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Chinese Portrait of an Impostor [2008] in FORSYTH, Louise H., Anthology of Québec Women's Plays in English Translation, Volume III (1997-2009), Playwrights Canada Press, 2010
Traducteur(s) Crystal Béliveau (Auteur féminin) Nombre de personnages 6 Personnage(s), 5 Femme(s), 1 Homme(s), 6 Acteur(s) Particularités distribution 5 W, 1 M and 1 woman's voice |  |
Original - Original en français par Dominick Parenteau-Lebeuf sous le titre de Portrait chinois d'une imposteure [2003] Lansman, 2003 ; 15,95$ ; également disponible : Retrato chino de une impostora, traduction en espagnol (Mexique) par Violeta Sarmiento Marabotto
- Production du Théâtre français de Toronto en collaboration avec le Théâtre français du Centre national des arts (Ottawa), 4 février 2004
- Ce texte a été présenté en lecture publique par le CEAD, le 5 décembre 2003.
Résumé The day of her play opening, Candice de Lafontaine-Rotonde appears as a guest on the TV show Chinese Portrait of An Artist. While the playwright is caught between the relentless host and her own inner demons, her characters take the stage and the play unfolds before our eyes. A world where reality meets fiction and the nasty voices of an interior mythology come to the fore. In this black comedy— an infernal romp of sorts—imposture will serve as the inspiration for a gratifying act
of revenge.
Plus d'informations »
- Décor: DECOR
The dressing room is simply a chair; the public is the mirror.
The set of the TV show is furnished with an armchair for the host, a couch for the guest
and a small table.
The office of Window to the Soul Publishing is a closed room (the playwright's head)
with two windows (her eyes); inside there are three chairs, the crematorium and the giant
jar.
Under the floor is where Urania, Calliope, Thalia and Polyhymnia are held captive (a
space that is evoked, suggested).
PLAYWRIGHT'S NOTES
1. A Chinese Portrait is a series of questions beginning with “If you were” followed by
answers beginning with “I would be.” A simplified version of the Proust
questionnaire.
2. The mask that Candice/The Surprise Visitor is wearing in the play is inspired by the
summer and fall characters in Giuseppe Arcimboldo's paintings The Seasons.
3. The seizures are states of anxiety, neurotic memories, lucid escapes that transform the
world into a raw and abrasive place.
4. The excerpt of The Three Sisters that Nil reads at the end of Act 2 (Welcome to
Window to the Soul Publishing) is from Vershinin's tirade in Act 3.
5. The Pear of Anguish used by The Surprise Visitor in Scene 8 (Torture) is an
instrument of torture, an iron gag device shaped like a pear which is forced into the
mouth and expanded to the maximum aperture; it can be replaced by a fist shoved in
the mouth.
6. The Vox maternalis can be played by the makeup artist or by a different actor or
actress entirely.
- Caractéristiques des personnages: CHARACTERS
THE MAKEUP ARTIST
An older man in his fifties (at least)
CANDICE DE LAFONTAINE-ROTONDE (THE SURPRISE VISITOR)
A playwright in her early thirties
INÈS LUSINE
The host of Chinese Portrait of an Artist, 40 years old
DORIS
Eldest sister of Milli and Nil, ageless; the perfectionist
MILLI
Middle sister, ageless; the angst-ridden one
NIL
Youngest sister, ageless; the doubter
VOICES
VOX MATERNALIS
The voice of Claudette, Candice's mother
THE FOUR SISTERS
The voices of Urania, Calliope, Thalia and Polyhymnia, the four sisters trapped
under the floor (they can be represented by puppets, shadows or some other
device)
Extrait « INÈS: [...] And if you were the person who sparked your interest in writing? / CANDICE: I would be God because… because I feel like I was born with the spark. / INÈS: “Born with the spark!” And yet, if I'm not mistaken, you haven't written all that much. I have a few notes on you, and you aren't what one would call a writer tapping into divine inspiration. I mean, if God sparked your interest in the uterus, I think we'd know about it. I jest, but you see where I'm going with this. / CANDICE: God is just a manner of speaking. It's that, when I was young… / INÈS: What? Your mother? / CANDICE: No, no, it has nothing to do with— / INÈS: Are you sure? / CANDICE: It's my relationship with words. / INÈS: It's always about the mother, Candice. / Seizure. Spotlight on Candice, who is writing. »
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