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SANCTUARY FOR SIMPLE SOULS
The Sanctuary for simple souls is a production directed and written by Mathilde Addy-Laird, co-artistic director of Motus. Intended for audiences aged 12 and up, this creation tells the philosophical quest of a teenage girl through the poetic interplay of puppetry, shadow theatre, illusion, and video.
The story
It’s autumn. Nighttime. The air is hot, unusually hot. It smells like burnt toast… or the end of the world, depending on how you see it. The sky glows orange, thick with smoke. Wildfires are sweeping across vast stretches of land.
11:30 p.m. Elle, a 16-and-three-quarters-year-old teenager, is wide awake. She’s anxious. Quietly, she slips out and heads to the nearby park… a neglected patch of greenery that seems devoid of any poetry… and yet…
Night after night, she trades her anxiety for this open-air refuge, a mysterious sanctuary that makes her feel better. But unlike previous nights, a strange figure appears: a kind of oracle from ancient times, who confronts her and asks her to leave their domain. She soon discovers that this non-binary character, more than just an outsider, lives in the heart of the park with an equally peculiar friend.
Through this encounter, the teen begins to see things differently, perceiving a reality she never knew existed. She quickly realizes that this unusual duo accompanies the souls of those who have left the world of the living and entered this park, which is in fact a magical sanctuary.
Through the stories of each of the dead, she embarks on a journey around the world and a philosophical, existential quest that opens up paths she never imagined. Her view of empathy and kindness transforms, nurturing a hope she thought was lost.
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Ideation, Direction, and Dramaturgy: Mathilde Addy-Laird
Performance and Puppetry: Igor Ovadis, Robine Kaseka, and Marie-Claude Labrecque
Assistant Directors: Danaëlle Ducharme-Massé and Laurence Mainville
Production Management: Danaëlle Ducharme-Massé
Technical Direction (Creation): Manuel Acevedo
Technical Direction (Tour): Valérie Bourque
Stage Management: Valérie Bourque and Chloé Rivest
Set and Costume Design: Sophie El-Assaad
Puppet Design: Marie-Claude Labrecque
Lighting Design: Valérie Bourque
Video Design: William V. Saumur
Music: Benoît Côté
Dramaturgical Conversations: Sasha Dion
Dramaturgical Consultation: Hélène Ducharme
Philosophical Consultation: Gilles Abel
Shadow Theatre Consultant: Marcelle Hudon
Set Construction Assistance: Zoé Roux, Productions Yves Nicol Inc., Jean-François Noël, Marie-Samuelle Hughes, Dara Bissonnette, and Maxime Labrecque
Costume Construction Assistance: Marie-Samuelle Hughes and Jez Yung
Puppet Costume Design and Construction: Marie-Philippe Comeau
Promotional Materials Design and Production: Maega Prod
We wish to thank the Cole Foundation for its invaluable support, without which this project would not have been possible! We would also like to acknowledge the generous contributions of Mathieu Jolicoeur, Caroline Tanguay, Cynthia Wu-Maheux, Audrée Southière, Sandrine Lemieux, Nathalie Vézina, Jean-Louis Lefebvre, Myriam Duplessis, Julien Larrivée, Normand Blais, Culture Montérégie, Rencontre Théâtre Ados, Parcours Cré’Ados, Côté Scène, and Théâtre de la Ville.
