Du 19 au 30 mars 2008
Tuesday to Sunday, 8:00 pm
Matinees: Saturday and Sunday, 2:00 pm
2-for-1 matinees on March 22 and 23

'night, mother

By Marsha Norman
Directed by Jesse Corbeil
Starring Sandy Ferguson & Alexandra Valassis (2007 MECCA Award Winner)

Follow Jessie as she prepares to die, wrapping up her affairs as she throws her mother's life into turmoil. ‘night, Mother is a heart-wrenching look at the ‘could-have-beens’ and ‘if-onlys’ that get in the way when what one should be doing most is listening.

Stage Manager:  Mindy Sirois
Set & Light Design:  Audrey-Anne Bouchard & Litratista
Sound Design:  Dan Legault
Photography:  Litratista

Original Music by Montreal Talents:
Daniel Iorio (www.danieliorio.com)
DD Swank  (www.ddswank.com)
Dush (www.myspace.com/templeofdush)

**’night, Mother Soundtrack CD will be sold throughout the play’s run**
10$ per CD, 5$ of every CD sold donated to FSOS (www.suicideaftermath.com)

March 19 to 30, 2008
Tuesday to Sunday: 8:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday Matinee: 2:00 pm**

General Admission:  18$
Students / Seniors:   15$
**2 for 1 Matinees (March 22 & 23)

~Special Shows~
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 is “Charity Nite”
10$ of every ticket sold donated to FSOS (www.suicideaftermath.com)

Altera Vitae Productions

Mainline Theatre
3997, boul. St-Laurent
Téléphone: 514 823-8823 or askus@alteravitae.com

review by Sara Fauteux

‘Night Mother has been presented twice this year in Montreal; once this Fall in French at the Théâtre de l’Esquisse and now at the Mainline Theatre in English. For having seen both productions, I can say that if the French version was finely translated and had great qualities, the power of this text truly reveals in its original language.

For Carolyn-Fe Trinidad, this play is not a random choice. Altera Vitae, the theatre company that she founded in June and now directs, has a very specific vocation. Her hope is that the company will provoke a reflection on different social issues to the audiences. Trinidad also wishes to provide roles for older or minority actors in the community. She named her company after her wish:  Spes Altera Vitae (hope of another life). For her first production, she chose a play that has been very popular since its publication in the 80’s. Although it treats of a very delicate matter, suicide, this text succeeds to do so in an elegant and truthful way which has owned the author a Pulitzer Prize. It was therefore a very judicious choice for the inaugural show of a company who has a real charitable mission like Altera Vitae but also the will to develop an artistic vision.

The scene takes place in an apartment where two women are about to spend their last evening together. As the play begins, Jessie announces to her mother, Thelma, that she will kill herself tonight. She will use the following hours to set everything for her departure: she goes around the house filling the shelves, cleaning the counters and making lists of things for her mother. There is nothing her mama can tell her that will make her change her mind. As she asks questions about her life to her mom, about her father and her epilepsy, she never shows second thoughts. Thelma will be confronted to the pain and solitude in her daughter that she had never paid attention to before. Now, she is condemned to be only a witness. She tries with cries and screams to make her stay, to make her see how things can be better. But that is beside the point. The point is that Jessie’s life belongs to her and that she is the only one making the decision about it.  

The actresses that hold the roles of Jessie (Alexandra Valassis) and Thelma (Sandy Ferguson), for which it was the first professional production, evolve on stage in total conscience of one another. The whole team (Jesse Corbeil as the director, Mindy Sirois as stage manager, Audrey-Anne Bouchard as the set and light designer and Dan Legault as the sound designer) used their own resources to present this brilliant text to its best day. The light effects are particularly successful in creating very intimate ambiances around the two women. This first production is definitely very interesting and it succeeds in its intent to make us understand different aspects of a reality that is often hidden and disguised. ‘Night Mother only makes us wait impatiently for the next show of Altera Vitae.

22-03-2008