Anglo theatre: Michel Marc Bouchard’s «Kisses Deep»: Mommy Dearest

by Yanik Comeau (Comunik Média / ZoneCulture)

   I saw the last performance of TNM’s production of Embrasse in 2019 as directed by Centaur Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Eda Holmes, her first time directing in French as Centaur was to then create Linda Gaboriau’s translation a few months later in the Old Montreal ex-Stock Exchange Building. Then, the pandemic hit. Theatre seasons were upended, productions were delayed, canceled… postponed till God (and Yves St. Laurent) knows when.

Leni Parker and Kevin Raymond are mesmorizing as Bea and Hugo in Michel Marc Bouchard's Kisses Deep.

   Almost six years later, with a few inevitable casting changes (and a lot of time in storage as joked Eda Holmes at the Centaur Theatre premiere Friday November 28^th!), Embrasse/Kisses Deep’s set was finally ready for the (also) newly renovated Centaur 1. But the production’s woes were not quite over. Alice Pascual, who had originated the role of Madame Maryse at TNM (and in the Productions Déferlantes “téléthéâtre” created during the pandemic, still available on the Télé-Québec platform), got a case of severe appendicitis and had to be replaced a few days before opening.

Michael Gianfrancesco's magnificent set is a slightly smaller version of the one he created for the TNM production, but Centaur Theatre is a much better venue for this intimate play.

   That said, Eda Holmes and the Centaur crew have managed to recreate a stunning piece of art. Although the TNM production was excellent, the huge venue did a disservice to Michel Marc Bouchard’s exquisite writing. In the smaller, more intimate Centaur, the audience is drawn into the drama of the dysfunctional, toxic mother-son duo of Beatrice and Hugo. As was the case for Bouchard’s masterpieces Les Muses orphelines (the pocket-size Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui on Papineau before it moved to St-Denis), Tom à la ferme (the new Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui) and Les Feluettes (Théâtre Denise-Pelletier’s quaint Salle Fred-Barry) not to mention the infinitely intimate L'Histoire de l'oie which toured around the world but had it's own stage within a stage (the small house of the main character.

Leni Parker's performance as Beatrice in Kisses Deep gives the impression that this play was waiting for her.

   Michael Gianfrancesco’s magnificent set has been lightly scaled but loses nothing of its initial magnitude while Sébastien Dionne’s costumes and color patterns show the artist's passion for fashion and haute couture. Étienne Boucher’s lighting design, Thomas Payette’s projections and Alexander MacSween’s music combine to make the whole production pop.

Between the TNM creation and Centaur's production, Michel Marc Bouchard grew the part of Sgt. Régis, inspired by actor Lyndz Dantiste's performance during rehearsals.

   Eda Holmes’ compelling, sensitive direction, and respect for the beautiful Linda Gaboriau (master of Tremblay and Bouchard) translation and original Michel Marc Bouchard story (which the author partially re-worked for this production during the rehearsal process) is nothing short of remarkable. Montreal’s two main English-language theatre companies are presently “run” by two amazingly talented and creative directors (Lisa Rubin being the other, of course). I had to get that in here.

Yves Jacques reprises de the role au the ghost of legendary designer Yves St. Laurent in Kisses Deep.

   Which brings me to the cast. Recent “late-bloomer” Dawson College graduate Kevin Raymond, who had had a nothing-to-sneeze-at early career as a teen and young adult on the Montreal stage and Québec television scene, shines as the tormented, über-sensitive Hugo, a young man torn between his passion for fashion and dream of becoming a great designer like his ghost of an idol Yves St. Laurent (the amazing Yves Jacques reprises the role he created at TNM), and the metaphorical yoke of his overbearing mother Béatrice, played by English-Montreal theatre royalty Leni Parker (who blew me away in both Corps Titan at Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui and Thy Woman’s Weeds at Centaur). Raymond and Parker blend perfectly and create a heart-wrenching dynamic that beats the already formidable Anne-Marie Cadieux/Théodore Pellerin pairing from the original production. Not that we should compare.

   Lyndz Dantiste, who plays Sgt. Régis, gives the security guard/policeman character a more colourful and deep persona, helped by Bouchard’s inspiration of him to bolster the role. And then there is Amelia Sarguisson who stepped into the role of teacher Madame Maryse and who managed to be off-book just days after having to dive into the deep end. She was totally phenomenal on opening night, seizing each little detail of the much more quirky character than in the original production. Apparently, Sarguisson’s replacement Rebecca Gibian is just as wonderful, according to an inside source.

   All around, this amazing production of one of Michel Marc Bouchard’s great plays proves Eda Holmes and Centaur Theatre’s undying love for Québécois dramaturgy after offering us beautiful productions of Evelyne de la Chenellière’s Strawberries in January and Michel Tremblay’s For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again last season, and before Marie-Claude Verdier Seeker later this season.

Kisses Deep (Embrasse) by Michel Marc Bouchard Translation by Linda Gaboriau

Directed by Eda Holmes

Starring Leni Parker, Kevin Raymond, Yves Jacques, Lyndz Dantiste, Alice Pascual (replaced by Amelia Sarguisson and Rebecca Gibian)

Set Design: Michael Gianfrancesco

Costume Design: Sébastien Dionne

Lighting Design: Étienne Boucher

Music & Sound Design: Alexander MacSween

Video Design: Thomas Payette

Stage Manager: Melanie St-Jacques

Assistant Stage Manager: Elyse Quesnel

Head of Props: Karine Cusson

Makeup: Audrey Toulouse

Hair and Wigs: Sarah Tremblay and Rachel Tremblay

A Centaur Theatre Company production

From November 26^th to December 14^th, 2025 (duration: 1h30, no intermission)

Centaur Theatre, 453, rue Saint-François-Xavier, Vieux-Montréal

Reservations: 514-288-3161

Information: https://centaurtheatre.com/shows/kisses-deep/

Photos: Andrée Lanthier