On Hand And Foot

TEXT: MARTIN BELLEMARE

DIRECTION: MARIE-EVE HUOT TRANSLATION: JOHN VAN BUREK

IN COLLABORATION WITH

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THE PROJECT On Hand And Foot casts a light-hearted eye at physical differences, linked to social inequities and imbalances. By opening up a new perspective, the play creates the possibility for surprise, emotion, poetry. It offers children a reflection on the complexity, and diversity, of life. The story of On Hand And Foot is poetically simple. It immerses children in the imaginary and the instantaneous, stimulating attention with its gentle madness while subtly introducing a zone of reflection, both private and social. Through the gateway of corporality, the text surprises young audiences, both amusing them and involving them in a sort of introspection. Although the show is playful, it also offers the social commentary inherent to the script – without being heavy-handed.

THE ORIGIN OF THE PROJECT The story of On Hand And Foot is based on a factory for feet and hands. Playwright Martin Bellemare was obsessed with this idea. One day, he came upon a man sitting on a sidewalk, his back against a wall. In front of him was a paper cup. This man had two scars at his shoulders. This man had no arms. Martin was overcome with the terrible sense that this man was a prisoner of himself, a prisoner of his body. How had he put down the tattered paper cup that was in front of him? How would he pick it up again? Martin presumed that this man was a victim of the civil wars roiling Africa. In this context of war, faire un Marcel – an expression inspired by the French expression for “tank top” – was to cut off someone’s arms. This was the cruellest way to cut someone off from autonomy, “normalcy,” the capacity to work with one’s hands, the capacity to hold someone in one’s arms. Martin began to imagine this man’s pain and all the courage it took him to come to this sidewalk, his path and the obstacles he encountered: the palpable tension between his simplest needs and his possibilities for action. Martin didn't immediately make the connection between his story about the factory and this man whose plight touched him. He felt that the emotions that overcame him when he saw this man were not meant for young audiences. And then, something clicked. On the contrary: this man had to be part of the world of the factory of feet and hands. On Hand And Foot is not about civil war or violence in the world, and the man without arms is not the main character in the story. The writing project is about corporality, exploration, and body awareness, and it also touches on the idea of loss, as embodied by the man without arms.

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RESUME In a world in which things often go in twos, SHE is missing a hand, and HE is missing a foot. Both quickly

and magically, they correct the situation: he has two feet and she has two hands! Are they playing? Are

they imagining? Whatever it is, no sooner said than done: they invent a factory for feet and hands. The

first visitors flow in: a DEAF WOMAN, a WOMAN WITHOUT A NOSE, a NORMAL MAN who wants to

build up a reserve, a man with a CLUB FOOT, and finally, a MAN WITHOUT ARMS. SHE and HE then

think about adapting their factory to the situation. In exchange for their services, SHE and HE

receive . . . flowers. Yes! Flowers inside . . .

Children aged 5+

Duration : 40 minutes Audience of 250 people

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A SHOW . . . AND AN EXHIBITION Before the performance, children attending the show will see an exhibition of photographs highlighting the themes of On Hand And Foot. With this first incursion into the world of photography, director Marie-Eve Huot hopes to introduce children to different aesthetics and artistic languages, enabling them to discover how a single theme can trigger a variety of art objects. Filmmaker and photographer Nicolas Lévesque (In guns we trust) produced the exhibition of original photographs. He made portraits of different people whom he met during his travels through his native region, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean. As a humanist photographer, he traveled through towns, villages, and forest, looking for faces, silhouettes, and bodies that are varied, different, unique. The exhibition and the show are in dialogue. The director hopes that this experience will inspire children with the energy to engage on a quest for meaning, a desire to shed light on an often-disconcerting world.

On Hand And Foot – The exhibition | Nicolas Lévesque

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CREATIVE TEAM Text Martin Bellemare | Direction Marie-Eve Huot | Cast Maude Desrosiers, Philippe Robert and Joachim Tanguay | Assistant director Marie-Claude D’Orazio | Technical director Nicolas Fortin | Set design and props Patrice Charbonneau-Brunelle | Lighting design Dominique Gagnon | Music Larsen Lupin | Costumes Elen Ewing | Drama and shadows advisor Dinaïg Stall

PRODUCTION HISTORY On Hand And Foot is a production of Théâtre Ébouriffé, in collaboration with Le Carrousel, theatre company, and in residency at Théâtre de la Ville (Longueuil). 2015-2016 SEASON __________________________________________________________3 PERFORMANCES

IN ONTARIO : Premiered at the National Arts Centre, Ottawa

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MARTIN BELLEMARE PLAYWRIGHT Martin Bellemare is a 2008 graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada in playwriting. In 2009, he won the Prix Gratien-Gélinas for Le Chant de Georges Boivin. The play toured Québec (Productions Kléos) and OFF d’Avignon in 2014 (Production Lunutopie and Collectif Hic et Nunc). La Liberté received an Aide à la création grant from the Centre national du théâtre, and it was selected by the readers’ bureau of the Comédie-Française in 2012. Both plays have been published by Dramaturges Éditeurs.

He is one of the authors of Cabaret au Bazar produced by Théâtre Ébouriffé, for which he also wrote Un château sur le dos. The play was translated into German (Ein Shloss

auf dem Rücken) and staged at the Primeurs de Sarrebruck festival in November 2012. He has also written Des Pieds et des mains (LABO07 2014 selection), La chute de l’escargot (second prize from the TNG readers’ committee for the 2012–13 season), and Tuer le moustique; all three were published in a single volume by Lansman Éditeur in 2014. Tuer le moustique was produced twice at the Festival International de Théâtre Francophone pour Étudiants in Poznan, Poland, in 2015.

Martin is also a member of the collective that wrote Contes Arbour, produced by Théâtre Bouches Décousues. He has given many writing and cultural-mediation workshops in the Montréal school system with, among others, Jamais Lu, Théâtre Bouches Décousues, Théâtre Ébouriffé, and Zone-Homa. He has also been author-tutor for Les Zurbains since 2013 with Théâtre Le Clou and Théâtre Jeunesse Les Gros Becs. He hosted a Lire et dire du théâtre en famille workshop at Festival Petits et Grands in Nantes in 2015. He attended writing residencies at Théâtre de l’Aquarium (Paris) in 2012, La Maison des Auteurs de Limoges in 2014, and La Chartreuse in Avignon in 2015.

MARIE-EVE HUOT DIRECTOR

When she graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada in 2006, Marie-Eve Huot already possessed a passionate and unbiased interest in young audiences. Since then, she has developed her reflection on productions for children and small children and has taken part in various theatrical events for this audience in Québec, France, and elsewhere in the world. In 2007, she co-founded Théâtre Ébouriffé, where she premièred Cabaret au bazar (2008), Un château sur le dos (2012), Noeuds papillon (2014), and, Des pieds et des mains (2016).

In 2016, Le Carrousel welcomes Marie-Eve Huot to the position of artistic co-director of the company. She has been working closely with Gervais Gaudreault and Suzanne Lebeau for more than eight years. In 2008, after obtaining a grant from the Conseil des arts de Montréal, she began a long-term internship at Le Carrousel. At the end of the internship, the co-directors invited Théâtre Ébouriffé, a company founded by Marie-Eve, for a four-year residency. In 2012, as guest director, she re-created Suzanne Lebeau’s Une lune entre deux maisons. This production earned her the Prix LOJIQ/RIDEAU Francophonie for the quality, relevance, and appropriateness of her direction and made it possible for her to undertake an observation residency at La Minoterie in Dijon, France.

As someone fully committed to the theatre, Marie-Eve is active in theatre community life, trying to make the voices of creators for young audiences heard. She has been the chair of the board of directors of Théâtres Unis Enfance Jeunesse (TUEJ) since 2011 and has sat for a number of years on the artistic committee of Maison Théâtre (Montréal). In recent years, she has participated in re-establishing ASSITEJ Canada, in collaboration with the Association des théâtres francophones du Canada and the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres. She is also a member of the artistic committee of Le Cube, centre international de recherche et de création en théâtre pour l’enfance et la jeunesse.

Her first play, Nœuds papillon, has been published by Lansman Éditeur (Belgium), and the translation into Polish by DramEdition (Poland). The play is also available in Spanish. It was produced in Mexico in winter 2016, and will be produced in France and Poland in winter 2017.

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NICOLAS LÉVESQUE PHOTOGRAPHER

Born in Roberval, Lac-St-Jean, Nicolas Lévesque uses his curiosity, his sensitivity, and his camera to attest to his attention to the world. After studying photography and earning an interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree in art and cinema, he co-founded the KAHEM photographers’ collective in 2007. He directed the documentary short film Lévesque et fils, maraîcher(s) (2008), which was screened at more than 12 festivals in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia. Projet Racine(s) (2010), which he produced for the Regard sur le court-métrage festival in Saguenay, won the “Portrait” first prize at the Grands prix du journalisme indépendant (Association des journalistes

indépendants du Québec). He has produced documentary photography and film projects in Chile, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Costa Rica. Since 2009, he has been a producer-journalist for the TV program Kilomètre Zéro, broadcast on Télé-Québec, and he is represented as a photographer by Milk Gallery in New York. His most recent film, In guns we trust, was presented at Cannes, in Portugal, and at the Toronto Film Festival. This project also received an award at the Grands prix du journalisme indépendant 2013, in the “Photo Story” category. Having received a SODEC grant in 2014, he is currently writing his first feature-length documentary.

On Hand And Foot – The exhibition | Nicolas Lévesque

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THE CAST

MAUDE DESROSIERS After she graduated from the Option-Théâtre program at Collège Lionel-Groulx in 2001, Maude Desrosiers continued her training by attending workshops on masked play, puppetry, voice, and singing. As an actor, she has been in the cast of four productions at Théâtre Tout à Trac: Le tout pour la toux, L'Oiseau vert, commedia dell'arte..., La princesse Turandot and, Le Tour du monde en 80 jours. She has performed throughout Québec and in France, Spain, and Mexico (2003 and 2007) with Le Carrousel in Petit Pierre, in which she played in French and in Spanish. She was also in Tout comme elle (2006) with Les Sibyllines directed by Brigitte Haentjens, and she is in Théâtre Ébouriffé’s new production, in collaboration with Le Carrousel, Des pieds et

des mains. Maude Desrosiers has always cultivated a special passion for teaching and voice work. Thus, she provided voice and diction supervision for the different productions of Théâtre Tout à Trac, of which she was an administrator for several years.

PHILIPPE ROBERT A 2006 graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada in performance, Philippe Robert has appeared in some twenty plays, including Top Dogs (Théâtre de la Marée Haute), Les Zurbains 2010 (Théâtre Le Clou), Cabaret au bazar (Théâtre Ébouriffé), La vie normale (Théâtre Prospero), and Tremblements de tête, a solo show that he wrote, directed, and performed. A founding member of Théâtre Tout à Trac, he was in a number of this company’s productions: Le tout pour la toux, L’Oiseau vert, Pinocchio, MÜNCHHAUSEN: Les machineries de l’imaginaire, and Alice au pays des merveilles, a show with which he has been touring Canada and the United States for seven years. More recently, he has played in Sherlock Holmes et le chien des Baskerville at Théâtre Advienne que pourra.

JOACHIM TANGUAY Joachim Tanguay navigates comfortably between classic and contemporary theatre. The same year, he played Valère in Le Médecin malgré lui at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde and premiered the role of Étienne in the eponymous play at Théâtre Bluff. The Académie québécoise du théâtre took note of his performance and chose him as a finalist in the “revelation of the year” category at the Gala des Masques. He was also in the cast of Révizor and played Clitandre in Les Femmes savantes, directed by Martin Faucher, at Théâtre Denise-Pelletier. He also acted in the adaptation of the novel La Peste (The Plague), directed by Mario Borges, and in a play by Yvan Bienvenu, La vie continue, au Théâtre Prospéro, and premiered the play Kick, by Étienne Lepage,

produced by Théâtre de la Marée Haute and directed by Michel-Maxime Legault, at Théâtre Aux Écuries. More recently, he has acted as assistant executive and artistic director of Théâtre Bluff, and has sat on the Conseil régional de la culture de Laval. He has been seen in the television series Watatow, Une grenade avec ça?, and Chabotte et fille, and in the movie De père en flic.

Show photographs: Marc-Antoine Zouéki.

Other photographs: Julie Artacho, Jérémie Battaglia et Marie-Ève Des Roches.

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CONTACTS

Booking: Fanny Oberti, Manager Booking and Development at Le Carrousel, theatre company. foberti@lecarrousel.net | 514 529-6309

Technical contact: Nicolas Fortin, Technical Director of the project nikolasfortin@hotmail.com | 514 266-7230

VIDEO LINK:

https://vimeo.com/187655421

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Convinced of the need for a true artistic encounter, Le Carrousel places at the core of its creative approach the question “What should we say to children?” and reflects deeply on artists’ self-censorship when dealing with young audiences. Supported by creative research that breaks through limits and boundaries, co-founders Suzanne Lebeau and Gervais Gaudreault used their passion to form a repertoire of original works that are considered, in Quebec and abroad, to be milestones in the history of theatre for young audiences. For more than 40 years, Le Carrousel has sought to tear down the walls between audiences and between practices, out of the conviction that theatre for children must also reach out to and even disturb adults. Today, Marie-Eve Huot defends this unique vision of childhood and art as she joins Gervais Gaudreault as the company’s co-artistic director. This handover is a window opening to the future and will secure a tradition to be transcended so that the story continues and evolves.

73 international tours | 26 premieres | 81 international festivals

4,500 performances | 1,000,000 audience members

Repertoire translated into 23 languages | More than 45 publications around the world

Le Carrousel and its team | Artistic Directors Gervais Gaudreault, Marie-Eve Huot | Associate Artist Suzanne Lebeau | Executive Director Ginette Prévost | Administrator Nathalie Ménard | Technical Director Dominique Gagnon | Manager, Outreach and Development Fanny Oberti | Communications and Tour logistics Ludger Côté | Administrative Secretary Marie Moiny

2017, Parthenais Street, Montreal, Quebec, H2K 3T1, Canada Phone number: (514) 529-6309 Fax: (514) 529-6952

Email: theatre@lecarrousel.net Web site: www.lecarrousel.net

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THEATROGRAPHY OF THÉÂTRE ÉBOURIFFÉ IN RESIDENCY AT LE CARROUSEL

2016 DES PIEDS ET DES MAINS by Martin Bellemare 2014 NŒUDS PAPILLON by Marie-Eve Huot 2012 UN CHÂTEAU SUR LE DOS by Martin Bellemare 2008 CABARET AU BAZAR by Martin Bellemare, Fabien Cloutier, Louis-Dominique Lavigne, Suzanne Lebeau,

Jean-Philippe Lehoux, Étienne Lepage, Marilyn Perreault, Philippe Robert, Michoue Sylvain et Lise Vaillancourt

THEATROGRAPHY OF LE CARROUSEL

De Suzanne Lebeau 2016 TROIS PETITES SŒURS 2014 CHAÎNE DE MONTAGE 2013 GRETEL AND HANSEL 2012 A MOON BETWEEN TWO HOUSES 2009 THE SOUND OF CRACKING BONES 2006 SHOES OF SAND 2002 PETIT PIERRE 1997 THE OGRELING 1994 SALVADOR 1993 TALES OF REAL CHILDREN 1991 A TALE OF DAY AND NIGHT 1989 COMMENT VIVRE PARMI LES HOMMES QUAND ON

EST UN GÉANT 1987 GIL, d’après Quand j’avais 5 ans je m’ai tué 1984 HOPSCOTCH 1982 LITTLE VICTORIES 1979 A MOON BETWEEN TWO HOUSES 1978 PETITE VILLE DEVIENDRA GRANDE 1977 LA CHANSON IMPROVISÉE CHUT! CHUT! PAS SI FORT! 1976 LE JARDIN QUI S’ANIME 1975 TI-JEAN VOUDRAIT BEN S’MARIER MAIS...

By Michèle Lemieux 2010 STORMY NIGHT

By Geneviève Billette 2005 THE LAND OF KNEES

By Dominick Pareauteau-Lebeuf 1999 L’AUTOROUTE

By Normand Chaurette 1996 PETIT NAVIRE

By Hélène Lasnier 1988 242M106

AWARDS

- Prix LOJIQ/RIDEAU Francophonie 2013 for Une lune entre deux maison; - Prix du Mérite technique, Institut canadien des technologies scénographiques, (2004) for Petit Pierre;

- Prix Collidram (France, 2010); Prix Sony Labou Tansi des Lycéens (France, 2009); Prix des Journées de Lyon des auteurs de théâtre (France 2007) and Distinction de la Comédie-Française (France, 2008); Le bruit des os qui craquent;

- Prix littéraire de la citoyenneté du département de Maine et Loire, (France, 2002); Salvador;

- Masque Award for original text and lighting design, Académie québécoise du Théâtre (2000); L'Ogrelet;

- The Assemblée internationale des parlementaires de langue française made Suzanne Lebeau a Knight of the Order of the Pleiades for her body of work (1998);

- Prix Francophonie Jeunesse (1994) (Radio France Internationale/Francophonies Théâtrales pour la Jeunesse); Salvador;

- Journal de Montréal’s Grand Prix de Théâtre (1991); Conte du jour et de la nuit;

- Chalmers Children's Play Award; Les Petits Pouvoirs/ Little Victories (1985).