Albertine, en cinq temps Catherine Major
Festival Classica

Created in 1984, Michel Tremblay’s play Albertine, en cinq temps tells the story of a 70-year-old woman who, in a nursing home, travels through her memories at different stages of life. Even at the age of 30, Albertine already felt that nothing—not even the boundless sky—would ever be able to contain her lust for life.

Albertine’s character and the evolution she undergoes are that of the typical Quebec Catholic working-class mother from before the Quiet Revolution. Half a century after the Grande Noirceur—a period marked by rigid conservatism and economic stagnation—women have gained important rights. Motherhood and the family have profoundly changed, as have religion and culture. Despite all this progress, Albertine’s rage has not subsided. When it comes down to it, do her children really face different possibilities and challenges than she did?

Albertine, en cinq temps tells the story of a complex woman reflecting on her life, grappling with past choices, regrets and the constraints of her personal relationships and a patriarchal society. Tremblay’s compelling character is the ideal focal point for this all-female ensemble, led by director and producer Nathalie Deschamps. Six singers and five musicians perform the operatic version of Tremblay’s play, which is the first opera in the Quebec dialect of joual. Set to captivating music by Catherine Major, with a libretto by the Collectif de la Lune Rouge.