Press reviews
The Gossip Ladies is Michel Tremblay’s first play. Written in 1965 and staged in 1968, the play has been named “the most important, singular event in the history of the theatre in Quebec” and it is studied in all Canadian high schools. Tremblay has a complex style. He starts from naturalistic observation and builts a concert of explosive monologues and choirs.It may appear to be a simple play, but, as W. Gordon. Smith says, in his review of the staging in Tron Glasgow Theatre, “The Gossip Ladies is a theatrical jewel, that seems a vulgar cheap mineral, but is, in reality, an authentic diamond”. In 1987, the Lire magazine lists the play among the 49 all-time plays one should read, in order to learn about drama.
Written in an aparent comical register, the play shows the tragedy of each of the 15 women, the alienation and frustrations af a whole generation, brought up in the narrow-mindedness of the Quebec suburbs.
The staging of The Gossip Ladies at the Odeon Theatre gives us the chance to see almost all the actresses from Odeon. They build a collective character that goes from false politeness to denigration, denial and hate.
Written in an aparent comical register, the play shows the tragedy of each of the 15 women, the alienation and frustrations af a whole generation, brought up in the narrow-mindedness of the Quebec suburbs.
The staging of The Gossip Ladies at the Odeon Theatre gives us the chance to see almost all the actresses from Odeon. They build a collective character that goes from false politeness to denigration, denial and hate.
– Dreptatea
Petre Bokor used his experience as a filmmaker very well. The scenes have an alert rhythm, the monologues alternate with the dialogues, the close-ups and the general plans, thus emphasizing both themes of the play: the woman’s condition ( that in Canada is as poor as in anywhere else in the world), and the obssesion of a financial lucky strike ( that has begun to haunt Romanian society, as well).
The performance has rhythm and tension, humour and sadness…
The performance has rhythm and tension, humour and sadness…
– Teatrul Azi