Le Jour de l'ours

The play is presented as a ritual. A pagan end-of-winter ceremony. A feast - in the medieval sense of the word - where alcohol, desire, fatigue and death prowl and reign, sweeping the characters off their feet. The scene is the grassy courtyard of a mountain farmhouse, in the middle of the forest, in the cold, rapidly fading gloom of late winter. We're in Marie's house. She's lived here alone since the accidental death of her partner and their daughter. Her house is crumbling, but, like its occupant, is holding up well in the elements. Into this space, which is one of shattered dreams as well as of reconstruction, other protagonists unexpectedly invite themselves. A long-time friend - possible lover and secretly in love. A young woman he brings here on a breakaway trip to try to break the cycle of prostitution. A nephew who's come to get away from it all and restore his health after an excessive youth. In five movements - three nights and two days - these four will discover each other, confront each other, bond, tear each other apart, right up to the irreparable.