February 24, 2004 -

“Every house is an ark where the memory of spring is preserved— that’s why spring returns.” – Jacques Ferron, Le Déluge (transl.)

Ottawa, Ontario -- At last, after stops in Caraquet, Quebec City, Montreal, Brussels, and other equally important ghost towns, La petite ombre (“The Little Shadow”) is arriving in Ottawa! The National Arts Centre (NAC) French Theatre is proud to present—without the shadow of a doubt—this outstanding production for young audiences, with performances in the NAC Studio on Saturday, February 28 and Sunday, February 29. Weather watch: on February 28 and 29, mist will be swirling across the Studio stage!

La petite ombre won the Coup de cœur de la presse (“Media Favourite”) award presented by the francophone Belgian press at the 2003 Rencontres de Théâtre Jeune Public in Huy, Belgium, and was nominated for Best Franco-Canadian Production at the recent Soirée des masques awards gala hosted by the Académie québécoise du théâtre. Premiered in October 2002 at the Carrefour de la Mer theatre in Caraquet, New Brunswick, the production has been greeted with “oohs” and “aahs” at every stop along its route, including the 2003 Coups de théâtre festival in Montreal. La petite ombre is coproduced by the Théâtre populaire d’Acadie (Caraquet, NB) and the Théâtre du Papyrus (Brussels, Belgium) in partnership with Les Gros Becs young people’s theatre centre (Quebec, QC).

One dark night, a man returns to the place by the sea where he grew up, only to find his family home empty and neglected. Mysteriously, a tiny pair of shoes appears—the shoes he used to wear a long time ago. Then, another apparition: his own childhood, right there before his eyes. Why was the house abandoned? What happened to his father, with whom as a boy he used to dream of expanding the house and installing a beacon to guide the ships at sea?

La petite ombre is like a dream that uncovers the treasures buried in the deepest recesses of the heart and the memory. It is theatre born of encounters and exchanges between creators from Acadia, Belgium and Quebec who, over a three-year period, shared a journey of artistic exploration culminating in a production that erases boundaries and seamlessly blends ideas and images from three different cultures. It is theatre that, in the directors’ own words, “appeals to the world of childhood—actual childhood and the inner child, the one who lives with us all our lives, waiting to be acknowledged.”

Indeed, La petite ombre is the story of three artistic directors (René Cormier of the Théâtre populaire d’Acadie, Bernard Chemin of the Théâtre du Papyrus, and Louise Allaire of Les Gros Becs) who invited three designers (Christine Flasschoen, Jean Hazel and Luc Rondeau) to create a set inspired by the sea and legends of ghost ships and abandoned houses. “The designers were distraught: they wanted a story, or at least some kind of narrative thread,” recalls René Cormier, who composed the original music for the show, “whereas we were waiting to draw our inspiration from their sets.” In the end, the designers created an imaginary environment full of appearances, disappearances, and multiple meanings… and stories began to come out of the shadows, reviving the forgotten traces of the past, drifting constantly between notions of “ghost houses”—the abandoned houses found in Acadia and other coastal communities, full of the imaginative potential of the traces their former inhabitants left behind—and phantom ships. The result is a production rich in images tinged with surrealism, a fascinating exploration of the intangible and the invisible—as the sea and memory can be; a breathtaking visual poem that, like a children’s game, speaks directly to the imagination and the heart.

“The story is told by three characters (the two Daniels and the mother, in a restrained performance by Claire Normand) who trace for us, in the running sands of memory, the profound mark of an absence. It is also told through various small items that only Bernard Chemin could have imbued with such significance; outstanding lighting that creates shifting moods of intimacy and intensity; and an ingenious hydraulic platform that becomes a multitude of spaces, allowing us to glimpse some of the memories Daniel left behind in this house. La Petite Ombre is amazing in every sense.”

– Michel Bélair, Le Devoir (transl.)

Before or after the performance of La petite ombre, you can listen to a musical masterpiece about a phantom ship: namely, Richard Wagner’s dramatic 1843 opera, Der Fliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman). For sheer energy and structure, we suggest the Otto Klemperer recording (on the EMI label). For powerfully emotional interpretation (Austrian soprano Leonie Rysanek as Senta, Canadian bass George London as the Dutchman): Antal Dorati (Decca). For brilliant sound and the sensitivity of José van Dam’s performance as the Dutchman: Herbert von Karajan (EMI). For the immediacy of live performance: the Bayreuth Festival recording conducted by Woldemar Nelsson (Philips).

The National Arts Centre French Theatre gratefully acknowledges the support of CIMF Rock Détente.

Information:
Guy Warin,
Communications Officer
National Arts Centre French Theatre
(613) 947-7000 or 1 866 850-2787, ext. 759
gwarin@nac-cna.ca