Lovers of Greek mythology as well as spectators fond of modern works will be served in this rereading of the myth of Orpheus, signed by Isabelle Hubert.
Spoiler alert: Orpheus, played by Charles Roberge and Esther Rousseau-Morin, does not experience a happier destiny than in his traditional tale. His descent into hell to find his charming Eurydice (Éva Saïda and Josianne Bernier) is not a success.
The playwright delivers a text here that respects the original story while giving it a little twist for today’s tastes. In particular, by immersing its characters in a bland warehouse and having fun with the cliché codes of love… but not only that.
By revisiting this well-known story, she also gives voice to dear Eurydice and adds her point of view into the equation: after all, did she really want to be saved? Is what embodies hell for Orpheus just as much for her?
Choreographer Alan Lake, who has worked in the field of dance for nearly twenty years, delivers powerful moments of emotion here. (Jocelyn Riendeau/Le Soleil)
Without a doubt, the most beautiful marriage of this project remains the mix between theater and dance. Because the direction by Frédérique Bradet and Alan Lake as well as the choreographies of the latter wonderfully embrace the text by Isabelle Hubert.
The dancers seemed to float on stage as they performed languorous movements and jumps with impressive ease. (Jocelyn Riendeau/Le Soleil)
In just over an hour, the dancers embody, each in their own way, tortured souls, in distress or lost in love.
While some actors deliver their lines, others clearly express pivotal scenes in the story with their bodies. Particularly during the first half of the piece, a little less abstract than the second. When Orpheus falls in love with Eurydice or when they make love for the very first time.
Throughout Thursday’s performance, at which The sun attended, it was difficult not to be captivated by the movements of all these bodies which were thrown against each other, sometimes throwing themselves straight into the void, narrowly caught by one of their colleagues.
With a dozen performers almost always dancing at the same time, however, it was difficult to admire each of their individual performances. Our attention being torn to the four corners of the scene.
Ingenious, Vano Hotton’s scenography was able to accompany each of the scenes of the play. (Jocelyn Riendeau/Le Soleil)
However, it required very successful staging to carry out changes of scenery before our eyes without us noticing.
It must be said that Vano Hotton signs, once again, an ingenious scenography which transforms throughout the play. With the right lighting (Keven Dubois) and the right music (Antoine Berthiaume), the high, textured walls and their immense canvas transform into a panoply of things: a disturbing hell, a large concrete warehouse, a bed of crumpled sheets or even a curious nightclub.
With The myth of Orpheusthe Trident closes its season in a very beautiful way, making theater and dance a happy marriage… celebrated until May 18.
The complete distribution of Myth of Orpheus : Charles Roberge, Éva Saïda, Josianne Bernier, Gabriel Cloutier Tremblay, Victoria Côté, Geneviève Duong, Laurent Fecteau-Nadeau, Alan Lake, Odile-Amélie Peters, Harold Rhéaume, Esther Rousseau-Morin and Jo Trozzo-Mounet.
