Autour du Lactume

Throughout his lifetime, Réjean Ducharme was present while remaining hidden. Such was his fate. Just after his death a new book suddenly appeared straight from his past: Le Lactume, 198 drawings accompanied by very Ducharmian captions. It had been sent to a publisher in 1966 and promptly forgotten. Returned to the writer in 2001, the drawings and captions were published in 2017, intact. And the presence of the wild and crazy 23-year-old Ducharme is palpable, drawing and commenting on his rebellions, observations and daydreams in a Quebec in the throes of social and political upheaval. A long work table, five piles of drawings, music and, above all, the actress Markita Boies, a favourite of Ducharme. With a childlike seriousness, slightly mocking and unfailingly sincere, just what’s required to enter into Ducharme’s world, Martin Faucher has orchestrated a playful, poetic moment, radiant and affectionate and imbued with great love for life, death, art, beauty and the deceased writer.