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In the Eyes of Stone Dogs [2002] (Talonbooks, Vancouver, 2004)
The English translation was commissioned by Urjo Kareda for a workshop at Tarragon Theatre (Toronto), in collaboration with Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD), in November 1999. Première lecture Cette traduction a été présentée par le Tarragon Theatre, en coproduction avec le CEAD, le 10 décembre 1999, à Toronto. Traducteur(s) Linda Gaboriau (Auteur féminin) Nombre de personnages 9 Personnage(s), 4 Femme(s), 5 Homme(s), 9 Acteur(s) |  |
Original - Original en français par Daniel Danis sous le titre de Le langue-à-langue des chiens de roche [1998] (L'Arche Éditeur, Paris, 2001) 11.95$
- Conservatoire d'art dramatique de Montréal, 24 avril 1998; Théâtre Ouvert, octobre 1998; Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui, 10 janvier 2001
Résumé On the shores of the St. Lawrence River, some members of the strange community of islanders release a cry of love into the wind and the fog while others conjure up their despair and violence in "rage parties". This is a portrait of a marginal society where family, sex and death are interwoven in a disturbing and sensual melody.
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- Décor: PLACE
An imaginary island in the St. Lawrence River, subject to the cycle of the tides.
- Caractéristiques des personnages: CHARACTERS
DJOUKIE, 15 years old, métis, at the top of her class, but restless, rebellious. Brought up by her mother, Joelle, and her mother's closest friend, Goddess, Djoukie has reached the age where she needs to know who her father was. The play opens with her ultimatum to her mother. When her mother persists in her refusal to reveal the father's identity, Djoukie will run away.
JOELLE, 31 years old. Native Indian, but "exiled" from her (unidentified) tribe. Djoukie's mother. She loves her daughter "with her head" but she turned her heart to stone years ago. Towards the end of the play, after Djoukie has run away and been found, Joelle will reveal that she was gang-raped at age 15, found herself pregnant and was exiled.
GODDESS, 31 years old, Native Indian, Joelle's oldest friend. They were both victims of the gang-rape 16 years ago and expelled from the tribe. Goddess married an islander who owned a gas station (the Gaz-O-Tee-Pee), a kind man who loved her but died suddenly, leaving her the gas station, which Joelle now manages. Goddess has no head for business, she is all heart and body, sometimes she sees herself simply as "a fallow field waiting to be ploughed by men."
LEO SIMARD, 67 years old, father of Niki and Charles. A widower, a good man who wants to do right by his sons. He has adopted all the stray dogs on the island, turning their home into an improvised kennel for 246 dogs, 42 of which sleep every night in his bedroom. He says they are "the victims of time, in touch with the invisible."
CHARLES, 19 years old. Leo's oldest son. He has been released on probation after two years in a juvenile detention centre. In a skirmish with a drug dealer who sold him some dope and tried to steal it back, Charles and the dealer fell into the river. The dealer died and Charles was accused of "unpremeditated" murder. He spends his afternoons making sculptures of stones and driftwood, and watching the tides sweep them away.
NIKI, 15 years old. Leo's second son. Stunned by a meteorite as a child, he is what Rogers and Hammerstein called a cockeyed optimist, innocent and idealistic. He has fallen head over heels in love with Djoukie, whom he knows only from afar.
SIMON, 35 years old. Coyote brings him to the island. He has been dishonourably discharged from the army, after losing his mind while on a peacekeeping mission (in a country whose situation conjures up ex-Yugoslavia). He wants to be an upright citizen and has accepted the job of urban planner on the island. He must serve notice on Leo Simard for the unacceptable conditions in the kennel. He will fall deeply in love with Joelle. (And will finally succeed in cracking her heart of stone.)
MURIELLE, 17 years old. She longs to be somebody in the eyes of others, longs to meet the man who will make her a "real woman." She'd love to be Djoukie's friend, but Djoukie finds her too superficial. Murielle regularly threatens to commit suicide. She and Charles will meet, and sex will unexpectedly lead to love.
COYOTE, age and origin unknown. The most enigmatic character. A seemingly cold-blooded wheeler and dealer, he organizes Rage Parties down on the shore of the river, providing the aphrodisiac beverages that turn these parties into orgies where the ragers release their libidos (and their rage.) Goddess is madly in love with him, he seems to use her, yet at the end finally gives in to her desire to live together.
The characters' hair should be distinctive.
DOGS
TWO DOGS (male and female), watchdog-witnesses
REX, Joelle's dog
246 DOGS, in Leo's kennel
OTHER ISLAND DOGS
The representation of the dogs on stage seems necessary and significant, but their number and the nature of their presence (visual or physical, through smell or sound) are to be determined. The two watchdog-witnesses are, however, present before the audience enters and when the audience leaves.
Are dogs the albino witnesses of our lives? They sleep more than they live awake, are we figments of their dreams? Are they the guardians of Aesc
Extrait « DJOUKIE : Joelle, you hear that barking in the night. You think it's the dogs? You're wrong. […] It's right in the middle of the night, when the layers of darkness crush the roofs of the sleeping islanders, when the souls of dreamy people are bogged down and can't wander like they want. That's when they start to howl. What you hear is the dreamy souls barking 'cause they're pinned to this damn rocky earth. » Revue de presse "A skilful blend of lyricism and cruelty, of the tragic and
the poetic, of ‘terroir' and modernity."
Luc Boulanger, Voir, January 18, 2001
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Disponible à la librairie du CEAD
À L'AFFICHE DU CALENDRIER DES AUTEURS
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