After orchestrating, last fall, from an adaptation by Jean Marc Dalpé, a concise, dynamic, and embodied version of King Lear, the Quebecois of Albertan origin Jon Lachlan Stewart signs the text of a show both comedic and ambitious translated and directed by Olivier Morin. Three former child starlets – languishing far from the spotlight – of a series of fantasy films, based on books whose author has committed herself to retrograde and acrimonious commentary, are reunited in a temporality punctuated by ellipses. Yes, the reference to Harry Potter is fully embraced here.
First invited to an interview about their childhood experience, the three protagonists are given the task of realizing the ultimate opus of the series after a bomb targeting the controversial writer and screenwriter exploded at the Oscars ceremony, decimating almost the entire Hollywood fauna. This is followed by a critique of the mass cinema universe, whose art often reduces to producing easy and insincere entertainment.
Drugs, alcohol, unrestrained sex, and an insatiable thirst for power will possess these wretched souls, willing to do anything to feel alive in a system that kills them more surely than slowly. An implacably mercantile industry, with artificial intelligence contributing to exponentially dehumanizing it.
The statements of the Testament of Celebrities are accurate but unsurprising, while the humor deployed is more vaguely amusing than truly cutting. Furthermore, the narrative thread, which stretches thin, tends to fray into more or less plausible developments capable of sustaining interest. However, the countless nuances of Rebecca Vachon’s performance – embodying the interpreter of the central figure in the films – expressing both dismay and hope, fervor and predictability, fragility and grandeur, are fascinating.
Moreover, Joëlle LeBlanc’s rich lighting brings different meanings to life in the simple but effective scenography (consisting of a luminous platform and a few chairs) by Cédric Lord, contributing, along with the sound design by the playwright, to the engaging character of Olivier Morin’s lively and meticulous direction. A bit of smoke and wind are all the special effects needed to evoke a cinematic world where actors often find themselves with nothing but an impassive green screen as their creative context.
From a formal point of view, then, The Testament of Celebrities leaves little to be desired. However, the play seems to be searching for a tone. Its satirical intentions fade, lacking bite. Yet the Surreal SoReal company, led by Jon Lachlan Stewart, has demonstrated with Beau gars by Erin Shields, a blistering work illustrating the gender differences in the entertainment universe, or with Madame Catherine prepares her third-grade class for the devil by Elena Belyea, that it could leave a profound and indelible imprint on the psyche of its spectators.
