Belgian company Kosmocompany will be at Montreal's Maison Théâtre with its play “Norman, it’s like normal except for one letter”.
The play raises a today’s theme and deconstructs the notion of 'normality' by getting us thinking about various 21st-century stereotypes. Norman is a 7-year-old boy who likes to wear pink skirts. It's shocking and disturbing, even more the day he wears one to school.
Kosmocompany is on tour in Canada, from April 17th to 21st in Quebec City, April 23rd in Saint-Jérôme, April 25th to 26th in Longueil and May 1st to 12th in Montreal.
For all ages (4th year primary to 1st cycle secondary), come and discover these artists from May 1st to 12th 2024 in Montreal .
Summary
In a faraway land not so far away lives Norman, a 7-year-old boy who loves wearing dresses. In the garden, the more he spins, the more it flies, the happier he is. Every morning he goes to school. One day, he gets permission to go in his favourite item of clothing, a dress, and a pink one. School trips will never be quite the same again.
In the corner of the stage is a calendar, counting down the days since D-Day, the day the dress was worn. It's an ordinary piece of clothing that destabilises Norman's friends and family, both near and far. With its pop, inventive, tonic and offbeat staging, where pink blends with denim shades, the show favours humour, dance, wordplay and storytelling. The author's repetitive, uncomplicated and distanced writing allows the characters to talk about themselves in the third person, telling their version of the story.
Through the anecdote of clothing, “Norman, it’s like normal except for one letter” joyfully evokes the relationship with the norm, the acceptance of difference and the cultural codes of gender. Never didactic, even less moralizing, it encourages us to reflect on our own position in the face of diversity.
The kosmocompany is a framework for Clément Thirion's creative work. As an actor, choreographer, writer and director, he develops a stage language that draws on his multiple sensibilities. His creations take a look at the human being in all its contradictions through formal and aesthetic research. This approach is developed on a tightrope between dance and theatre, gentleness and cruelty, naivety and fatalism, intellectual demands and simplicity of gesture. The company stages projects by Clément Thirion. He writes, choreographs, acts and directs each play. Kosmocompany puts on shows that are accessible to all, children and adults alike, and offers training and courses for anyone wishing to discover the world of theatre. kosmocompany.net
