“Marie Brassard is a sorceress. She captivates you with her very first glance, her very first word. . . . What charisma! You’d follow her anywhere.” – Amélie Giguère, Ici
Peepshow is a one woman performance utilizing new sound technologies to play all the parts. Odd as it may sound, it doesn’t rely on voyeuristic thrills so much as touching a very human center with stories that tackle taboo subjects. When are we more exposed emotionally than during the desires that come with sex, and surround the mystery that we have made into desire?
Marie Brassard, the writer, co-creator and performer, admits that the experiences of the characters all come from her own life, though loosely based and often “poetically modified” to serve the unity of the piece. The cast’s haunting voices range from a school child who wont accept easy answers in a game of cat an mouse, to a curious young woman experiencing bondage for the first time. There are over a dozen characters whose voices travel through the theater, telling stories that touch the intimate and forbidden behaviors of human beings.
”You get the impression that the characters are only ever going to tell their story once and so it feels like a peepshow - you’re hearing things your not supposed to,” explained Marketing Manager Lisa Moffat.
Brassard aims to explore the ”lost child” who, in this version of the story, seeks her demons out rather than running from them; the experiences the child craves is with the monster’s rougher, colder, more intense lessons about life, love and sex.
When interviewed in her first showing in Melbourne, Brassard spoke about representing taboos on stage. A play about taboos immediately suggests something rough, raw and explicit.
“But this is not what I wanted to do; I don’t think that is in me. It is more to do with tenderness and humanity; it was more about this search we all have for the extraordinary. I guess that I wanted, like the monster in the play, to take people watching the play by the hand, gently, and let them feel less lonely when they see this panorama of experiences.”
Peepshow is ultimately about story telling. Some of the tales are extremely funny; Brassards loyalty to spoken word as an art form brings down the physicality of live theater just enough to make you sit and listen. There is a carefully threaded belief that the pain of these experiences will bring happiness.
“And who is really happy, in a way? We all have moments of happiness, but we also have moments of longing for something that is not there in our lives. Sometimes people are longing for love, but sometimes they are just longing for a thing that is missing.”

Theatre Junction presents
Peepshow
November 14th – 17th
At the Grand (612 8th Ave SW)
www.atthegrand.ca

Tickets:
Wed/Thurs - $20
Fri/Sat - $25
Students (any night) - $15