Entre proximité et distance : comique et rire bergsonien dans le théâtre de Fabien Cloutier
Fabien Cloutier’s plays spark copious laughter in spectators, but said laughter is often accompanied by a sense of discomfort which takes over the theatre. What part does the comic play in Fabien Cloutier’s work, and what is the function of audience members’ laughter during performances? This paper argues that laughter, as provoked by Fabien Cloutier’s theatre, serves a fundamentally critical purpose. Using the dynamics of both identification and distanciation at play in Fabien Cloutier’s theatre, this paper proposes that the critical function of laughter in plays Scotstown, Cranbourne, Billy [Les jours de hurlement] and Pour réussir un poulet be studied in light of the Bergsonian theory of laughter, which conceives of laughter as a social corrective.
Fabien Cloutier Theatre Contemporary Québec theatre The comic Laughter