Tech start-up satire hits the stage at the Segal Centre
How To Survive In the Wild, previously Manuel de la vie sauvage, has been given new life in its English-language debut
Manuel de la vie sauvage, a 2018 French novel adapted into a play and French-language TV show, returns translated with the English-language play How to Survive in the Wild at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts.
Set in modern day Montreal, the show is a social satire that parodies the format of tech mogul conferences and tackles themes such as AI and tech industry culture, which have only gotten more topical since the release of the original novel in 2018.
“It's a show with a lot of bite,” assistant director David Noël said. “[It] takes place in a dog-eat-dog world that is also a mirror to society. [...] I would hope it would bring people to reflect on what matters most to them. Is it success, is it money, is it relationships?”
The play, which premiered Sept. 14, opens with the announced introduction of fictional tech mogul, Kevin Bérard. As he comes out on stage, he addresses the audience directly, and begins to talk about his own success and how we, too, may succeed like he has.
Kevin’s conference is repeatedly interrupted by flashbacks of the events that led him to this moment: the creation and outcome of his app and company, Huldu. Huldu is an AI chatbot that allows users to communicate with artificial versions of deceased loved ones.
Technology plays a key role in the production, with the set designed to resemble a tech conference stage featuring four large TV screens mounted to create two columns. Oumy Dembele, who plays the character Claude, emphasized the challenges of working on such a technically demanding show within a tight six to seven week rehearsal period.
“It’s a show that is very, very, very technological,” Dembele said, “and so the production of the play took centre stage near the end of the process.”
As the play dives into the high-stakes world of tech and success, it gets you thinking about what you might give up to make it big.
“There is a, ‘What are you willing to sacrifice in order to succeed?’ question,” director and translator Rebecca Gibian said. “But then there’s the more specific question of, ‘Would you download this app?’”
The English-language adaptation has breathed new life into How to Survive in the Wild, originally written by Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard. It also bridges the historical divide between French and English theatre in Montreal.
“Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard and the story were so well known on the French side, and completely unknown in my world of anglophone Montreal,” Gibian said. “He is such a figure in Quebecois art and culture, and it felt like such an opportunity to share that figure and that art.”
The translation process brought elements of French culture into the anglophone production, both literally and in underlying cultural quality.
“Most of the cast is bilingual,” Gibian said. “It just sort of happened that way; it wasn’t an intent. [...] There's something about that that really made the process richer, and made the translation better.”
Both the cast and crew stem from diverse backgrounds.
“I love the idea of bridging the gaps,” Noël said. “The text takes place in modern-day Montreal, and it's such a Montreal show. [...] English and French really do collide.”
The diversity of the cast can also be attributed to the production company that put on the show, Persephone Productions. The Montreal-based theatre company is dedicated to serving emerging and local artists.
“Our company is about giving those people opportunities and a platform, that’s something I always want to emphasize when I talk about the play is to talk about the company and these people,” said Gibian, who is also the artistic director at Persephone Productions. “It's something that I’m really proud of.”
Performances of How To Survive In the Wild are currently running at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts until Sept. 29.
