Radio drama
“A journey north of the 55th parallel.”
Aalaapi | ᐋᓛᐱ—the title means “keeping quiet to hear something beautiful” in Inuktitut—is a plural work. It’s part radio documentary, consisting of the accounts of five young Inuit women talking about their daily lives between northern and southern Quebec, and part theatrical performance that invites contemplation, listening and connection.
We are invited to be silent. To let the voices, the confidences come. To listen.
Two friends, Nancy and Ulivia, share a cabin in a small village in Nunavik. On the local community radio, between PSAs, classic rock and jigs and reels, a documentary features the voices of other women talking—in French, English and Inuktitut—about their daily lives and their hopes. Images scroll across the house, which serves as a screen, accompanied by a soundscape of footsteps creaking on snow and the whistling of strong winds.
The idea for the Aalaapi | ᐋᓛᐱ project originated with Laurence Dauphinais, who directed the play, and Marie-Laurence Rancourt, who directed the radio documentary. Ms. Rancourt worked for eight months with Audrey, Samantha, Louisa, Mélodie and Akinisie, five students at Collège Montmorency in Laval, to gather the words needed to create the documentary. During the performance, other voices and other languages join with those of the young women to compose a sensitive portrait, punctuated by silences, of northern communities.
For the creation of the documentary, Audrey, Samantha, Louisa, Mélodie and Akinisie, five young women from Nunavik, agreed to tell their stories, to counter the sensationalism often present in media coverage of the peoples of the North. During their narrative, other voices and other words join those of these young women to compose a sensitive portrait, punctuated by silences, of Northern communities.
We are invited to listen in order to see better.
*Performed in English, French and Inuktitut with English and French surtitles