Snail's Shadow reveals special connection

Buying or making a birthday present for a sibling sounds simple enough. Just ask what they want.

But what do you do if your sibling can’t speak or even understand your words?

Such is the dilemma for Brother (Israel Gamache), whose beloved smiling sister sits in a wheelchair. He has a truckload of energy and the gift of gab. In contrast, Valerie (Melanie Therrien) cannot speak. She does not walk and moves her body in strange, twisted ways.

They are different, but between them is a special unbreakable bond of love and understanding. Brother wants to make her happy, but he cannot fathom the mysteries that hide behind her eyes. He dreams about her dancing and presto – a Ballerina (Valerie Laroche) appears.

“He is full of questions and when he looks in the eyes of his sister he wonders what she thinks, what she dreams. He cannot know what is in her shell. To find out, you will have to break it, to hurt it to find out,” said Jean-Philippe Joubert, artistic director for Nuage en Pantalon.

The Quebec-based family theatre company makes its St. Albert debut with The Snail’s Shadow at the International Children’s Festival running May 28 to June 1.

Honing his theatre skills at Quebec City’s Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, Joubert founded Nuage in 2001 with three classmates. All equally eager to tell their own stories, they combined text and dance with shadow imagery and technology.

The Snail’s Shadow has special meaning to Joubert since the play’s muse is his younger, disabled sister Sophie. She suffers from Rett syndrome and is wheelchair-bound, unable to speak and walk.

As a young boy, Joubert recalls going to the shopping centre with his mother and sister. Small children as young as five would come up to Sophie amazed by the difference and the strangeness of the little girl.

“I learned about the differences and I accepted the mystery of the differences. My parents taught me my sister was different and I was full of comprehension. I found it normal. I knew if I stayed with her, I would discover her language and how to communicate with her.”

When the Nuage collective was initially creating this 50-minute show, one of the dancers took a break outdoors and spotted a fragile snail slowly making its way across the ground.

“We were fascinated by the idea of snails and we started to build a comparison to the girl in the wheelchair. When you see the snail’s harmony of movement and how he carries his house, it’s like the girl who carries her wheelchair everywhere she goes.”

In this simple narrative embracing movement and ballet, Joubert adds multi-dimensional technology. A screen in the shape of a snail and projections from behind allow the audience to follow the characters’ innermost thoughts and dreams.

“There is something precious about this show and how it appreciates differences. The show is in fact really funny. Even though we talk about deep stuff, it’s very funny. We would like to create a path that appreciates the disabled child and recognize that they are unique, and their experiences are very precious.”