Petite Sorcière
Solo (Ages 5 to 12)
https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/19033
Modern-day fable for cat in pastry and super-cunning witches One script = two shows! That’s the crazy equation the intrepid Nini Bélanger and Pascal Brullemans have dared to attempt. Here’s the one-person version, for ages 5 and up, with clever visual and sound effects and an ebullient actress playing all the parts. (How on earth does she play the ogre?) Then there’s the 4D version, for ages 9 and up, with four high-spirited performers, cats on plasma...
Azrieli Studio,1 Elgin Street,Ottawa,Canada
“A captivating mix of intrigue and shivers, this tale draws on the roots of Perrault and Grimm to imagine modern-day witches, bold and stubborn, just the way we like them. Bonus: Nini Bélanger has doubled the recipe—two shows from the same script!”
- Français
- ≈ 45 minutes · No intermission
Modern-day fable for cat in pastry and super-cunning witches
One script = two shows! That’s the crazy equation the intrepid Nini Bélanger and Pascal Brullemans have dared to attempt. Here’s the one-person version, for ages 5 and up, with clever visual and sound effects and an ebullient actress playing all the parts. (How on earth does she play the ogre?)
Then there’s the 4D version, for ages 9 and up, with four high-spirited performers, cats on plasma screens, and lots of plot twists.
In both cases, the story is the same: Little Witch loses her mother, and a greedy ogre promises to watch over her … until one day the pact is broken. A celebration of cunning and resilience, this theatrical adventure has all the hallmarks of a young audience classic. Wouldn’t it be great to see both versions?
Press clipping excerpts
“Tackling the theme of self-determination, the story adopts the codes of suspense. After she is abandoned by Grande Sorcière, will Petite Sorcière ‘become an ogress when she lives with the ogre? She’ll have to choose for herself.’ In the show’s dramatic construction, Nini Bélanger focuses on children’s need to vanquish their monsters, through a story ‘filled with nuance, where nothing is all black or all white.’”
Monthéâtre.ca, November 9, 2017, Olivier Dumas (Transl.)
“On a stripped-down set depicting Petite Sorcière’s room, Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez, in the short version, demonstrates a real talent for storytelling. Changing characters by simply modulating her voice (or the microphone), she knows how to keep her audience in suspense. Powerful and beautiful images emerge, and we let ourselves be drawn into the story while our imagination does the rest. Mathieu Doyon’s delicate soundscape creates a warm and poetic atmosphere as it subtly suggests the changes in location.”
Jeu magazine, November 17, 2017, Michelle Chanonat (Transl.)
Moving forward on the fine line between age groups
A conversation with Nini Bélanger
When did it become clear to you that you were going to create two shows from the same text? And what was the motivation, the desire, behind this choice?
With Vipérine, a children’s show we toured for six years, we discovered something I found fascinating: we could reach out to both young audiences (ages 7–9) and teens (ages 13–15). Depending on the age of the spectators, the actress who played the 10-year-old girl adapted her performance, making it candid or preadolescent.
With Petite Sorcière, I wanted to push that experience farther. In my practice, I had never created a show for very young children (ages 5–6). The main storyline of Petite Sorcière is a pretty cruel tale. Could we present that to little ones? How? The two shows are born of those questions, with the desire to respect the audience, to trust them, to share a story with a universal message, from which everyone, depending on their level of maturity, can take what they need. That’s why I create theatre.
Read more on PDF below
- With Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez
- Assistant Director Chloé Ekker
- Sets and Props Patrice Charbonneau-Brunelle
- Lighting David-Alexandre Chabot
- Sound lefutur
- Costumes Marilène Bastien
- Production Director Maude St-Pierre
- Technical Director Jérémi Guilbault-Asselin
- Produced by Projet MÛ