play, Marber presents love in all its facets. Sometimes love is a choice, sometimes it is a shock that we cannot resist. He’s a genius dialogue writer, who is very good at ellipses! It only tells about the first meetings, the breakups or the turning points.
Solène Paré, director
Indeed, the text, translated by Fanny Britt, follows the four protagonists over several years. From one scene to the next, a day or a year may have passed…
“There’s not a lot of superfluity here,” says Isabelle Blais. The text is very well put together. It addresses universal – and inexhaustible – issues such as love, passion or the narcissistic wound of betrayal. As a performer, this text requires a lot of rigor, because it is written like a score where rhythm takes on great importance. »
Distinct ways of loving
Inès Defosse is of the same opinion. Graduated in 2020 from the Montreal Conservatory of Dramatic Art, she will take her first steps on a large French-speaking stage with Duceppe.
The performer remembers seeing the film when she was a teenager and coming away troubled. “For me, the film projected a cold and negative vision of love between adults, a vision where everyone is selfish. Today I realize how intelligent this text is. The lines are short and each conveys something important. The work on the psychology of the characters is immense. »
The text sets out four distinct ways of loving. For example, the character Alice wants to be loved unconditionally. For her, love can tick all the boxes.
Solène Paré, director
“Alice learned the game of seduction through her profession as a nude dancer,” explains Inès Defossé, who followed training in pole dancing for this role. “I understood to what extent naked dancers possess immense physical and mental strength. Their job gives them a shell. Alice uses her beauty and her youth as weapons. »
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE
Inès Defosse, who will set foot on Duceppe’s boards for the first time
As for Dan, she is a woman who we discover resigned. “Alice awakens in her an awareness of time passing,” says Isabelle Blais. She realizes that she must experience passions, and Alice gives her this impulse again. She likes the image that this young woman sends her of herself. »
But we can get tired of everything, including youth and beauty. And Dan will end up looking for a relationship that will be more of an equal. “She is a passionate romantic, but egocentric,” says the performer who is delighted to return to the theater stage after a five-year hiatus caused by the pandemic. “I am happy to come back with such a strong piece. »
In order for this story set in 12 different locations to unfold on stage, Solène Paré and scenographer Geneviève Lizotte will make the characters evolve on two revolving stages. “The driving force of the sets is the extension of this force of attraction which acts on the characters. »
Consult the part page
Against you
Text by Patrick Marber, translated by Fanny Britt and directed by Solène Paré
With Isabelle Blais, David Boutin, Inès Defosse and Alice Pascual
Jean-Duceppe TheaterFrom January 15 to February 15
