"Beast on the Moon" A Big Hit in Quebec City: Review
The Quebec City production of Beast on the Moon has begun, and critics are raving! Richard is delighted to share the first of several reviews of the production, as written by Catherine Genest of Voir. Read below for a rough English translation of her review, and click here to read it in its native French language:
Her name is Ariane Bellavance-Fafard , the Beu-Bye picked her up last December, she defends herself well in the comic register. It is undeniable, but it was discovered yesterday under a very different evening. It is she who carries this unspeakable drama on his shoulders, this text of Richard Kalionoski (Beast on the Moon) in the 1920s which traces the fate of two Armenian refugees in America.
In the role of Seta Tomasian, and a full-bodied score, the vibrant actress manages to communicate all the pain of this soul maimed by the war still fresh and a marriage very unhappy. Mustapha Aramis gives him the reply in this verbal joke to cringe, just embodying this older husband, pious and misogynist.
The duo they form is a formidable efficiency and we guess that the director Amélie Bergeron is for many. Cries are only used sparingly, maximizing the effect of angry anger by the impatient character. The main actress turns out to be particularly transcendent when it comes to taking the shots by shaking that doll against her heart, to shyly argue about that clear voice, possibly more acute than natural. She emphasizes the balance of power with this man who wants so much to shape her hand, to put her pregnant, to enslave her every desire. One feels it constantly torn between gratitude and mistrust, terribly sadly in this couple without any chemistry or tenderness.
Such a situation might seem unthinkable today, almost a century later. And yet! Unicef estimates that 31% of girls under 18 are already married. A percentage that includes all countries with the exception of China, statistics that date from November 2017. As disturbing as it is, the premise of Beast on the Moon is still current.
The show is punctuated by the comings and goings of Jack Robitaille , a great master who always captivates with his imposing presence. It is he who is narrator of this show already very successful, bringing in the same way a kind of hindsight or additional information to the scenes that are played in front of us. Faithful to reputation, to his habits, he gives in finesse, subtlety. A wide range of emotions unfolds in him without the need to force the note.
Really, it's all the distribution that amazes. We discover Rosalie Daoust , a young woman who is transformed for the occasion into pre-teen as bad-in-point as attaching, a boy from the street that Seta will take under his wing. The illusion is perfect, disconcerting. Enough to believe that the team of designers had found the rare pearl in a drama court of a versatile nearby ...
