Courtesy of the PCLNEvelyne de la Chenelière, translated by Morwyn Brebner
Loneliness
Relationships
Self-Esteem
Society
2004
“The character who serves as the focal point in Public Disorder is a young, unemployed actor, who does not understand why he no longer has work, is never invited to auditions, and does not even have the opportunity of doing commercials. He is using public transportation in a large city, that is to say he is in a bus with several other passengers who get on and off as the play progresses. The public disorder arises on the bus from the ability he suddenly develops, and from which he cannot escape, to share the unspoken thoughts and feelings of those around him.
His reaction and response to these thoughts and feelings, including their revelation of his own distorted view of himself and of the world, cause considerable upset for him and the others. In fact, the disorder is not only in him but shared in one form or another by everyone else. The dramatic conflict of he play derives from the resistance within himself and when confronted by others to such clairvoyance and to the enigmatic human solidarity it illumines.” (From “Introduction to Public Disorder (Désorde public)” in Anthology of Quebec Women’s Plays in English Translation Volume Three 1997-2009))
Alex
Andre
Ariane
Brian
Chinese Person
Cop
Daniel
Emily
Erwin
Father
Jacqueline
Jocelyne
Lady
Louis
Man
Marie-Christine
Max
Mother
Nathalie
Old Man
Old Woman
Patrick
Pauline
Ricardo
Stephane
Woman
Other Characters
NOTE: Both premiere productions used double casting with 8 actors.
Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental, 2004. Espace Go, 2006.
Public Disorder is available through Playwrights Canada Press in Anthology of Quebec Women’s Plays in English Translation Volume Three 1997-2009), edited by Louise H Forsyth.
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