Jacques et son Maitre presented by La TRAC

This review of Jacques et son Maître (written by Milan Kundera, presented by La TRAC and directed by Igal Ifergan) just in from guest theatre reviewer Valerie Archain:

I arrived on a cold Saturday night, joined by photo girl Giulia to the Studio Québec de la Monument National for the play Jacques et son Maître.

We were about to witness the journey of two special characters, Jacques and his master, stuck between the past and the present of their destiny. The work was apparently influenced by Diderot, so I thought to myself, “I know this guy, he’s the one I was studying about when I was a teenager in France. What should I expect?” Of course, I don’t really remember a lot from that period, and even less of what I was studying at that time. I realise it’s going to be a total exploration, but an exciting one.

What first caught my eye was the set. The audience was totally drawn into the atmosphere it created, Vivaldi was playing and we couldn’t stop staring at the huge canvas curtains with amazing handwritten Old French. The lights went down, and silence took its place….

From the beginning, one is at once attracted to the two main characters, Jacques and his master: domestic and master, player and played, cheater and cheated. Their personas seem simple, but they reveal throughout the play to be more and more complex. Their act is sincere and pure and, like all the other characters, they are without exception interesting and full of fantasy. Their quirks and actions push the story and we ravenously devour every word and movement on stage.

The idea of destiny becomes the subtle main point of the play. Everything and everyone becomes subject to reflection. It’s the not a generic “who and where am I, and where do I go?” No, it’s a more brutal look at what you’ve done and what you should have done. “Did I make the right choice? Did I really have this choice?” Don’t panic though, these questions are treated here with humour and lightness, making the work pleasant as well as intellectually interesting.

The cast is great, and the mixing of genres and actions makes the play more than lively. It’s like watching two different screens at the same time without even turning your head or eyes; bravo to the director!

Finally, Jacques et son Maître is pure entertainment, with especially memorable scenes such as when the Marquise tangles her husband in a web of trickery while simultaneously waiting tables and screaming insults at her servant.

The style is quick but effective, making us wonder what finally becomes of our decisions and actions. The characters can’t go back, but do they really have the choice not to move on?

–Valerie Archain
Photo by Giulia de Prophetis 

Jacques et son Maître plays every evening at 8:30 pm until Saturday September 22nd at Sudio Hydro-Quebec,1182 St. Laurent Blvd.  $20 (students $15)