by AMY BARRATT

Lately, hardly a day goes by without someone commenting that language tensions in Quebec have died down or disappeared completely - this is a sure sign that they will be flaring up sometime soon. I was excited to hear about Yvan Bienvenue's new play Bill 101, which opened last week. Finally, I thought, someone from within the francophone community is going to satirize the Quebec obsession with language legislation. It seemed kind of daring for this Urbi et Orbi production to go after such sacred cows as the Office de la langue française and the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste.

Bill 101, which runs until June 19 at Espace Libre, takes place in the adjoining offices of the fictional Police de la langue française and the Regroupement des eugénistes francophiles. Philippe, a young documentary filmmaker, has responded to an offer of one week's work posted outside the building. He doesn't know what kind of work they do in these bureaux, he only knows he needs some cash or he'll lose his camera.

Coincidentally, Philippe is working on a film project that involves interviewing Quebec writers (he hopes to get 101 of them) about the language laws and the survival of the French language. So far, Philippe has done extensive interviews with only one writer, playwright Yvan Bienvenue. Thus is set up the most un-funny in-joke of the season. Under the pretence that the language cops are screening Philippe's work to see if it toes the party line, we are shown long, long talking head segments of Bienvenue musing about language and politics. The Garth Drabinsky-esque wig he wears, perhaps to suggest that he is stuck in the '70s, is funny for about two seconds. The interview segments are not only boring in their own right, but they bring the drama, such as it is, to a crashing halt.

It all smacks of laziness on Bienvenue's part. He had points he wanted to make, but rather than make them through the style of storytelling he's best known for - as a playwright and founder of Contes urbains, an annual evening of stories for adults that has become a fixture during the Christmas season at La Licorne - he personally lectures the audience.

Before Bill 101, Bienvenue hadn't written a full-length play for five years, and frankly, he still hasn't. However, it's not for lack of talent that this show doesn't work. Bienvenue, who foolishly directs his own work here (another director might have sent him back to his keyboard), has assembled a talented cast including Jacques L'Heureux, Martin Desgagné and token anglo Paul Stewart. Likewise, Jean Bard's set, featuring three identical cubicles with three identical desks, is appropriately impersonal, and Matthieu Gourd's dramatic lighting contributes to the creepy atmosphere. Still, Bill 101 is an idea for a play, but it is nowhere near realization.

One for the agenda: The Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre presents Fiddler on the Roof starting June 8. How perfect to hear Tevye, Golde and the gang speaking and singing in Yiddish (with English and French supertitles). Director Bryna Wasserman consistently pulls off professional calibre productions using non-professional actors.

Bill 101, to June 19 at 8:30PM at Espace Libre. Tickets 521-4191.
Fiddler on the Roof, June 8 to 27 at the Saidye. Tickets $24. 739-7944

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