(Instructions to Any Future Socialist Government Wishing to Abolish Christmas)
December 9 to 12 at 8 p.m.

Additional performance: December 13 at 2 p.m.
Performed in French

“Michael Mackenzie does not condemn the model of high finance that is his subject.
He addresses dehumanization, individualization, and the depository of individual and social values,
but he never condemns.”

Marc Beaupré, director

In fall 2014, a year after its triumphant premiere at Montreal’s Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, this gripping dramatic thriller by Michael Mackenzie, in a French translation by Alexis Martin and directed by Marc Beaupré, began touring to a score of communities across Quebec … with a final stop in Ottawa!

Appearing on the NAC Studio stage are two hugely talented actors a generation apart: Sophie Desmarais, who played Lady Anne in Brigitte Haentjens’ recent production of Richard III, and Luc Picard, who returned to the stage in 2013 after a five-year hiatus to appear in the premiere of Mackenzie’s play.

December 9 to 12 at 8 p.m.
Additional performance: December 13 at 2 p.m.
NAC Studio
Written by Michael Mackenzie
Translated by Alexis Martin
Directed by Marc Beaupré
With Sophie Desmarais and Luc Picard

Assistant director: Julien Veronneau / Sets: Simon Guilbault / Costumes: Marc Senécal / Lighting: Eric Champoux / Original score: Alexander MacSween / Video: Steve Lalonde / Makeup: Suzanne Trépanier / Lead stagehand, original production: Eric‑William Quinn / Stage manager: Jean Gaudreau / Technical director, original production: Victor Lamontagne / Touring crew: Victor Lamontagne, Éric Le Brec’h, Marie‑Christine Martel and Alexandra Sutto

An immense, profound and complex machine
In September 2008, the U.S. Treasury Secretary met with President George W. Bush and other influential politicians to inform them that unless they spent $100 billion “immediately,” the global economy would collapse. Think about it: spending $100 billion just like that! What could you buy with $100 billion? A country, maybe—except they’re not supposed to be for sale. Incredible as it may seem, the geniuses of the financial world managed to find a way to extract that mind-boggling sum from the public pocket in no time, with no trouble.

The 2008 stock market crash is just hours away, and the markets are on the verge of collapse. As the seconds tick by, Jason, a hedge fund manager, grapples with the implications of the looming economic meltdown. In the midst of the chaos, his assistant Cass unexpectedly returns from an enforced sabbatical, and Jason’s office becomes the scene of a clash of Titans made all the more dramatic by some past history that inevitably comes to light.

In this edgy two-hander by Montreal-based playwright and filmmaker Michael Mackenzie (who wrote and directed the feature films The Baroness and the Pig and Adam’s Wall), emotions, numbers and words collide in a frantic yet controlled rhythm, impeccably captured in Alexis Martin’s translation. Beneath the surface of this breathtaking thriller about the death throes of a world in free fall, Mackenzie brilliantly evokes the ancient Greek tradition of the Oracle at Delphi, whose prophecies often foretold tragic events.

Against the backdrop of Simon Guilbault’s streamlined set, Luc Picard and Sophie Desmarais deliver incandescent performances as two characters locked in volcanic battle. Steering well clear of simplistic anticapitalist invective, Marc Beaupré’s meticulous direction gives this venture into the world of high finance an anthropological overtone.

“This play by Michael Mackenzie, whose genius has been unknown to Quebec francophones for far too long, … is a bold venture that requires a deft directorial touch. Marc Beaupré, along with outstanding actors Luc Picard and Sophie Desmarais, brings all his intelligence and talent to this breathtaking story of finance and ruin.” (translation)
— Philippe Couture, Voir

“This confrontation is perfectly captured by Alexis Martin’s punchy Québécois translation, and by Marc Beaupré’s direction, which sustains the tension of the lacerating script…. Simon Guilbault’s elegant, restrained set gives the actors lots of room to shine.” (translation)
— Marie Labrecque, Le Devoir

“Mackenzie could have written a pedantic pamphlet, a didactic work about the evils of unfettered capitalism. Instead, he has crafted a clever and captivating thriller (Alexis Martin’s translation is perfect).” (translation)
— Luc Boulanger, La Presse

“An absolutely dazzling pair of actors! …You can’t take your eyes off them for a second, you’re so fascinated by their talent, by the chemistry between them…. A very powerful play!” (translation)
— Stéphane Leclair, ICI Radio-Canada Première

TICKETS
Adults $ 43 / Students $ 23.50 / Live Rush $ 15

NAC Box office
53 Elgin St / Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

Ticketmaster.ca
1 888 991-2787 

Groupes Sales
Save 15 to 20 %
613.947.7000 x384 / grp@nac-cna.ca

INFORMATION

Annick Huard
Marketing Officer, French Theatre
Tel.: 613‑947‑7000 x358 / Toll-free: 1‑866‑850‑2787 x358
annick.huard @cna-nac.ca / www.facebook.com/TFduCNA