False Starts: A Subterfuge of Excellent Wit

False Starts presents a series of determining moments between two people stuck reliving the same scene over and over, but in unexpected ways and in different genres (from diary to dramatic dialogue, film script to sound installation). Their interdependence and fundamental inability to say how they feel about one another over twenty years – in spite of their eloquence, in spite of their creativity – constitutes the background of the ongoing spectacle of their relationship.

Made up of a series of short pieces originally published in French as Dialogues fantasques pour causeurs éperdus , this translation by the author and Alexandre St-Laurent with Katia Grubisic also includes other previously unpublished texts. Originally staged for the stage, screen, and elevator at Montreal’s matralab.

Like the dual perspectives in the play, two commentators – Jenn Stephenson and Nicole Nolette – each contribute an introduction exploring the piece from quite different points of view.

Cast of 1 man and 1 woman.