Emma is an actor. One evening, she forgets her lines and her world is turned upside down. Because Emma is also an addict. No one wants to work with her unless she is clean, so she has no choice: she goes into a detox centre and, in the din and chaos of withdrawal, for once, she has to tell the truth. She's so good at lying though… which comes in handy for an actor. Since inebriation, whether through drugs or acting, is a means of survival for Emma, will she ever be able to turn her back on it and be herself? And who is she anyway?
Olivier Arteau, known for his bold, rhythmic productions, takes a spirited approach to this play by British playwright Duncan Macmillan (Every Brilliant Thing), putting his unique stamp on it. The artistic director of Le Trident theatre orchestrates a visceral portrayal of addiction and the battle for recovery. Les gens, les lieux, les choses (People, Places and Things) invites audiences to explore the experience of addiction: to taste the euphoria, along with delirium and unbearable alienation. “Acting gives me the same thing I get from drugs and alcohol. Good plays are just harder to come by,” says Emma. Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, whom we are thrilled to welcome back to the stage, plays this fiercely intelligent character, whose vulnerability is matched only by her tenacity. A captivating exploration of the need to escape real life and the abject fear of coming face to face with oneself, Les gens, les lieux, les choses draws parallels between theatre and therapy, between art and addiction, and is unlike any other theatre journey.
“Emma is a shapeshifter: intensely vibrant, terribly incisive, and fundamentally porous to all those around her... she embraces the absolute. An inspiring, terrifying life force runs through her, one that is infectious and disturbing. Her withdrawal, while difficult, is a quest for her very essence, for a truth she can access only through psychotropic drugs. But does authenticity really exist? Do we not exist only at the interstices of what we believe we are?”
— Olivier Arteau
