Forty solitudes. Forty outstretched hands. Forty lives to amplify the voice of today’s Canada. A show that tackles all this, without speeches or placards, without rhetoric or empty phrases. To transcend the sum of each of us and celebrate what’s left of us. 

The secret is out: Mani Soleymanlou loves numbers. The repertoire of his company, Orange Noyée, is full of them. After presenting plays ranging from the solo Un to the podcast Probablement Onze—by way of Zero—he returns to Un. Deux. Trois., his great symphony of identity. 

Un was born of a question. Deux was born of an encounter. Trois was born of a wild idea: filling 40 empty chairs with performers from different backgrounds. Giving them free rein to orchestrate a choral, poignant and festive work. These committed and engaging voices have the power to build bridges across the widening gulfs, creating a collective intimacy that is more necessary than ever.

Will we be able to come together under the maple leaf flag?

The question is fraught. We’ll have to awaken our courage and tackle it head on. To revisit our heritage and question what we will pass on in our turn. To give resonance to a multi-accented language. To move forward together and find ourselves in a crowd, side by side, at the end of a global pandemic. To overcome clichés, so that strangers are no longer faceless, to fight radicalism and intolerance. To dream, to dare, to hope. Finally. 

After opening in Ottawa, the show will tour to eight other Canadian cities: Sudbury, Toronto, Montréal, Québec, Caraquet, Moncton, Vancouver and Winnipeg. 

With assistance from: NAC National Creation Fund, NAC Foundation, Jenepher Hooper Fund, Cole Foundation, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Canada Council for the Arts and Conseil des arts de Montréal