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Traversée – Going through

Ages 9 and up • All audiences • Deaf and hearing audiences

“I didn't turn around.
I didn't watch her become smaller and smaller.
There are certain things you can't watch disappearing without the risk of disappearing yourself.”

Nour takes us through the perilous journey that has brought her here, drawn by the promise of a better place to live. She recalls the dangers of the voyage, and most of all the pain of separation: how can she bear to leave Youmna, the deaf woman who loves her like a daughter? The young girl leaves, dressed like a boy, with smugglers who are strangers, taking nothing with her but a mysterious little box and a promise to open it the day she becomes a woman.

Khadija Baker, an interdisciplinary artist of Syrian origin, uses human hair to create the videographic imagery. Composer Diane Labrosse signs the soundscape in her second collaboration with Voyageurs Immobiles. On stage, one actress relates in words and another in sign language this touching and disturbing quest that reflects a very current reality. Like Nour, half the world’s migrants are children.

This play, accessible to deaf and hearing audiences aged 9 and up, was created in 2016 and presented almost 80 times, in Montreal, in Quebec, in Canada, and in France.

Team

Text ESTELLE SAVASTA
Quebec Sign Language translation MARIE-HÉLÈNE HAMEL, JENNIFER MANNING and FAL PETIT
Stage direction MILENA BUZIAK
Assistant director ANNE-SOPHIE TOUGAS
Performance NOUR - FLORENCE BLAIN MBAYE or MYRIAM DE VERGER
YOUMNA - HODAN YOUSSOUF or JENNIFER MANNING
Lighting and video integration HUGO DALPHOND
Video images KHADIJA BAKER
Set design LAURENCE BOUTIN-LAPERRIÈRE
Sound DIANE LABROSSE
Costumes MANON GUIRAUD
French-LSQ interpreters FAL PETIT, MARTIN ASSELIN
Touring stage manager AUDRÉE JUTEAU

Artistic consultants FRANCINE ALEPIN, ROBERT FAGUY and JULIE VALLÉE-LÉGER

Photos © Emmanuelle Boileau, Adéral Piot, Patricia Voumard and Fal Petit

“Without being understood by everyone, [la langue des signes] sometimes even takes over the stage.
These moments of incomprehension create an evocative distance while forcing us to listen
more humbly.” Chloé Gagné Dion, LE DEVOIR

“Youmna says, To be someone, you sometimes have to be more than one.”

In the
wings

Press Kit (PDF)

Educators' Kit (PDF)

Press Review (PDF)

	Newspaper articles “The language is discreet, but not reserved. No self-pity, and no denunciations, either. Milena Buziak’s direction remains faithful to the mandate of her creation company, Voyageurs Immobiles, which focuses on the inner journey of the actor and of the audience.” Chloé Gagné Dion, le Devoir — Read the article
	TV interview Milena Buziak discusses the creation of the show and especially what it’s like to work in Quebec Sign Language, on the Rogers TV show Entre nous. Ottawa, November 24, 2017 — Watch the show (starting at 17:19)
	Radio interviews “Traversée, the story of the journey of a young refugee told with sensitivity in a well-constructed piece with a beautiful text enhanced with magnificent projections.” Review by Martin Vanasse. Les matins d’ici. ICI Radio Canada première, Ottawa, November 24, 2017. —Listen to the interview (starting at 6:27) “Exploring the universe of Traversée.” L’heure de pointe Toronto/Windsor with Alison Vicrobeck. April 24, 2019. Isabelle Fleury spoke with Myriam De Verger, Jennifer Manning, accompanied by her interpreter Fal Petit and director Milena Buziak. — Listen to the interview. « Traversée at the TNO. Myriam and Jennifer, the actors from Traversée, on air with Daniel Aubin on Le matin du Nord. April 12, 2019. —Listen to the interview (starting at 7:40) “Incursion into the universe of Traversée, presented at the Théâtre français in Toronto.” Grands Lacs café with Éric Robitaille. April 13, 2019. —Listen to the interview (starting at 9:18)
	Interview with the director “From someone to many” —Read the interview