Between Mario, her macho boyfriend, and François, the gay clerk at the neighbourhood 7-Eleven, Johanne tries to make sense of her life as a woman. Guilt-ridden by the disappearance of her 9-year-old son, she spends her days sewing and dreaming of a better life, until she can't stand it any longer...

« JOHANNE : […] I threw his bread and peanut butter in the garbage, he yelled that he was hungry, so yeah, you're right, I did probably say "so starve". I don't know, I don't know what I said but I took him, I threw him outside. I think I said "you're gonna stay there until your father gets home". And then I went back inside and locked the door, I LOCKED THE DOOR so he would never come back inside I SHUT MY CHILD OUTSIDE […]. »

"Boucher builds a perfectly plausible, deeply compassionate story. (...) This is one of the finest new plays to come out of Montreal's French-language theatre in the 25 years I've been seeing theatre. You must see Motel Hélène." Gaëtan Charlebois, Montreal Mirror, March 13, 1997.