There are just 84 words in Waves, All That Glow Sees, the world-trotting piece of theatre for young audiences that’s soon to make its St. Albert debut.  

That’s including a song: the show creates a magical atmosphere of sound and imagery while keeping vocabulary to a minimum—ideal for its young audiences who may be their very first theatrical experiences. 

“The director of Théâtre des Confettis [where the show was created], wanted to explore the possibility of making a show for the younger children, 18 to 36 months. That’s where it started,” Guy Daniel Tremblay, one of the show’s performers, explains. “The best way was to go through feelings, sensations.” 

That means an intimate, imaginative experience at the Arden: Waves takes place inside of a large tent—which the audience enters by following a path made of shells and stones. It features just two performers, Tremblay and musician Josué Beaucage, letting imagination guide them as they wait for their mother. 

[Show creator Véronique Côté] wanted something very zen, calm. So the idea is about two brothers on on the verge of going to sleep,” Tremblay says. “Mommy's in the house, doing things and we start to play. And then we go into our imaginary world. We take [the audience] with us. 

“Everybody is surprised that we can keep them occupied for 35 minutes nonstop,” he continues, about earning the focus of their particularly young audiences. “There was one thing at the creation [of the show] we established, that it's about two minutes thirty [seconds], before they get bored by something. So we break the rhythm every two, three minutes.” 

Waves is very calming, Tremblay adds: a simple but creative celebration of childlike wonder, and one that’s managed to have an enduring life on the road. Since its debut in 2012, Waves has been performed more than 350 times across four continents. Tremblay’s been in its cast since the beginning, and he’s quick to note that he hasn’t grown tired of it.  

“It feels like home,” Tremblay says. “I might be anywhere in the world if I'm in my tent … I'm at home.” 

Article Written By: Paul Blinov

Waves, All That Glow Sees runs from Friday January 19 to Saturday January 20 at the Arden Theatre. Ticket information can be found at stalbert.ca/exp/arden. 

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