Coma Unplugged

A first-class cast drives us through a multiplicity of emotions

By: C M
Oct 25, 2011 - 10:45

Coma Unplugged puts the audience in the midst of lead character Daniel Martin’s post-divorce depression and existential interrogation, while he is in coma. Daniel writes weekly humour columns in Le Journal. His entourage claims he is successful but his success hasn’t proved fulfilling.

As the play unravels the fictional and non-fictional characters in Daniel’s life come to life on stage. They sometimes trigger laughter immediately, like Roger. We’ll explain later why. Others make us ponder as well as laugh. All act as metaphors in the play which drives a myriad of emotional responses.

All characters represent an incarnation of different values which are in conflict inside Daniel’s spirit. The crazy-funny mother, Madeleine a.k.a Susan Glover, who divorced Daniel’s father portrays the situation he is fleeing from: being a divorcee. As to Ishouad, the imaginary Touareg warrior, his traditional values of honour remind Daniel how much he can’t stand the contemporary Occidental values of individualism. Lastly, Roger is the angry man whose testosterone is challenged by women and his masculine honour overridden. It reflects Daniel’s masculinity which has been unbalanced by his powerful wife he still loves.

Éloi Archambaudin plays Daniel exquisitely. As an anti-hero his life is successful and yet he is an unhappy man, extraordinary critical and perceptive of his own existence. Most of all, he is paying the consequences of his separation of which he is obviously partly responsible.

Pierre Michel Tremblay’s English translation has been beautifully written by Micheline Chevrier and some sentences make us linger throughout the play. Because they reflect the protagonist auto-destructive thoughts and also since they entail some truth in them. Amongst others while discussing nature we remember the highly sociological: “Nature is a concept that’s highly overrated”.

At the end of the play we are back to Daniel initial combat. Is he going to fight for survival and come out of his coma? Or will he choose to be resigned to a fate of never loving anymore?

Coma Unplugged plays until October 29th at Studio Jean Valcourt, Conservatoire d'Art Dramatique de Montréal.

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