P.O.R.N. (Portrait of Restless Narcissism)
Two maverick freethinkers present Theatre 2.0 for a mature audience, where the intoxicating dark corners of the Net become fascinating, unsettling eye candy.
A window appears on a screen, a Web landscape, a peek into shadowy nightlife. The digital avatars of Christian Lapointe and Nadia Ross hook up, live. Their words soon become bargaining chips. Webcamming, chatting, browsing, sexting. Theatre 2.0 for an adult audience where the intoxicating dark corners of the Net become eye candy for the spectator, fascinating yet unsettling.
Digital networks and interfaces proliferate in the modern world, the click-click-clicks announcing our insatiable lusts and desires, turning inter-personal relations into human transactions. With each connection, each signal sent, the siren song of Web pornography gains ground. In P.O.R.N., two maverick freethinkers of the theatre set this machine of desire into motion, seeking a way out. What hope of consolation is there for our individual solitudes? A plunge into the hidden realities of the age of Narcissus, and the calamitous promise of his reflection.
Produced by Carte blanche + STO Union
Conceived, written, directed and performed by Christian Lapointe + Nadia Ross
Videography Lionel Arnould
Set Design Geneviève Lizotte
Lighting Design Steve Lucas
Assistant Director and Stage Manager Emanuelle Kirouac-Sanche
Technical Director on Tour and Sound Gabriel Filiatreault
Technical Director Mickaël Tétrault-Ménard
Production and Technical Assistant Robert Scott
Photography and Video David Irvine
Production Manager Emilie Martel
Producer and Tour Manager Shauna Kadyschuk
Carte blanche Administrative Coordinator Isabelle Tougne
Technical Director (Phase 1 Development) Matéo Thébaudeau
Translated by Christine Fournier
Co-Produced by Festival TransAmériques + Theater der Welt 2020 (Düsseldorf) + HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin) + BIT Teatergarasjen (Bergen)
Developed with support of National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund (Ottawa) + Ville de Québec
Presented in association with Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui
Written by Myriam Perraton-Lambert
Translated by Neil Kroetsch
Premiered at Theater der Welt, Düsseldorf, on May 18, 2020
Christian Lapointe (Quebec City)
Carte blanche
The artistic director of Carte blanche Christian Lapointe has been making artistic and pedagogical mischief for the past two decades in works that combine research and action, reflection and creation.
Nadia Ross (Wakefield)
Carte blanche
The founder and artistic director of STO Union, Nadia Ross has continuously explored the thresholds of the theatre event.