La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines Presents LA VIE LITTERAIRE

La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines will present for the second time La Vie littéraire by and with Mathieu Arsenault. A Rhizome and Arsenault's production, shown in the context of the Festival International de littérature (FIL), La Vie Litteraire, originally Arsenault's book, has been adapted for the stage by Christian Lapointe with the author's complicity. Being first and foremost a writer, Mathieu Arsenault, becomes a performer, questioning both the act of writing and the act of expressing one's thought. With Christian Lapointe's complicity, who revealed the scenic power of his writing, back in 2008 with Vu d'ici, the author is now revealing himself as a performer, fluctuating simultaneously between a fictional figure's put into play, an investigation on authorship, a writer's lecture and an unconstrained interpretation on acting.

Alone in the arena, Mathieu Arsenault bares and delivers his own words with an uninterrupted monologue, his writings as his only scenic prop. By appropriating the oral component of his work and by forcing himself to deeply carry its content, the author witnesses the dichotomy between the writer's figure and the protagonist, to whom he is giving a voice. By seeking to talk about his own time by any means possible, he is criticizing the Cultural Industry, confronting the audience to their consumption habits and in the meantime, uncovering our modern day anxiety, the fear of being forgotten, erased.

Mathieu Arsenault has published La Vie Littéraire and more recently, La Morte by Le Quartanier publishing. His two first novels, Album de finissants and Vu d'ici, have been adapted into plays. He has founded the Académie de la vie littéraire, annually rewarding writers who are unjustfully overlooked by other literary awards. We can buy his literature inspired t-shirts on his online shop, doctorak.co.

A Rhizome / Mathieu Arsenault Production. Co-presented by Festival International de littérature (FIL) and La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines. A co-production of Théâtre carte blanche and Maison de la Littérature, with the collaboration of Recto-verso.

Credits: By and with: Mathieu Arsenault. Collaborators: Christian Lapointe, Simon Dumas. Repetiteur: Jocelyn Pelletier.

Being at once experimental and interdisciplinary theatre, LA CHAPELLE SCÈNES CONTEMPORAINES is a must see Montreal performing arts institution. For 30 years, its program has always been leading us all on those off-roads, which have become its signature. With each season, rich, dense and eclectic, it reinvent itself, always on the lookout for new practices and creative talents. La Chapelle is also 12 weeks of technical residencies offered to the artists, the project Récréations, an educational program in contemporary performing arts for primary school students, La Chapelle more bilingual than ever, a surtitling program from french to english and english to french, projects combining both languages, offered on select performances, and more.

IMPORTANT: Due to COVID-19, this show might be subjected to change. Some projects of the 2020-2021 season could be taking alternative forms, which will differ from the traditional representation. For the more recent updates and information, please visit lachapelle.org starting September 8.

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