Nelligan : le chant du poète naufragé / André Gagnon-Michel Tremblay, March 2020

© Marc Hervieux / Nelligan / Jean-François Gratton, Shoot Studio / compagnie et cie 

Something wonderful happened this winter in Montreal’s Théâtre du Nouveau Monde : a brand new production of Nelligan. This version of an acclaimed opéra romantique by André Gagnon (music) and Michel Tremblay (libretto) directed by Normand Chouinard has a subtitle: Le chant du poète naufragé (The Song of a shipwrecked poet). After a triumphant run in Montreal the opera went on a tour of the province. I saw the show in Drummondville’s Maison des arts Desjardins, having travelled 300 miles and crossed a country border for that. Here is why.

The name of Émile Nelligan (1879-1941) is household in Québec, Nelligan schools, libraries and streets are everywhere. And yet his life is somehwat of a mystery which allowed the authors to create their own version of Nelligan’s myth, a dark and powerful story of poetry and linguistic identity standing up to pragmatism and opression.

André Gagnon's music is what brought me to Québec to see this production in the first place. Lucky for us, two brilliant audio recordings of the opera exist. And on stage the music of Nelligan reigns supreme, although in this version the symphonic power of an orchestra is replaced with the chamber intimacy of a piano/violoncelle tandem.   

The play is unmistakably Michel Tremblay’s, with a number of his recurring motifs such as francophone self-identification, a close relationship with mother, a complicated relationship with France as well as with Church, and an outcast artist protagonist (and possibly a gay according to a few hints). The play does not attempt to give an exhaustive answer to the question why Émile was institutionalized after all and yet it does that, and the answer is a poetic rather than an academic one. On stage there is no true madness, just depression and antisocial behaviour caused clearly by the lack of support and understanding from his oppressive Irish (anglophone) father. The Gagnon/Tremblay’s Émile ends up being committed not for his madness per sei, but for being a francophone poet and refusal to conform. As a member of the public, I wholeheartedly buy this, because of the artistic choices made in this production. Directing, casting and scenography all come together in a strong theatrical narrative.

The tragic energy created by the presence of two Émiles on stage (the young and the old one) is powerful. The two of them are desperately trying to reach out to each other – the Old Émile is trying in vain to warn his young self of the martyrdom ahead, and Young Émile is trying in vain to peer into his future. There is a continuous dialog between them – often unspoken, but sometimes they finish each other’s sentences and sometimes they recite the same texts and one can’t tell which Émile is actually singing. Sometimes they attempt a physical contact, like when they come towards each other with open arms only to miss each other (a very powerful image)... Occasionally the sparkle of recognition emerges (when Young Émile suddenly hears the hint “et je mourrai fou” – “and I will die mad”). The most poignant moment of the play for me was the final scene when the Old Émile who had lost everything, and most importantly - hope, the same Old Émile the asylum patient who couldn’t remember his most famous poem at the opening scene of the play, suddenly remembers it (and Marc Hervieux truly lets us SEE this moment) and the opera’s most hauntingly beautiful aria Le vaisseau d’or happens. Yes, you can commit a poet, but not Poetry.

Everything comes together with the right cast of course. The two Émiles are the fundamental reason for the opera's success. Marc Hervieux as the Old Émile proves his reputation as Québec’s eminent opera tenor, but what will stay in my memory after Nelligan are his eyes with a voiceless cry trapped inside, eyes of a person in whom poetry has died (or rather was killed). Truly, what a versatile artist. (Having seen his Zero Janvier in the operatic version of Starmania – all I can say is Bravo!). 

Dominique Côté as the Young Émile is the heart of the production and a true star, managing so brilliantly the contrasting requirements of his role – being fragile and resolute at the same time. His stage presence and commitment to his character are complete and incredibly satisfying to watch. 

Another marvel of the production is Kathleen Fortin, who inhabits Émilie (Émile’s mother) with uncanny truthfulness. One can't take one's eyes off her every move, every glance... Jean Maheux as le père Seers is also very good, as are the rest of the cast. And I would like to say hello to Jean-François Poulin (as Charles Gill), whom I was glad to see again as I hoped I would 9 years ago, when I first saw him in Les Filles de Caleb.

The scene design for this version of Nelligan cleverly uses elements of a religious hospital décor. This makes sense since the action takes place in the imagination of Émile Nelligan who is spending the last years of his life at the Saint-Jean-de-Dieu asylum. These elements are mixed up (the hospital beds are used to imply altar) and are skillfully used even in the scenes that do not actually take place in a chapel or in a hospital (the young bohemians’ party uses votive candles supplied by the nuns before the scene begins). etc. Nelligan's memories are trapped inside a mental institution, and so are we.

In sum, Théâtre du Nouveau Monde's Nelligan is beautiful and poignant message of love to the national poet, and also to Poetry, Imagination and Artistic Freedom - love that is so easy to understand no matter the language of the production.

Finally, having crossed a country border to see the show, I must say a few words of admiration for the Québec public. I love observing its complete commitment to the process of taking in the show and the most heartfelt ovation given after. There are other cultures where theatrical traditions are different, and as a foreigner I am not taking this for granted. Oh, Québec, I am a fan of your theater, but also of your public!