This is the story of Marjolaine, who as a child dreamed of the future, and on waking loved to paint pictures of the faces of the people she would soon meet or the places she would soon visit. But when an event she dreamed about materializes on her street corner, Marjolaine doesn’t want to see the future anymore. A few days after this incident, she wakes up with a strange illness that no Canadian doctor seems able to cure. Marjolaine and her mother are forced to seek help in Haiti from Manman la mer, Marjolaine’s grandmother, known for her mysterious and mystical medical practices. But there’s nothing magical or mystical about Manman la mer—she’s just a normal grandmother ... well .... almost normal ...

Blending languages and codes, Manman la mer is a modern story told in French to the rhythm of a traditional Haitian tale.

Actor and writer Djennie Laguerre is a graduate of the University of Ottawa Theatre Department and the Stella Adler Acting Conservatory in New York. She has appeared in Espoir/Espwa (which she co-wrote), Le Malade imaginaire, Les Zinspirés 1 et 3D (shortlisted at the 2012 and 2014 Dora Awards for best individual performance and best group performance), and Contes urbains, contes torontois,and toured for three years with the children’s play Grimm Grimm. She was also hailed for her performances in English in Seventeen Anonymous Women (Infinitheatre, 2007) in Montreal, The Rez Sisters (Factory Theatre, 2012) and Flashpoint (CTV, 2011). Finally, her storytelling show La Tradition orale won the Coup de cœur francophone at the Francophonie en Fête festival. Young viewers will recognize her as Madame Bonheur on the daily TFO children’s show of the same name.