Du 16 mars au 13 avril 2008

I, Claudia

Texte de Kristen Thomson
Mise en scène de Leah Cherniak

Claudia est une préadolescente encore sous le choc du divorce de ses parents. Son père se remarie, elle doit bientôt présenter un projet pour une expo-science et elle vit les affres physiques et émotionnelles de la puberté. Claudia nous parle depuis la chaufferie de son école, où elle cache toutes les choses secrètes qui lui sont chères. Indignée et incrédule face au monde des adultes qui l’entoure, elle conserve tout de même un humour irrésistible quant à tout cela.

I, Claudia sera la première production présentée dans le nouvel espace studio du Centre Segal

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Don't miss Sunday-@-the-Segal for the upcoming production, I, Claudia, as we welcome the show’s director, Leah Cherniak.

Ms Cherniak is the co-artistic director of Theatre Columbus in Toronto and will be sharing her thoughts on new play development in Canada, specifically as relates to I, Claudia. For I, Claudia, The Record’s Robert Reid said, “Leah Cherniak's direction is flawless.”

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 11 AM

Coffee and refreshments will be served in the lobby
(Tickets on sale now for the first preview of I, Claudia at 1:30 pm)

At the Leanor and Alvin Segal Theatre, 5170 Cote Ste. Catherine Rd.

FREE ADMISSION!! No reservations necessary, general admission

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Une création du Théâtre Leanor & Alvin Segal

Théâtre Leanor & Alvin Segal (Saidye-Bronfman)
5170, chemin de la Côte-Ste-Catherine
Billetterie : 514-739-7944

 

review by Geneviève Germain

Reuniting four characters all played by same actress, one-woman performance I, Claudia is Playwright Kristen Thompson’s first play. Winner of 2001 Dora Award for Outstanding New Play, it has also been later adapted for film, always with Thompson as starring actress, awarding her a best performance Gemini award, among others. Now presented at The Leanor and Alvin Segal Theatre in the new Studio space, I, Claudia tells the story of a pre-teenager as seen through her eyes.

Claudia is truly an icebreaker. With her pre-teen views on life, she bites into every situation that she is currently living wthout any filters, saying it as it is, feeling every possible emotion at its utmost point. She draws us into her world without any borders and make us eager to hear more of her refreshing and somewhat naive but passionate outlook on life. As she hides into her school’s boiler room to collect her thoughts and gather some important items of her life, she shares about her parents divorce, her projects at school, her schoolmates, always with a humour that is uniquely hers.

Alongside, we also meet former actor Drachman, who has become the school’s janitor and overlooks the whereabouts of Claudia in the boiler room. We also meet Claudia’s grandfather and her father’s new girlfriend, Leslie, who also give a different angle to the story, enlighting us a little more about significant people that surround Claudia.

What may surprise the audience at first is that every character is played with a mask, leaving it to mainly voice tones and body language to animate every one of them. Costume changes are made on-stage, with a different mask for every character, and occur swiftly through music transitions but never unveiling the face of the actress that animates them all : Michelle Polak. Showing great talent, she manages to entirely metamorphose herself from one to another, granting them with different tones, movements, walks, laughter and body gestures.

Under Leah Cherniak’s direction, Michelle Polak entirely lives and breathes playwright Kristen Thomson’s monologues, managing to inhabit every character with genuine ease, pulling out every line with the right amount of emotion. The story that is told here could seem pretty casual, but becomes endearing and captivating solely with Michelle Polak’s energy and charisma.

Segal Theatre’s I, Claudia leaves us with the feeling of having witnessed a truly memorable actress performance.

03-04-2008