We went to see Helgi at Théâtre 4’Sous and, under the snow, Tyrfingur Tyrfingsson ‘s contemporary Icelandic play -translated by Maxime Allen and directed by Marie-Ève Milot- made us cringe and laugh, and live like an exorcism from the downward spiral of anxious blues that comes with winter.
It’s the latest in a series of translated plays by contemporary international playwrights, and Maxime Allen’s translation is incredibly faithful (according to those who can read Icelandic) but above all perfectly transposed to the cadence and expressions so particular to the Quebec language-especially since Tyrfingur Tyrfingsson refers toHelgi as an “ode to vulgarity” , and of course, that’s a hell of a lot.
He was in the room, out of my field of vision, but I think I saw him smiling very broadly as he left the room, in the cube-shaped bar-entrance at 4’Sous…
Helgi runs at the Théâtre de 4’Sous until April 27, and tickets are available here! We recommend you act fast!
The play
Helgi is the story of a mortician whose father predicts a series of disasters. Through an almost forced emancipation that brings him face to face with the most perverse and violent characters and aspects of his life, the disasters follow one another until a desperate climax and a sigh of relief.
It’s a black comedy, and with incredible brilliance, Tyrfingsson’s text has the audience screaming at the start of the play, and the more it goes on, the more our heads spin as we witness the existential vertigo unleashed with howls and perverse power plays that make us want to clutch the proverbial pearl necklace.
The play is very short – 90 minutes – and the narrative format, which in the end follows a fairly classic sequence of acts 1-2-3, presents in its speed and in the rather virtuoso rapidity of its dialogues a perfect storm which, in its resolution, makes us laugh at our own inner rottenness and our own very hand-held belief in our destiny (tragic or not).
This is 4’Sous’s first collaboration with their resident company, Théâtre à l’eau froide , and Gabriel Lemire, who plays the eponymous character, is incredible to watch-he’s perfect as the tragic hero, the victim you want to shake until he wakes up.
Le 4’Sous, Quebec’s French-language theater and a successful bet
Le 4’Sous has been a Quebec institution for 69 years, and their creations are contemporary, quite risky, playful and refreshing in the Quebec and Montreal theatrical landscape.
We recommend following them closely, becauseHelgi, in the last (we hope) snowstorm of this interminable winter, had the effect of a pitcher of Sangria on a terrace and a shoulder-burning sunburn that was well deserved.
Enjoy the show!