Acadian folklore is bright like a diamond

Fano Maddix brings a centuries-old Acadian tale to life with Conte bright comme un diamond

Fringe Arts Olivia Johnson — Published February 20, 2025 0 minutes

Unlike traditional plays, with multiple cast members and an elaborate set design, Maddix relies on storytelling to share the centuries-old Acadian tale.

“When I'm telling a tale, it's just me up there being myself and saying words that bring images to the people. They create their own movie,” Maddix said. “It’s something very magical. A lot of things can happen in the imagination.”

The performance follows the story of Ti-Jean, one of three brothers, who loses a game of cards to the devil and ends up on a quest to find him. He has one year and a day to find the devil, otherwise he’ll experience a lifetime of misery. The story evokes a dreamy atmosphere, with fairies, half-pigeon/half-human hybrids and grandmothers, as well as elements of queerness and sex work.

Performed in Chiac, a patois of Acadian French, Conte bright comme un diamond is presented as part of WinterWorks 2025 in collaboration with Centaur Theatre. 

According to Olivier Bertrand, artistic director of La Chapelle, the show was chosen for its “alternative and transdisciplinary artistic approaches that shift the dramaturgy of traditional theatre performance.” 

“Because it's [traditional], it attracts a lot of older folks,” Maddix said. “I have a following of people above 60 that enjoy my art. And since I'm interested in queerness and sex work and all these magical things, I also attract the younger crowd, so the two mix together.”

Storytelling plays an important role in French-Canadian culture through tales, songs, legends, superstitions and proverbs passed down from early French settlers. These traditions thrived in rural areas, and many were eventually documented in the 19th century. 

Despite the rise of mass media, oral storytelling continues to play a cultural and historical role in French-speaking communities. Various regions, including Montreal, host storytelling workshops and festivals. 

“Storytelling, by its improvisational structure, is very different from my habitual composing projects for movies, theatre or my own albums,” said Abèle Kildir, a composer and violinist, who accompanied Maddix on stage.

Kildir used electronic dance music with a touch of hyperpop and house music to create an enchanting atmosphere.  

“Fano never tells the story the same way, so, even though we practiced and presented it multiple times, I never got bored of it or entered in an automatic mode,” Kildir said. “Fano always inserts a new funny element to the story. It was also very stimulating to find a sound palette that fits with the hilarious, but touching way that Fano tells the story.”

As a teenager, Maddix discovered old recordings from their great aunt, a traditional Prince Edward Island storyteller. For Maddix, these recordings were “strange and special” and “had the same aura” as the underground grunge music from the Maritimes they listened to at the time.

“I started telling those tales to my friends like how you play a song on the guitar around the fire—very casually,” Maddix explained. “Slowly, I continued telling stories and then got the chance to go up on stage.” 

While researching Acadian folklore, using archives from at the Université de Moncton in New Brunswick, Maddix found many examples of queerness and sex work.

“There were many examples of queerness in this story,” they said. “One, which is quite common, is that Ti-Jean is the brother that's different, and because of that, he's going to live a journey that his brothers will never understand.”

Maddix explained that people often have a conventional idea of folktales. They said that while many people expect folktales to be religious or moralistic, Maddix was able to find examples of sex work and elements that could be considered BDSM. 

“It’s very healing for many [queer] people to be allowed to connect with folklore and have this ancestral work,” they said. “It’s saying that these things existed. Something the right will tell us that we invented and it's trendy, and that’s not true. Having examples of queerness helps us to survive and exist and thrive.”

Conte bright comme un diamond will run until Feb. 22 and will be performed at the Maison de la culture in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts in March 2025.