La Seizième

Age is a Feeling (the title of the original work) explores the turning points and rites of passage we encounter throughout our lives, from age 25 to the end. Why did you choose to translate and recreate this work in French?

Siona Gareau-Brennan (S. G.-B.): Haley McGee’s piece moves me deeply. When I first read it, I was so touched; it felt like I had an incredibly strong vision that I needed to translate and recreate this text and this performance in French. I immediately wrote to Marie-Claire (a friend and a sublime artist who inspires me so much) to ask her to join me in recreating this work. This text explores the idea of aging, as well as mortality, life, and our choices. These themes resonate with me enormously these days. I’ve also been thinking a lot about (theatre) creation, art, and philosophy.

I’ve just read a book of interviews with choreographer and dancer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. There’s a passage where she says: “For me, art has a threefold mission: first, celebration—sharing great moments of joy, gathering around the fire; second, consolation—moments of great sadness and loss; and third, reflection—looking at the past and imagining another future, another state of things, another world, another way of behaving. It’s triangular, and these three are the things of life; they can be practiced in solitude and in community: celebration, consolation, reflection.” That’s exactly how I feel about this text and this project. L’Âge est un feeling is a celebration, a consolation, and a reflection, and I wanted to share this artistic gesture with the Francophone community. The form of this piece is magical to me—dizzying, even! There are 180 possible ways the show can unfold, so as an actor, it’s a beautiful and big challenge.

What aspects are you focusing on during this creation week? What excites you the most, with Marie-Claire Marcotte [director] and Alexandra Caprara [set and lighting design director]?

S. G.-B. : I just spoke with a theatre artist who described the process of creating a show as a living sculpture in 3D. I think that perfectly captures what we want to do with this week-long creation residency. I’m really looking forward to creating, developing, and learning a language and aesthetic with my co-creators, Marie-Claire and Alexandra. Building and clarifying this living sculpture together is very exciting. This week gives us the chance to be in a space of research and curiosity through dialogue as collaborators. Our goals for this first stage of creation are to experiment with the design concept, as well as with performance and the relationship with the audience. The audience determines how the show unfolds, so I’m curious about the spectators’ role as co-creators in shaping this theatrical experience. I think we’re going to have a lot of fun!

Can you explain how you approach your translation work from English to French?

S. G.-B. : Translation really fires me up. I find it so stimulating. It’s like doing a puzzle. For me, translation is an art form. It’s much more than simply translating the words; it’s translating the world of the play, the emotions, the rhythm, the musicality of Haley’s writing. It’s the practice and the art of understanding — truly understanding the text through deep reading, and then transforming it into a new form. While translating, I work closely with Marie-Claire to anchor the conversational, spoken tone of the text, since I’m the one who will perform it. The form is really interesting because the text is written in the second person and often in the conditional. It’s meticulous work, refining the language. What a privilege to be able to dig into a text like this! I mostly work on my translation in my living room in Vancouver: I listen to classical music, light a candle, and often look out at the mountains and trees through my window. I also worked on it in Marseille, in Montreal, and in the sky while traveling.

The show is never the same, since the text is divided into chapters and the audience determines the story’s turning points (by selecting cards, each corresponding to a word). What should the audience expect on presentation night?

S. G.-B. : This relationship with the audience is one of the main reasons I wanted to translate and perform this piece! I find that relationship fascinating. The fact that the audience decides what they will hear connects directly to one of the text’s major themes: choice and destiny. It’s interesting because it means the show is always different, and no audience will ever hear every story. That also ties into one of the most beautiful ideas in the piece for me: that no one can know everything about our lives—not even us. At three specific moments in the performance, the audience chooses how the show will unfold. For this first stage of creation, we’ve decided to focus on the first third of the piece, letting the audience choose the story’s path. On presentation night, you’ll see the beginnings of a creative process, the first form of this living sculpture. We’ll also have a short discussion with the audience. This will help us with the next steps of creation, as we work toward the first  production of this piece in French.

L’Âge est un Feeling will be presented to the public on Friday, November 21 at Studio 16. Reserve your (free) spot through our online ticketing system.

Photo credits: L’Âge est un Feeling/Siona Gareau-Brennan – Siona Gareau-Brennan by Matt Simpson