À cause du soleil: Interconnected Stories
The Denise-Pelletier Theater presents À cause du soleil, a play inspired by Albert Camus’ The Stranger, from September 21st to October 15th.
Written by Evelyn De La Chenelière, winner of the Marcel-Dubé Award 2020 and Prix littéraires du Gouverneur général 2019– and directed by Florent Siaud, the play describes the story of Medi, an Algerian immigrant. Medi witnessed the death of his father in a trafficked car and has since been traumatized by it: every time he hears the sound of a horn, he is reminded of the events. One winter, during an especially terrible snowstorm, he thinks he hears a cry for help but keeps walking along, joining his girlfriend in a nearby bar. The next day, he learns that someone died alone, trapped by the storm. He feels guilty and compares himself to Meursault from The Stranger.
The story unfolds as we first learn of the breakup between Medi and his girlfriend because she cannot reconcile the Medi that she knew with the man who left an innocent woman to die alone. The story suddenly changes to that of Meursault’s–we see the events of the days leading up to his killing of the nameless Arab and the subsequent trial. The different characters of Meursault’s story are each presented through their specific monologues. There’s Marie, a woman who outwardly fits the stereotype of the “dumb blonde”, but who is actually very well-read. She chooses to maintain a smiley facade because she acknowledges that the people around her are all guilty, but we have to keep going despite our emotions. Her constant smile is a representation of that strict self-regulation. We also meet Raymond, Meursault’s neighbour who wanted the Arab dead because of a minor slight. Finally, the Arab explains how he was reduced to a nameless character, both defending and attacking Meursault. The scenes then alternate between Medi and Meursault, comparing their plights and backgrounds. Medi’s girlfriend is also presented and their rupture is a focus point as she left him alone, causing his trauma to flare up.
It was very interesting to learn about the secondary characters of The Stranger from a different perspective. Having read the novel in high school, we were both reminded of the story and were surprised to see the depth the new telling gave to the secondary characters. The alternating scenes really bring out both sides of the story and intertwine them nicely.
As the narratives are taking place, one recurring point is the weather and its effects on the characters.
For Meursault, he killed the nameless Arab because of the heat and “à cause du soleil” (because of the sun). For Medi, he ignored a cry in a snowstorm, surrounded by both the cold snow and the burning memories of his father’s death.
The scene is in constant evolution as rotating plaques spin and bring characters and props in and out on the scene. A voluminous iron cloud is first positioned on the stage and is lifted at the beginning of the play to reveal curtains hiding the entrance and exits of the characters. This is particularly well thought out given that in the scene where the nameless Arab is killed, Meursault and Medi are both standing in front of the curtain, describing the heat and the sun, and when the lights come back on, Meursault is revealed to have been replaced by the nameless Arab. Behind the curtains are also hidden car lights, representing either the death of Medi’s father or the death of the nameless old lady, lifeless in her car stuck under the snow.
Another effect is the projection of lights onto the foggy scene as the faces of either Meursault or Medi are shown during each of their “homicides”. Waves, scorching suns, and falling snow are projected to represent and refer back to the theme of meteorological phenomenons. Lights are also used in order to keep a mysterious atmosphere as the story develops. The sound of the car horn was also a symbol that helped link together the past and the present. For one, it represents the death of Medi’s father, but it also reminds the audience of Medi’s present guilt for not having gone back to the woman trapped in the car.
The costumes look great in both timelines all while maintaining their modern and antique effect, allowing the two stories to interconnect as the actors wear the same clothes in almost all scenes.
The six actors: Paul Ahmarani, Mustapha Aramis, Sabri Attalah, Maxim Gaudette, Evelyn Rompré, and Mounia Zahzam, were very expressive and particularly impressive by their versatility as they were able to represent characters in both timelines.
Overall, we both very much liked the representation and look forward to seeing more of the theatre’s works. Specifically, this show dealt well with the concepts of guilt and dehumanization of minorities, both important topics. Seeing Medi relive his past guilt was an important reminder of the importance of letting go. It was his inability to deal with past trauma that held him back from a more bright future with Camille, his girlfriend. It was also incredibly interesting to see the idea of identity, whether it’s only a facade (in Marie’s case), or whether it’s completely ignored by the rest of society as the portrayal of the nameless Arab highlights our tendency to neglect the humanity of other people. For these reasons, we found this play to be captivating and topical. We highly recommend anyone interested in theatre to buy tickets for À cause du soleil!
Finally, we want to thank the Denise Pelletier theatre for offering us tickets to the representation.
I am the Editor of the Arts and Culture department, but also a second year student in the Honours Health science program. 🙂
