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Unemployed,
but earnest, Simon Labrosse invites the public to witness
a few scenes from his life. His friends, Leo, the dark poet,
and Nathalie, the personal development fanatic, do the best
they can in their various supporting roles, while Simon shares
his countless infallible plans for what he terms his reinsertion
into public life.
BeMe Theatre first became attracted to this piece due to its
dramatization of the moral and material distress of solitary
individuals living in a world fi lled with social injustice,
poverty, and political violence; love offers the possibility
or the illusion of giving meaning to life.
Experimenting with a playful postmodern structure in Seven
Days in the Life of Simon Labrosse, BeMe will stage the
unsuccessful attempt of the young man, Simon, to fi nd meaningful
work in a society that dehumanizes individuals. The play is
ripe with political criticism, criticism of a political system
that exists not only in Quebec, but in the western world as
we know it today.
Simon‘s creativity, pro-activity, vulnerability, and
repeated failures demonstrate for us the daily situation of
an individual who has already tried everything to attain employment
and basic life essentials.
Workless for quite some time, surrounded by rising unemployment
and mortgage rates, Simon Labrosse gets an idea to aide him
in his quest to be a participant once again in society: he
will offer innovative, original services. Simon manages to
recognize the needs and secret wishes of
his potential clients. Although he guesses what these are
with great accuracy, he perhaps goes too far with what he
offers...
On
the fi rst day, he attempts to provide the service of Emotional
Stuntman to no avail. On the second day, he is a young woman‘s
Personal Audience which also ends up in disaster.
His failure as Finisher of Sentences, Ego Enhancer, and Conscience
Cleaner continues tragically for Simon as well as for his
chosen clients.
He desperately tries to fi nd his place in society and struggles
feverishly and derisively against the system that is smothering
him. A tightrope walker of modern times, he is engaged in
a constant balancing act between the comic nature of his existence
and the tragic tone of his immense solitude.
At the end of the play, on the seventh day, Simon rests. But
his confidence never wavers. As Simon himself says: When a
guy‘s got nothing else, he‘s still got his life.
I mean, he can always tell the story of his life... “Simon
Labrosse, Emptiness Eradicator.“
Nominated for the Governor General’s Award Canada.
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Reviews
...a
hilarious comedy that veers from slapstick to droll. But there
is another play operating simultaneously with this comedy.
It is a play about the battle of creative minds to conquer
despair, not to mention the negative consequences of global
economics.
- Paul Gessel, The Ottawa Citizen
Das glänzend gebaute Stück bietet ein beklemmendes,
verzerrtes Spiegelbild unserer Welt und Regisseurin Katrin
Schurich half dem Darstellertrio es in einem Furioso zu präsentieren.
- Wiener Zeitung
...eine
federleicht verrückte Paraphrase der Schöpfungsgeschichte
...
- F.A.Z.
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