After Doggy dans Gravel and Made in Beautiful, Olivier Arteau starts a new research on the phenomenon of fear and its ramifications. Through scenic writing, the author depicts our mutism and what prevents us from committing acts of collective disobedience. In this work, verbs are substituted, turned into (in)actions using a variety of masks, random objects and a sad cube of drywall, slowly flaking away. Here, we find ourselves in an unfeeling world where excess gives way to routine, a world where memory has no foothold, where death will remain forever unmourned. What does it mean to be truly human?

Olivier Arteau endeavours to depict the fragility of human nature through the lens of the mind-body dichotomy. In a post-truth world, he sees acts as vectors of deeper truths than mere words. This informs a rigorous creative process, by which he challenges the role of the author or director within his own works. For example, in preparation for his first major production at the Théâtre du Trident, Arteau went into a voluntary month-long reclusion to gain insight into the thirst for absolutes that guides the indomitable Antigone.

Ideation and Direction Olivier Arteau Performed by Marie-Ève Bérubé, Claude Breton Potvin, Daniel D’Amours, Emma Gomez, Julie Leclerc, Lucie M. Constantineau, Alexander Peganov, Nathalie Séguin, Catherine St-Martin Production Manager Nathalie Séguin Technical Director and Stage Management Claire Seyller Video Design Sebastien Pircher Lighting Design Claire Seyller Photo Annie Éthier Video teaser Sebastien Pircher With the support of Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Ville de Laval Creative residencies Maison des arts de Laval, Théâtre Périscope