Freely inspired from Gilbert Bécaud’s song La maison sous les arbres, Micah et la maison sous les arbres (Micah and the House Beneath the Trees) is a playful ode about to children who hear adults shouting far too often. This project for elementary school children is developed as a modern fable about how children experience their parents’ anger.
Micah is terrified of his father, who shouts too often. His hearing is gradually fading, as though his ears are becoming selective about the sounds that pass through them. At the back of the yard stands a fragile little shack where Micah takes refuge whenever his father gets angry: the house beneath the trees. Accompanied by the imaginary adults he encounters – the helmetless bicycle courier, the old woman walking her dog in a stroller, and the jogger with extraordinarily long hair – Micah hides in his secret house and writes a letter to his father asking him to shout less. He fears that he will lose his hearing forever if his father’s voice continues to echo so loudly through the house.
Text Laurie Léveillé
With the support of The University of British Columbia, UBC Community Engagement, Centre de la Francophonie de UBC
