The Divine: A Play for Sarah Bernhardt

by Michel Marc Bouchard, Linda Gaboriau (Translator)

Quebec City, 1908. Two priests-to-be are ordered to deliver a letter to a controversial visitor to their the legendary French actress, Sarah Bernhardt.

As part of her long career, Bernhardt – known to her loyal fans as “The Divine” – visited Canada several times between 1880 and 1917, most often visiting Montreal, but once – just once – alighting in Quebec City. It is this singular historic visit, about which little is known, that Bouchard takes as the backdrop for his play, exploring conservative and progressive veins in competition through turn-of-the-century North America, with a focus on Quebec, that province on the verge of great change.

Michaud, the son of the province’s minister of finance, is a theatre lover. Talbot, on the other hand has arrived at the seminary on the very day of Bernhardt’s arrival in town, he comes from a family struggling with poverty and clearly has more pressing concerns. The two are ordered to deliver a letter from the Archbishop forbidding Bernhardt to appear on stage at any point during her one and only visit to Quebec City, on the grounds that she has decided to perform a play in which Adrienne Lecovreur “sings the praises of adulterous love” and “ridicules a man of the cloth portrayed as a plotting habitué of Parisian salons.”

And so the stage is set for a battle for the hearts and minds of Quebeckers through these two the powerful Catholic Church on one side, and the power of the divine Sarah Bernhardt – and the world of the theatre – on the other.

The Divine was commissioned for the 2015 Shaw Festival in honour of George Bernard Shaw and everyone who loves the theatre, and in memory of Sarah Bernhardt, “the woman who dares to say everything that should be left unsaid.”

Cast of five women and eight men.

96 pages, Paperback

First published September 8, 2015

About the author

Michel Marc Bouchard (Quebec, Canadá, 1958) é bacharel em Teatro pela Universidade de Ottawa. Teve sua primeira peça de teatro produzida profissionalmente em 1983, La Contre-nature de Chrysippe Tanguay, écologist. Desde então, escreveu mais de 25 peças, traduzidas para diversos idiomas e apresentadas em diferentes países. Sua obra mais conhecida é Les Feluettes, foi roteirizada e dirigida por John Greyson em filme homônimo. Sucesso no teatro, Les Muses Orphelines e Tom à la ferme também foram adaptadas para o cinema pelos diretores Robert Favreau e Xavier Dolan, respectivamente. Ao longo de sua carreira, Bouchard recebeu importantes prêmios de artes cênicas no Canadá: Prix Journal de Montreal, Prix du Cercle des Critiques de L’outaouais, Moore Award Dora Mavor for Outstanding New Play, Floyd S. Chalmers Award Canadian Play. Recebeu nove prêmios Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards para as peças Lillies e Les Muses Orphelines. Atualmente é membro da Academia de Letras de Quebec.

Reviews

[LouChan]

4.5☆

Cette année, j'ai été obligée de lire des pièces de théâtre, surtout sachant que ça ne se lit pas, ça se regarde, mais à mon plus grand étonnement, j'ai adoré chacun des pièces, en particulier celle-là. En effet, elle parlait de sujet important à cette époque, comme l'exploitation des enfants dans les usines, ainsi que la domination de l'église dans tout. Et honnêtement, ça m'a rappelé mes cours d'histoire que j'adorais, alors gros coup de coeur pour l'année, vraiment, je ne regrette aucunement ce livre.

Rien ne sera assez convaincant pour dire pourquoi je l'ai aimé, moi-même je ne le sais toujours pas, alors je vais me contenter de dire que c'était une très belle pièce, voilà.

[Ann-Louise Forget]

Pièce de théâtre de Michel Marc Bouchard inspirée par le venue à Québec de Sarah Bernhardt en 1905. Deux séminaristes la rencontrent donnant l’occasion d’aborder des problèmes de la société de l’époque: l’exploitation d’enfants dans les usines et l’oppression pratiquée par le clergé.

[Caleah]

Cette pièce est magnifique. Elle dénonce brillamment les méfaits de l'église et la censure. Elle rappelle l'importance et la force du théâtre tout en mettant en lumière une partie de l'histoire Québécoise. _

[Frank]

Michel Marc Bouchard covers a lot of ground in his play about Sarah Bernhardt's 1905 tour to Quebec City: censorship, realistic art vs. artifice, sexual abuse, religious hypocrisy, economic exploitation. Yet the play never feels over-stuffed. His tale of two young divinity students -- Michaud, a child of privilege who dreams of writing realistic tales of lower-class life for the divine Sarah, and Talbot, a working-class boy who sees the priesthood as his family's only escape from poverty -- is a strong vehicle for exploring those ideas. Bouchard's stage directions suggest ways to include the various settings within a simple unit set, though it does require a theatre with trap space. It also requires a fairly large cast with period costumes but is well worth the expense for a theatre with the resources to do it justice.

[Sarah]

I was not prepared for how much I would love this play. It was not at all what I had expected it to be, it had a depth to it that really touched me. I loved how Bouchard addressed the effect that religion can have on censorship, and the meaningful ways that he went about addressing religious hypocrisy. I especially appreciated the approach that he took to talking about sexual abuse and what it looks like to deal with that in a religious setting. He wasn’t preachy, he just simply showed the reality of what people’s lived experiences dealing with religious abuse (and other struggles) looked like and how they coped with it. He let the honesty and frankness of those experiences speak for themselves. That approach was incredibly powerful and gave me a lot to think about as I read. I can't recommend this enough, it is so well done.

[Maëva]

Pièce touchante et divertissante à lire. Elle fait réfléchir et c’est un beau moment de lecture!

[Becca]

Tellement drôle et touchant. J’ai adoré du début à la fin.

[Stoffia]

Québec, 1905. Sarah Bernhardt débarque de France le temps d'une tournée où est jouée La Dame Aux Camélias. Elle fait les manchettes avec sa flamboyance et ses mots acides.

Le Clergé s'oppose à sa venue et interdit aux fidèles d'assister aux représentations. Les prêtres la déclarent "ennemie de la moralité chrétienne". Bernhardt réplique dans les journaux que le Québec est un beau pays, mais que son peuple est soumis et "manque d'hommes".

La Divine Illusion est une pièce de théâtre qui se déroule à ce moment, au Séminaire de Québec où les futurs prêtres en formation se voient confier la tâche de remettre à Bernhardt une lettre avec les remontrances de l'Église.

L'une des meilleures pièces que j'ai eu la chance de voir dans ma vie. On y explore l'histoire du Québec, ses coins d'ombre et... Évidemment, la Divine Bernhardt y vole la vedette, un siècle après sa mort.

[Lucile Barker]

Sarah Bernhardt actually did visit Quebec City and good Catholics were told not to attend the performances. Bouchard uses this to show the social conditions and how the church was responsible for imposing a class system. The play’s sets include a seminary, backstage at the theatre, and a shoe and boot factory. Two young seminarians, Mihaud and Talbot, and Michaud, one an aspiring playwright and the latter a poor boy are sent to deliver a letter demanding that she not perform. Talbot has just been transferred from a different seminary because of a shocking secret. There is conflict between the boys, Sarah and the bishop, and Talbot and his family. I would really like to see this produced on stage!

[Flavie Sperano]

Une magnifique pièce, tellement bien écrite que je n’ai pas été capable de lire la fin à cause de la colère qu’elle m’a apporté.