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Grains de Sable

General public

“It was a smell, the smell on his clothes: the smell of a soldier. What I mean is, not…not his smell.”

Documentary play based on interviews conducted with people connected to one another by their experience of the war in Afghanistan.

Three men: a colonel, a sergeant, a corporal.

Three women, the wives of soldiers.

In an intimate setting, six actors lend their voices to these words. Composed of tableaux, the text does not tell a story but instead serves as a thread with which to retrace the significant moments in their experiences of deployment, and above all, the return home. Their words intermingle, respond to each other, and sometimes contradict each other. What interests me is not only their answers but the creation of a space of debate, exchange, and reflection, a collective questioning of our esthetic, ethical, and social convictions. With the ambition of inhabiting the singular language, the breath, the respirations of those who shared their truths with me. With the challenge of walking a tightrope between judgment and defense, absolution and condemnation of the system and its participants, in full transparency of the process. Each performance is followed by a discussion with the audience, a natural extension of the play for those who wish to express themselves.

The piece was created at Espace Libre in March of 2013. It was performed at the Valcartier military base by invitation before being performed in its final version at the bourse RIDEAU 2014 and on tour in Montreal and Quebec in 2014-2015.

Team

Text and direction MILENA BUZIAK
Dramaturgy PASCAL BRULLEMANS
Assistant director and stage manager PRISCILLE AMSLER
Performance KATHLEEN AUBERT, JEAN BELZIL-GASCON, JEAN-GUY BOUCHARD in rotation with RICHARD LEMIRE, ALEXIS GAREAU, ISABELLE MIQUELON, ISABELLE MONTPETIT and MILENA BUZIAK
Set ANNE-FRÉDERIQUE PRÉAUX
Lighting HUGO DALPHOND
Sound JULIEN ÉCLANCHER, TRISTAN HENRY, CALVIN CLARKE
Costumes AMÉLIE JODOIN, MÉLISSA PERRON
Technical director and tour stage manager MÉLISSA PERRON
Production manager ANNE-SARA GENDRON

To those who offered me their stories, who allowed me a glimpse of their private lives:
thank you for trusting me. You gave me permission to put your words in the mouths of actors who, living far outside your reality, can only imagine what it’s like to be you.

“In her artistic process, Buziak is as concerned with the orality of her raw material as she is with respecting the people who put their trust in her. It must be pointed out that it is not easy to find members of the armed forces who are willing to tell their story to a woman who works in theatre. Her direction, understated and precise, puts the oral form to the fore while infusing it with a beautiful charge of poetry.” Luc Boulanger, La Presse

“The flawless delivery allows the different voices to rise up, respond to each other, superimpose each other in layers. We become attached to the characters, who tell their stories, question themselves, nurse the wounds at the very heart of their lives, keep moving forward, and continue loving each other in spite of everything.” Lucie Renaud, JEU

Newspaper article

“When artistic creation meets military reality.” The reactions of members of the armed forces and their families to the performance of the piece. Alexandra Ventura-Giroux, Journal Servir, St. Jean Miltary Base. — Read the article

 

Round table

“Where has warrior enthusiasm gone?” With Martin Petit and Sarah-Myriam Martin-Brûlé. Lead by Paul Lefebvre at Espace Libre. Watch the first partWatch the second part

 

Master’s thesis in theatre

“Grains de sable : essai scénique en théâtre documentaire suivi d’une réflexion sur l’utilisation du document sur scène” (Grains of sand: scenic essay in documentary theatre followed by a reflection on the use of documentary on stage) Master of theatre, research and creation, undertaken by Milena Buziak at the Université du Québec à Montréal, under the supervision of Martine Beaulne, from 2008 to 2013. Read the thesis

 

Extracts from the thesis performance

From the academic research and creation, only the very last scene made its way into the show produced at Espace Libre. Follow the evolution with an extract of the university performance. Watch the extract

 

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