National Arts Centre - Centre national des Arts Canada is our stage. Le Canada en scène.

NAC French Theatre
· 2023-2024 Season

Caroline Robert and Vincent Morisset - Studio AATOAA

De glace

Immersive Nordic tale

https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/33687

In-person event

After White Out and La chambre des enfants, L’eau du bain theatre company is back with a spellbinding new work, crafted of smoke and light, that brings to life a jewel of Nordic literature, a story of a whirlwind friendship that penetrates us through the pores of our skin! Please note that this show contains heavy smoke (non-toxic and non-irritating) as well as strobe lights. In 1963, Norwegian cultural icon Tarjei Vesaas published a timeless coming-of-age story...

March 13 - 17, 2024

Azrieli Studio 1 Elgin Street Ottawa Canada

This event has passed

De glace

Mar 13 - 17, 2024

Azrieli Studio

Caroline Robert and Vincent Morisset - Studio AATOAA

“Lost in the light ”

In-person event
Français
≈ 60 minutes · No intermission

World Premiere NAC Co-production

After White Out and La chambre des enfants, L’eau du bain theatre company is back with a spellbinding new work, crafted of smoke and light, that brings to life a jewel of Nordic literature, a story of a whirlwind friendship that penetrates us through the pores of our skin!

Please note that this show contains heavy smoke (non-toxic and non-irritating) as well as strobe lights.

In 1963, Norwegian cultural icon Tarjei Vesaas published a timeless coming-of-age story about a friendship between two young girls that ends tragically at the moment of its birth. Unn disappears into a forest of frost, a natural ice palace at the base of a frozen waterfall, while Siss remains in the land of the living. Left alone, she stubbornly guards the memory of her soulmate, resisting the healing of the heart and the restorative work of time. But the cycle of the seasons goes on, the ice continues to melt ...

This tale for all audiences comes to life through an immersive concept that weaves a spell of disorientation, appearances and disappearances. Equipped with headphones, we enter this luminous otherworld. The permeability between audience area and stage is almost total, and this story of a fusional friendship immediately speaks to all our senses. It’s impossible to stay frozen.

*80 tickets only per performance!

For all audiences. Dreamers age 8 and older are welcome.

***

Wearing headphones, you prepare to enter a surreal environment, a kind of forest of glittering mist. Immersed in this world shaped by cold and ice, you hear the story of an intense friendship between two young girls, Unn and Siss—a friendship that ends abruptly at the very moment of its birth. And your heart starts to beat in time with these two soulmates whose connection not even separation can break. A tear freezes. The window fogs up. A lacework of frost. Suddenly, a ray of light shines through. A little rainbow appears on your cheek. No, it’s not quite the end of winter, but perhaps a promise of gentler weather.

Learn more in the program notes ›

Arts Alive: Discover more for the curious mind!

Browse our collection of learning and engagement programs and digital arts resources in a variety of subjects, aimed at teachers and students in a range of ages and grades.
Start Learning Now

Related podcast episode

Anne-Marie Ouellet et Anne-Marie Guilmaine Duration: 42:11

Artists

Director Anne-Marie Ouellet
Director Anne-Marie Ouellet

Playwright and director Anne‑Marie Ouellet is the indefatigable head prospector of L’eau du bain (Nous voilà rendus, Le son de l’ère est froid, Impatience). With her faithful sidekick Thomas Sinou, she mines reality to unearth nuggets of gold/art to put onstage, setting up a mischievous, occasionally puzzling exchange between audience and actors, reality and imagination. A native of Alma, in Quebec’s Lac-Saint-Jean region, Anne‑Marie ranged widely during her professional training, from Chicoutimi to Paris (Conservatoire) by way of Montreal (UQAM). She currently teaches theatre at the University of Ottawa.

Anne-Marie Ouellet, auteure et metteure en scène, c’est l’infatigable prospectrice de la compagnie L’eau du bain (Nous voilà rendus, Le son de l’ère est froid, Impatience). Aidée de son allié Thomas Sinou, elle fouille le réel pour y trouver la pépite d’or/d’art à mettre sur scène, et c’est toujours un jeu espiègle, parfois déroutant, entre le public et les acteurs, entre ce qui est vrai et ce qui ne l’est pas. Originaire d’Alma, au Lac-Saint-Jean, Anne-Marie a beaucoup voyagé pour parfaire sa formation, de Chicoutimi à Paris (Conservatoire), en passant par Montréal (UQAM). Elle enseigne aujourd’hui à l’Université d’Ottawa.
NAC media featuring Anne-Marie Ouellet
Close
Lighting Nancy Bussières

Lighting Nancy Bussières

Light Prospector

Nancy Bussières has been chasing the light for nearly 20 years! A renowned lighting designer, she has collaborated on a host of performances and theatre, circus and opera productions, notably with the companies L’eau du bain and Champ libre. This professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal and researcher at Hexagram, an international media arts organization, also sculpts this evanescent material by creating her own light installations. Nancy Bussières is keenly interested in new technologies and innovative approaches to setting light in motion, and reflects on the place it occupies, not only in space, but also in time. In short, brilliant questions!

Prospectrice de lumière

Depuis près de vingt ans, Nancy Bussières traque la lumière! Éclairagiste de renom, elle collabore à une foule de performances, de productions de théâtre, de cirque et d’opéra, notamment avec les compagnies L’eau du bain et Champ libre. Cette professeure à l’Université du Québec à Montréal et chercheure à Hexagram, un organisme international en art médiatique, sculpte aussi cette matière évanescente en créant ses propres installations lumineuses. Nancy Bussières s’intéresse fortement aux nouvelles technologies, aux approches novatrices pour mettre la lumière en mouvement, et réfléchit sur la place qu’elle occupe, non seulement dans l’espace, mais aussi dans le temps. Bref, des questions brillantes!

Close
Sound Thomas Sinou
Sound Thomas Sinou

Thomas Sinou is the clever sound guy for the creations of the collective L’eau du bain. Born in Marseille, he studied at the l’Institut supérieur des techniques du son before immigrating to Quebec in 2006. Thomas is interested in installations and the interaction between the audience, the actors and the performance space. To create hybrid shows that “give a voice to life unspoken,” he and his associate Anne‑Marie Ouellet boldly infiltrate a wide range of settings, from seniors’ centres (Nous voilà rendus) to groups of teenagers (Impatience).

Thomas Sinou, c’est l’astucieux créateur sonore derrière les œuvres de la compagnie L’eau du bain. Né à Marseille, il reçoit sa formation à l’Institut supérieur des techniques du son, puis il immigre au Québec en 2006. Thomas s’intéresse aux installations et à l’interactivité entre le public, les acteurs et l’espace scénique. Pour concevoir des spectacles hybrides qui donnent « la parole à la vie muette », lui et sa complice Anne-Marie Ouellet n’hésitent pas à infiltrer divers milieux, que ce soit un centre de personnes âgées (Nous voilà rendus) ou un groupe d’adolescents (Impatience).
NAC media featuring Thomas Sinou
- Podcasts
Close

Written Tarjei Vesaas
Translation Jean-Baptiste Coursaud
Adaptation Mélanie Dumont and Anne-Marie Ouellet
Directed by Anne-Marie Ouellet
Lighting Nancy Bussières
Sound Thomas Sinou
With Odile Gagné-Roy, Émilie Camiré-Pecek, Justine Fortin-Lacombe, Marie-Pier Lajoie and Guillaume Saindon
Dramaturg Mélanie Dumont
Assistant director Elyse Gauthier and Guillaume Saindon
Sets and Costumes Karine Galarneau
Multimedia Guillaume Saindon
Production Manager Mégane Trudeau
Technical Director Charlie Loup S. Turcot
Producers L’eau du bain and NAC French Theatre