Étienne Lou et Gabriel-Antoine Roy

Simon Larochelle

Gabriel-Antoine Roy and Étienne Lou met while studying at the National Theatre School of Canada. A special bond developed between them in Nicolas Cantin’s class, which proposed to explore presence through improvisation exercises. Through this, they discover clowning and Balinese masks, two disciplines that move them and make them vibrate at a root level. They discover a place where the acting is pure, absolute, without compromise. The practice of consent and the search for an increasingly blurred line between reality and fiction drive their approach.
After making a medium-length film in collaboration with Alex-Ann Boucher, they are now preparing a stage version of their explorations, accompanied by Alexis Boulay.

Instagram Étienne Lou Instagram Gabriel-Antoine

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This is the story of two sweaty friends with nylon stockings on their heads who looked at each other right in the eyes during a mask workshop. Their look spoke volumes… something like: “Do you see what I see? I don’t know? Do you? I have the impression that having a mask on our face allows us to go and collect some weird fishes deep inside ourselves. Does it do that to you? Yes. It’s a strange truth, a generosity even, that reveals itself to the gaze of the other person, who’s sitting and watching.” So yeah, that look meant a lot.
If these two friends were to make a big metaphor for their project, it would look something like this: Imagining dwelling on the water that has been collecting on the entrance mat for years, twisting that mat in a bucket, putting some clay in the bucket, playing with it until it forms something that can stand by itself. Finding a base to put the shape on. Maybe another one? Reworking the lump of clay as needed. Sticking a story to it? Writing? Making a video? Ask people to come and look at it. Watching people watching it. Finally, letting the lump dry for a few days before coming back to see if everything is still holding together.

©Simon Larochelle

©Alexis Boulay

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et faire des choses pour savoir ce qu’on pense, court métrage, 17 minutes, 2022