(P.O.R.N.)
Portrait of Restless Narcissism
Ad Number 2 • 2020
Video
Currently on display
Ad promoting the 2020 production of P.O.R.N. (Portrait of Restless Narcissism) by Lionel Arnould.
This production was cancelled a few days prior to opening night and eventually closed permanently due to the 2020/21 pandemic.
About P.O.R.N.
As the natural world turns against us, many retreat to digital landscapes.
Behind a live split-screen, two isolated protagonists sit like VJs at their stations, running the show. Through instant messages, images, texts, emoticons, videos and music, they meet online in an intricate ballet of reality and fiction.
Like Narcissus mesmerized by Pandora’s box, Lapointe and Ross, using the structures of both narrative and performative theatre, create a world where every click that they make online reveals who we are: scavengers of the transactional realm of the World Wide Web, stuck in a circular pattern of frustration – masturbation – relief – repeat. A portrait of obsession and desires that the virtual world cannot satisfy.
An international co-production between STO Union (Farrellton, Québec) and Carte blanche (Québec, Québec) with Festival TransAmériques (Montréal, Québec); HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin, Germany); Theater der Welt 2020 – Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf, Germany); and BIT Teatergarasjen (Bergen, Norway).
Developed with support from the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund.
Conceived, written, directed and performed by Christian Lapointe and Nadia Ross
Set Design Geneviève Lizotte
Videography Lionel Arnould
Lighting Design Steve Lucas
Assistant Director and Stage Manager Emanuelle Kirouac-Sanche
Technical Director on Tour and Sound Gabriel Filiatreault
Technical Director Mickaël Tétrault-Ménard
Production and Technical Assistant Robert Scott
Photography and Video David Irvine
Production Manager Emilie Martel
Producer and Tour Manager Shauna Kadyschuk
Carte blanche Administrative Coordinator Isabelle Tougne
Technical Directors (Phase 1 Development) Matéo Thébaudeau, Rob Scott
The project is part of the culture program related to Canada’s Guest of Honour presentation at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2020.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and Ville de Québec.
Winner of the Association québécoise des critiques de théâtre (AQCT)
LAURÉATS DES PRIX DE LA CRITIQUE SAISON 2017-2018 À QUÉBEC :
“The text by Lapointe and Ross deals with the obsession with desires that even the virtual world cannot satisfy. This deep web dive takes us into the darkest abysses of a humanity in search of happiness. The game of desire and unfulfilled promises becomes a tragedy in which human beings fall into infinite solitude. This powerful text built from web codes and elliptical syntax highlights the impossible communication, all words dispossessed of their meaning.”
“Le texte de Lapointe et Ross porte sur l’obsession des désirs que même le monde virtuel ne peut assouvir. Cette plongée dans le deep Web nous entraîne dans les abysses les plus sombres d’une humanité en quête de bonheur. Le jeu du désir et des promesses non tenues devient une tragédie où les humains s’abîment dans une solitude infinie. Ce texte percutant construit à partir des codes du Web et d’une syntaxe elliptique souligne l’impossible communication, tous les mots dépossédés de leur sens.”
WORKSHOP REVIEWS
“C’est une déferlante d’images, d’informations, de musiques et de vidéos qui devient la matière première de la tension dramatique. Les personnages n’échangeront à aucun moment de façon directe, mais seulement via une application de discussion (de type Messenger) particulièrement familière… La question posée est pertinente : dans une culture de l’image et de l’apparence, à l’ère de la multiplication des rencontres et de la recherche du plaisir immédiat, le théâtre et l’art peuvent-ils résister à la tentation du pornographique ? ”
“It is the flood of images, information, music and videos that becomes the raw material for the dramatic tension. The characters don’t communicate in a direct way, but only via familiar online applications, like Messenger … The question asked is relevant: in a culture of the image and the appearance, in the era of the multiple hook up and the search for the immediate pleasure, can the theatre and art resist the temptation of the pornographic?”
Nelly Desmarais, Spirale, Québec 26 mars 2018
“Après cet exposé sur la torpeur des sens, lorsque l’adrénaline retombe et que la dopamine manque, le duo quittera la scène comme on éteint l’écran de notre ordinateur. Ils ne reviendront pas saluer, cela va de soi. Ils n’existent que dans le Web profond où se tapissent les outils de notre dislocation. Une puissante interrogation sur les effets secondaires de la «pornographisation» du monde.”
“After this presentation on the idleness of the senses, when the adrenalin falls again and when the dopamine is missing, the duet will leave the stage just as if we switched off our computer. They will not come out for a curtain call, this goes without saying. They exist only in the deep Web where also hides the tools of our dislocation. A powerful interrogation on the side effects of the “pornographisation” of the world.”
Alain-Martin Richard, JEU, 26 Février 2018
TOURING HISTORY
Workshop Presentations:
- Festival mois-multi, Recto-Verso/Musée de la civilisation/Québec, Québec/23 février 2018
- La Chapelle/Montréal, Québec/9, 10 mars 2018