Respirer sous l'eau is an immersive theatrical and sound installation centred on the search for hope. Audience members are embedded within the set โ some lying on beds, others seated bedside or positioned in the background โ and experience the performance through headphones.
The piece weaves together three true stories. The creator herself recounts learning to live with the sudden, wordless loss of someone close. A second thread follows George, a young Syrian refugee with muscle cancer since age two, whose family was sponsored by members of the theatre community, including creator Klervi Thienpont, upon arriving in Montreal at age five.
The third narrative ventures into a disturbing phenomenon documented in Sweden: resignation syndrome, in which refugee children, upon learning their asylum applications have been denied and that deportation awaits, fall into a prolonged sleep-like state, suspended between worlds, waiting for a spark of hope to call them back.
All three stories circle the same longing: the restoration of hope. The production is presented by Hotel-Motel in collaboration with La Chapelle Scรจnes Contemporaines.
Tickets are available through the Tuxedo Billet platform. Performances run at 19:30 most evenings, with a 16:00 matinรฉe on Saturday, October 17.