Global sampling

>> Puppets, girls!, critics and Lepage at the ninth Festival de Théâtre des Amériques

by AMY BARRATT

Not to be confused with that thing that got everybody so excited in Quebec City recently, the FTA--Festival de Théâtre des Amériques-- gets underway tonight. Between now and June 10, 18 shows in French, English and Spanish will take to the boards in nine different venues around the city.

The first couple of editions of the biennial festival stuck to representing theatre from the Americas, but the FTA soon incorporated interesting theatre from all over the globe. This year, however, the FTA appears to be turning in on itself. Eleven shows are in French this year, five in English, a single Argentine entry is performed in Spanish, and there is one wordless show, hailing from Quebec. The total number of countries participating is six, provided you count Quebec as a country, as the FTA organizers do.

This is funny because last year international shows (House/Lights, Iets op Bach, Maquina Hamlet) generally outshone the closer-to-home ones. Is it possible that the quality of Québécois productions has risen so markedly in two years as to merit devoting fully half the programming to them? The next two weeks will tell.

Critical mass

FTA coverage began with a controversy early last month when a press conference with Robert Lepage was cancelled because Lepage dislikes certain Montreal critics. So far there's been no talk of him barring journalists from the opening of his La Face cachée de la lune, which closes the festival June 7-10. Should anything of the sort happen, there'll be no shortage of shoulders to cry on as the 20th Congress of the International Association of Theatre Critics takes place in town during the FTA. Organizers are promising (threatening?) a turnout of 100 critics from 40 countries, so if the general level of crotchetiness in the air seems elevated between May 29 and June 3, you'll know why.

On the bill

Here's a sampling of the productions my fellow scribes may be checking out.

France's Théâtre du Soleil, under acclaimed director and activist Ariane Mnouchkine, goes Chinese in Tambours sur la digue. Those life-size puppets manipulated by shadowy handlers are actually actors who recount a story set in imperial China penned by Hélène Cixous. This is a lavish affair, playing over two weeks in--are you ready for it?--the Lachine Arena. Also, it's three and a half hours long and tickets cost $50 each. For the serious theatregoer. May 24-27 and May 30-June 3 at 7:30 p.m., except Sundays, 2 p.m. matinee.

Belgium's Groupov presents Rwanda 94, a five-hour multimedia event about ethnic violence and genocide in the African country. In the relative intimacy of Usine C, this show employs a musical score, documentary theatre, traditional Rwandan chants, TV images and even comedy to convey the horror of the genocide. At press time, some members of the cast were still having trouble getting into the country due to visa problems. Check with the box office for updates. June 1-2 at 7 p.m., June 3 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $30.

The two "Rest of Canada" productions at the festival this year are Urban Tattoo, a one-woman play by B.C.'s Urban Ink Productions, and Recent Experiences, from Toronto's STO Union & Candid Stammer, written by Jacob Wren and Nadia Ross. Urban Tattoo, written and performed by Marie Clements, blends traditional storytelling with multimedia elements to tell the true story a young Native woman who heads to the big city full of dreams. May 25-27 at 8 p.m., and May 26 at 2 p.m. at Théâtre la Chapelle. Recent Experiences purports to cover the entire 20th century in one hour and 15 minutes. Two of the more affordably priced festival offerings at $22.

Finally, I highly recommend girls! girls! girls!, which is a local English-language production in the unprecedented position of having been picked up from last year's Fringe festival. Director Peter Hinton received a MECCA for his work, even though it was stuck in a nasty little space on the Main. This time around it's in the Théâtre du Maurier of the Monument-National, where sight-lines should be no problem. Playwright Greg MacArthur creates a unique dialect, halfway between innocent and obscene, for his teenage characters. The local cast, like Hinton's direction, should look even better given a better setting. May 29-June 1 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20.

Festival de Théâtre des Amériques, May 24 to June 10; reservations and information 871-2224