Originally from Mont-Saint-Grégoire, actress Élisabeth Smith burns the stages of the Théâtre Prospero, in Montreal, in the play This hill is never really silent until October 19. In this free rereading of Albert Camus’ Myth of Sisyphus, which was first presented successfully at the La Chapelle theater in May, the actress must deal with the complex task of playing on five tons of rocks.
Written and directed by Gabriel Charlebois-Plante, This hill is never truly silent is inspired by the character of Sisyphus who, as punishment for a serious mistake committed, must roll a rock to the top of a hill. However, the stone comes back down every time the protagonist is about to achieve his objective.
On stage, this metaphor about the perpetual restarting of everyday life takes the form of a long 60-minute monologue, each part of which is simultaneously embodied by four actors. These only have a simple beam of light for illumination.
Collective creation
“This is not the first time that I have collaborated with Gabriel Charlebois-Plante. He has a collective approach, he works with the proposals of the actors. The division of the text was done randomly. During the first table reading, we provided our comments at the end of each paragraph. We explored a lot of different ideas during rehearsals,” says Élisabeth Smith, happy that the Théâtre Prospero decided to include the play in its programming.
The daughter of Lisanne Chabot (actress at the Théâtre de Grand-Pré for ten years) found it exciting and intense to dive back into a work that she had not performed in front of an audience for several months.
“I reread and relearned my text. I consulted the old sequence notes that I took during rehearsals for performances at the La Chapelle theater. I also looked at the comments I had received on my performance in order to apply them again during the next performances,” explains the woman who, despite all this work upstream, really realized that this project was coming back to life by reviewing the decor.
Five tons of rocks
In order to echo Albert Camus’ novel, the scene is lined with five tons of rocks. Every evening, the layout of these rocks is different. Actors have to deal with the obstacles that this entails.
“Every night is different, because we don’t walk in the same places. This creates an imbalance. We can’t deny that we’re in five tons of rock! You have to be careful not to get hurt,” indicates the actress who, during her monologue, highlights the fear linked to the grotesque aspect of the human experience.
Open-mindedness
Élisabeth Smith is aware that this theatrical proposition turns out to be singular and fragmented. She invites the public not to try to analyze each movement and each word to find a precise definition.
“The piece shows what we can think and feel in our heads compared to the exhaustion of repeating the same things over and over again. We can identify with it, because it shows that we are not alone in experiencing this. So I would like people to take advantage of this moment, to have fun in it,” says Élisabeth Smith with a little smile in her voice.
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