Hippocampe — Satellite Théâtre

The Hippocampus is a fish.

It is the only animal where it is the male that carries the babies.

The hippocampus is also a gland that helps the brain accumulate memories.

Hippocampe is a work that talks about how the memory of the past affects the present. About how our anticipation of what's to come is like a memory we have in advance. About how being a parent means being in constant dialogue with the child you once were. Hippocampe is a father-daughter road trip between New Brunswick and Quebec, where the territory we explore is pretty much within ourselves.

Hippocampe is a theatrical story brought to life by its author and actor, Marc-André Charron.

Les Hay Babies, the multi-award-winning Acadian girl-band par excellence, have composed new original songs expressly for the show, serving as both background texture and musical interludes.

Accompanied by the soft, luminous music of his three companions, Charron plays the Dad, the Daughter, the Girlfriend, the Mother and a host of other roles with simplicity. Themes include parenthood, grief following a miscarriage and the anxiety inherent in the pandemic.

Presenting a rare male perspective on these difficult issues, Hippocampe saw the light of day at the Acadie Rock festival, following an admittedly effective 't'es pas game'.

Hippocampe is a quasi-monologue tale in which Charron plays all the characters.

Les Hay Babies' sometimes hilarious, sometimes sensitive performances offer changes of pace and breaks in tone, though this does not prevent them from taking to the stage like a live band on a few occasions.

Lionel Lehouillier, in a cameo full of humour and love, plays the only dialogue in the show.

The tone, alternating self-mockery and intimate reflections, takes the form of a gentle confession, a road-movie, an end-of-summer party.

In a simple set reminiscent of a campsite, we find ourselves in a campfire atmosphere.

Canvases hoisted high, evoking a large tent, serve as a backdrop for Annie France Noël's breathtaking images.

Although Marc-André's theatrical career is very corporeal, the emphasis here is on simplicity and economy.

There's no grand choreography, just a highly embodied actor.

“I wanted this so badly. I’ve wanted this so much. I’m going to be a dad.”

“In our minds, in our dreams, there will be a trail of breadcrumbs that no one will be able to follow through the forest.”

“But I won’t be the father of what’s growing inside her at that moment. That child will never see the light of day.”

Creative Team

Marc-André Charron

Auteur / acteur

Marc-André est un artiste de théâtre impliqué dans la création d’oeuvres audacieuses et engageantes depuis une quinzaine d’années. Son désir de créer en collectif des expériences porteuses pour le public n’a comme seul contrepoint son approche ludique et délinquante de la scène.

Gradué de l’École Jacques Lecoq à Paris et de la London International School of performing Arts en Angleterre, il a fait la mise en scène de spectacles au Canada et à l’étranger, collaborant avec des artistes de cultures et de disciplines variées. Récipiendaire de l’Éloize de l’artiste de l’année en théâtre pour l’écriture et la mise en scène de Les Trois Mousquetaires Plomberie et gagnant du Top 20 sous 40 de la ville de Moncton, il est toujours le directeur artistique de Satellite Théâtre, qu’il a co-fondé en 2009.

Son travail récent inclus OVERLAP, Les Limites du Bruit Possible et Pépins, un parcours de petites détresses. Il a choisi de travailler à Moncton, au Nouveau-Brunswick, où il habite dans une petite maison qui a un beau jardin, avec sa magnifique amoureuse, sa magnifique fille et une magnifique chatte. Marc-André est une de ces personnes à la fois ridicules et sérieuses. Il aime les Lego.

Caroline Bélisle

Dramaturgy and directing consultant

Caroline Bélisle is an actress, playwright and angry feminist working mainly in the Moncton region of New Brunswick. A graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada's playwriting program in 2020, she also completed acting training at the Université de Moncton a few years earlier.

She won the prestigious Gratien-Gélinas award for Les remugles ou La danse nuptiale est une langue morte, a play that was also a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Awards in 2022. Her work has been produced by Théâtre l'Escaouette, Satellite Théâtre, Théâtre Populaire d'Acadie and Théâtre des Béloufilles. She has also written the entire series of puppet shows for young people in the Nounours series, produced by Pays de la Sagouine. As an actress, she recently appeared in Un. Deux. Trois. by Mani Soleymanlou and in the television series Garde partagée. She has published Dîner pour deux and Les remugles with Éditions Perce-Neige, as well as a children's book with Bouton d'or d'Acadie.

Her greatest dream is to be the one to name the colours in paint. She has lots of ideas. Benjamin Moore, if you're reading this, give her a call.

Lionel Lehouillier

Actor

With a degree in theatre theory and dramaturgy from the University of Ottawa, Lionel Lehouillier directs, writes and performs. Straddling the line between theatre and social activism, he seeks to establish a dialogue between drama and activism through less traditional theatrical processes. A specialist in object theatre, Lionel's work includes Les enfants valises, L'Iliade pour les nuls and Ce pilon à patate est un demi-dieu grec.

In autumn 2022, Lionel took part in the cross-Canada tour of 1.2.3 (NAC, Orange Noyée). Last spring, he co-produced, wrote and starred in Laitue Matinal-e (co-production with Théâtre Catapulte and Théâtre du Trillium) and was part of the cast of Mesdames et Messieurs, garçons et filles (Vox Théâtre, spring 2023).

Since 2019, Lionel has been the artistic director of Théâtre Tremplin and has worked for several years in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and now Moncton!

He is currently working on his next two projects: Les enfants valises, a show about homoparentality, shared custody and Deaf culture (in partnership with Vox Théâtre), and 1-90 Perreault Est, a documentary show about the history of his grandfather (a "notorious recidivist" from the city of Rouyn) and the criminal history of white colonization in Abitibi.

Annie France Noël

Photography/Video Designer

Annie France Noël is a queer and Acadian artist, photographer and cultural worker. Her practice observes the intimate and vulnerable aspects of the human experience through a variety of photographic and interdisciplinary approaches.

Trained in photography at the Université de Moncton (2007-2010), Annie France's artistic practice is rooted in slowness and experimentation. Today, she is a recognized artist in contemporary photography.

Annie France is a devoted member of the cultural communities with which she is involved, both regionally and nationally. She sits on the board of CARFAC National, chairs the board of the Aberdeen Cultural Centre (where her studio is located), and was director of the artist-run centre Galerie Sans Nom from 2014 to 2023.

Originally from Galaget (Caraquet), she currently lives, relates and works as an uninvited guest on the unceded traditional territory of the Wolastoqiyik and Mi'kmaq peoples / Moncton NB.