THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Montreal/ Productions des pieds des mains
Le Temps des Marguerites... à la folie ou pas du tout !

By Paula Citron, Dance critic

I was in tears at the end of Le Temps des Marguerites which was part of Tangente's Corps Atypique Series. This very moving dance theatre show by Productions des Pieds des Mains was created by choreographer Menka Nagrini and writer/director Richard Gaulin, and its wellspring is the Faust legend.

Dance, original text, and excerpts from Gounod's opera are cunningly fused together to make serious socio-political statements about age, image and identity.

The signature of this company is the fusion of mentally challenged performers into the five-member ensemble, and three disabled actor/dancers portrayed the opera characters Faust, Marguerite and Siebel.

In contrast to Faust's desire for youth, is a real Marguerite, an aging opera star fighting the inevitability of time.

Another actor/dancer plays the villains, both Mephistopheles in the opera, and the real Marguerite's bête noire. The stage images and the winsome performances stay with one long after the show has ended.

This ambitious, provocative and imaginative little company deserves to be seen across the country.

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