Molly Bloom at the NAC French Theatre
September 11, 2014 – The NAC’s Théâtre français is pleased to welcome Molly Bloom, a play lauded by Montreal critics last spring. The famous monologue that marks the conclusion of James Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses is presented in a translation by Jean Marc Dalpé, with staging by Brigitte Haentjens. Alone onstage, Anne-Marie Cadieux is Molly Bloom. In a performance space that leaves room for the imagination, the actress employs raw, frank language as she explores the confines of femininity. Sensual and incisive, the performance will be presented at the NAC Théâtre from September 24 to 27, 2014 at 7:30 p.m.
Unable to sleep, Molly plunges into the rushing flood of her thoughts and ideas, a commingling of confidential secrets and erotic desires. She reflects on her day (spent with her lover Boylan), her husband, comments on love, her body, her beauty, her career as an opera singer, her childhood in Gibraltar, her children, her excited “yes” to the proposal of marriage from Leopold 16 years earlier.
Brigitte Haentjens and Anne-Marie Cadieux, who have worked together on some fifteen theatre projects, are reunited here to give voice to Molly Bloom, wife, mother and lover, a woman very much ahead of her times. Ever since its publication in 1922 Ulysses has generated controversy, and until 1931 was banned as an obscene novel in the U.S. Molly’s monologue is without doubt one of the most extraordinary literary incursions made by a man into the secret gardens of femininity. Her speech bursts forth like an uninterrupted, uncontrolled gush of words in service to a mind that is free, feminine, intimate and also universal.
Based on the novel Ulysses by James Joyce // translated by: Jean Marc Dalpé // directed by: Brigitte Haentjens // starring: Anne-Marie Cadieux // assistant director: Colette Drouin // dramaturge: Mélanie Dumont // set design: Anick La Bissonnière // lighting: Etienne Boucher // music: Bernard Falaise // video: Sylvio Arriola // costumes: Julie Charland // hair and makeup: Angelo Barsetti // artist in “action painting”: Danielle Chapleau // stage manager: Dominique Cuerrier // sound: Frédéric Auger // technical director: Jean-François Landry // production manager: Sébastien Béland // co-produced by: Espace Go and Sibyllines // with the collaboration of: NAC’s Théâtre français
Duration: 80 minutes
What the Critics Say
“Anne-Marie Cadieux finds the precise tone for this Molly, giving her with a sometimes disconcerting naturalness all the naive superficiality and self-centredness that the literary figure needs to truly thrive.”
Fabien Deglise, Le Devoir
“Brigitte Haentjens’ directing is first and foremost highly visual, although there is of course excellent acting as well. Indeed, after the première Anne-Marie Cadieux received a standing ovation.”
Jean Siag, La Presse
“One can find no better tribute to women than Molly Bloom, in inspired staging by Brigitte Haentjens. Words twirl and swirl, finding in the voice of Anne-Marie Cadieux the perfect showcase.”
Philippe Couture, Voir
Invitation
The NAC’s Théâtre français invites you to meet Brigitte Haentjens during the launch of her book “Un regard qui te fracasse : propos sur le théâtre et la mise en scène” on Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 5 p.m. in the NAC Salon.
An interview with the author by Sylvain Schryburt (professor at the University of Ottawa’s Theatre Department) will be followed by a book signing. The NAC bookstore will have a sales kiosk on site.
RSVP before September 23, 2014
François Demers 613.947.7000 ext. 396 or
For questions about the book, please contact Gabrielle Cauchy, press attachée, at 514.336.3941, ext. 229