PARCO Entertainment has just announced it will present “この熱き私の激情” (“La fureur de ce que je pense”; “The Fury of My Thoughts”), a biographical play about the short life of the iconic French-Canadian novelist Nelly Arcan (1973–2009), at The Galaxy Theatre in Shinagawa, Tokyo, in November, ahead of a tour to Hiroshima, Kita-Kyushu, Kyoto and Toyohashi in Aichi Prefecture.
Arcan was 28 in 2001 when she published her first book, “Putain” (“Whore”), based on her own experience working as a prostitute. That novel was nominated for two great literature prizes in France, the Prix Médicis and the Prix Fémina, instantly transforming its alluring, Quebecoise author into a darling of the French literary world and the Canadian culture scene.
After that, in the vigorous and supremely honest style that characterised her writing, Arcan continued to question the meaning of “reality” these days — before she hanged herself in her Montreal apartment at the age of 36.
Premiered in 2013, “La fureur de ce que je pense” is a homage to Arcan’s brilliance by the French-Canadian actress, author and director Marie Brassard, a long-time artistic collaborator with the leading director and actor, Quebec-born Robert Lepage. In this highly visual piece, she memorably weaves the story of Arcan’s sensational life around her four published works, using a cast of just six actresses and a dancer.
In this production, which Brassard herself is directing, those roles are played by the leading stage actresses Yasuko Matsuyuki, Hijiri Kojima, Eriko Hatsune, Yuko Miyamoto, Sumire Ashina and Taimu Kiriya, along with the internationally acclaimed dancer, Miwa Okuno.
For more details, visit www.parco-play.com.