La surface blanche

To open its 32^nd edition, the Festival international de la littérature (FIL) brings together Maxim Gaudette, James Hyndman and Emmanuel Schwartz, accompanied on stage by pianist Viviane Audet, in La surface blanche, a staged reading created to mark the 20^th anniversary of Éditions La Peuplade. Inspired by Icelandic writer Gyrðir Elíasson’s trilogy on solitude and creation, the performance takes us into the daily lives of three artists—a painter, a writer and a composer—living in seclusion in small northern villages. Surrounded by fjords, the sea, winter and silence, each seeks the strength to continue creating. In Eric Jean’s spare staging, the performers’ voices, music, video and lighting come together to create an evocative landscape in which time seems suspended. An immersion in a work of great beauty, exploring solitude, creation and the desire to carry on.