Calgary’s new francophone theater troupe performs this Saturday

They are between seven and sixty years old. They are amateurs or enthusiasts. All dared to go on stage, many for the first time.

Thanks to 17 Francophones, community theater is back in Calgary with the adaptation of a French comic book for children: Le Loup en slip.

It’s a comic book that I read to my daughters since they were very small and that we like a lot at homeexplains Stéphanie Lopé, the director.

I always said to myself that one day, this comic strip should be turned into a play. With my spouse, we wrote the play together.

A story, a moral

This comic book in six volumes tells the story of a wolf far from the archetype of the animal with big teeth that devours children. The hero strives to show that wolves don’t deserve their bad reputation.

A piece that lightly evokes deep and universal themes such as fear of the other, solidarity and the pursuit of one’s dreams.

Through the play, we understand that people build a whole imagination around something they are afraid of, something they have never seen.describes Stéphanie Lopé. Eventually they realize the fear was in the wrong place.

A funny and family story of about thirty minutes, which brings together for the first time Le Théâtre des 17, a new troupe of French-speaking people attracted by the boards.

The pleasure of the boards

Vincent Lavoie, 22-year-old journalist and amateur actor, was able to reconnect with his passion thanks to this project.

Theater, it’s an escape from everyday lifehe said. We embody a character with his story. I’m not saying that my life is boring, but it’s really a way to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, to change the atmosphere in which you live for 30 minutes. It’s liberating.

The challenges of gathering

Between the pandemic and the unavailability of some volunteers, the troop took time to form. It was finally sold out only two months before the performance. The actors only had ten rehearsals to prepare.

I’m very happy because we’ve been working on it for four or five years, trying to see how to revive the theater here in Calgary. It’s really a culminationadmits Arnaud Favier, deputy director of the Cité des Rocheuses, at the end of rehearsals on Thursday.

Above all, it is a community activity. What we want is for people to have fun, discover talents, also discover talentshe continues.

The troupe is always looking for new collaborators, who particularly wish to take care of the lighting, video effects and sets. It’s easier to recruit actorsconcedes Arnaud Favier.

The Le Loup en slip performance is free and will take place this Saturday at the Cité des Rocheuses at 4 p.m.