SOIFS Matériaux

An event. An elemental novel by the great Marie-Claire Blais, more than 25 actors and musicians. Shifting between the infinitely intimate and the pressing social issues of our times, this Quebec theatre piece directed by Denis Marleau and Stéphanie Jasmin is a far-reaching, momentous work.

Both sumptuous and torrential, SOIFS Matériaux unfolds like a vast fresco where the destinies of characters of diverse origins, generations and social backgrounds are intertwined in this portrayal of the injustices, hopes and utopias of America. During the course of a party on a Caribbean island that lasts three days and three nights, people interact with each other, love one another and are born and die, bound together by a shared thirst. A thirst for the absolute, for love, justice, for another or for being another. Their voices merge together in a prodigious orchestration, like a musical score whose unflagging aria flips from shouts and cries to secret thoughts, from the most appalling violence to moments of exquisite grace. Welcome to America.

Produced by UBU compagnie de création
Written by Marie-Claire Blais
Adapted by Denis Marleau from the novels Soifs (1995) + Des chants pour Angel (2017) + Une réunion près de la mer (2018), Les Éditions du Boréal
Directed by Stéphanie Jasmin + Denis Marleau
Performed by Florence Blain Mbaye + Jean-François Blanchard + Anne-Marie Cadieux + Sophie Cadieux + Lyndz Dantiste + Sébastien Dodge + Alice Dorval + Lucien Gittes + Fayolle Jean + Fayolle jr Jean + Yousef Kadoura + Luca Lebrun + Stephie Mazunya + Antoine Nicolas + Christiane Pasquier + Mina Petrous + Marcel Pomerlo + Dominique Quesnel + Mattis Savard-Verhoeven + Emmanuel Schwartz + Monique Spaziani
Musicians Philippe Brault + Jérôme Minière + Quatuor Bozzini (Isabelle Bozzini + Stéphanie Bozzini + Alissa Cheung + Clemens Merkel)
Set and Video Design Stéphanie Jasmin
Music Director Philippe Brault
Composers Philippe Brault + Jérôme Minière
Costume Design Elen Ewing
Lighting Design Marc Parent
Video Editing and Projection Pierre Laniel
Sound Design Joël Lavoie
Movement Coach Virginie Brunelle
Make-up and Hair Julie Bégin
Diction Marie-Claude Lefebvre
Assistant Director Carol-Anne Bourgon Sicard
Costume Assistant Pascale Bassani
Lighting Design Assistant Lee Anholt
Make-Up and Hair Assistant Marie Chinda Sok
Sound and Wireless Mic Technician François Thibault
Dresser Nicole Langlois
Stage Manager Mylène Caya
Reading Committee Gabrielle Couillard + Sophie Tremblay-Devirieux + Gabriel Rémy-Handfield
Technical Director Simon Beetschen
Production Manager Sylvain Béland
Assistants and Stage Managers (Graduates in production from École Nationale de théâtre du Canada)
Set Design Marine Plasse
Video Florence Blais-Thivierge
Sound Renaud Dionne
Lighting Delphine Rochefort-Boulanger
Costumes and Dressers Jeanne Dupré + Claudie Landry
Technical Director and Stage manager Sophie Bergeron

Co-produced by Festival TransAmériques + ESPACE GO in partnership with École nationale de théâtre du Canada
Developed with the support of Nouveau Chapitre + Fonds national de création du CNA

Presented in association with Théâtre ESPACE GO

Written by Paul Lefebvre
Translated by Neil Kroetsch

Project funded through

Premiered at Festival TransAmériques, Montreal, on May 31, 2019