Quebec Scene

Théâtre du Sous-Marin Jaune ~ Discours de la méthode

Written by Loup Bleu, loosely based on the work of René Descartes
Directed by Antoine Laprise
With Antoine Laprise, Jacques Laroche, Dominique Marier and Guy-Daniel Tremblay
Produced by Théâtre du Sous-Marin Jaune
Presented in French.

Having tackled such classics as the epic novel Candide and even the Bible, Loup Bleu and his merry band from Théâtre du Sous-Marin Jaune take on René Descartes, the giant of French philosophy. “I think, therefore I am,” declares... the marionette! Loup Bleu, omniscient narrator, follows in the great thinker’s footsteps, offering a quickie adaptation of Descartes’ mammoth 11-volume philosophical treatise that’s light years away from the classroom snorefests we all endured. With its irresistible blend of puppets, puppeteers/performers and Chinese shadow play, this is theatre that’s creative, playful and informative. Who’d have thought philosophy could be so much fun? A fascinating adventure for young and old alike.

Théâtre du Sous-marin jaune
Founded by Antoine Laprise and Lorraine Côté, the Théâtre du Sous-Marin Jaune ("yellow submarine theatre") is an epic mini-theatre for marionettes and visible puppeteers. Their debut production in 1995 was a puppet adaptation of Voltaire's Candide, and their take on the Bible won the award for Best Quebec Production (2001) from the Académie québécoise du théâtre. The company's third creation, an adaptation of René Descartes' Discourse on Method, continues their tradition of pillaging and reshaping literary classics through the ages with a mixture of devotion and complete irreverence. Even the artistic director is a puppet: Loup Bleu, omniscient narrator, who's convinced that marionettes (primitive objects) and theatre (a primitive art form) deserve each other. Of course, it's all just a feeble excuse for telling stories.

About the playwright
You hear a lot of things about Loup Bleu. In the Western world, they say he's the legitimate son of the she-wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome. However, recent archaeological and ethnological research has revealed that his roots actually go much farther back: his silhouette etched on the wall of a prehistoric cave at Lü-Blü, Mongolia has been authenticated. Meanwhile, Eastern tradition links him with the terrible Genghis Khan. Some say he studied under Gassendi in Paris together with Cyrano de Bergerac and some guy called Molière, who became his great pal. In 1968, after spending a few millennia thinking about Art, he founded the Théâtre du Sous-Marin Jaune.

René Descartes
Born in 1596, René Descartes is the greatest of the French philosophers. He attended the Jesuit Collège de La Flèche, studied law in Poitiers, took part in the Thirty Years' War (that pan-European aftershock of the Protestant Reformation), and spent many years travelling before settling in Holland, where he led an uneventful life. He died in 1650 in Stockholm, Sweden, in the company of Queen Christine who had requested his services.

(Sources: www.theatredaujourdhui.qc.ca, www.theatre-jeune-public.com/article.php3?id_article=708 [transl.])