THE TRIGGER: VOYAGER & GOLDEN RECORD

1977
NASA launches the two Voyager probes to scan Jupiter, Saturn and other outer reaches of the solar system. However, on the side of the probes, the astrophysicist Carl Sagan places a disc covered with gold which condenses essential information on humanity, the Golden Record, in the event that Voyager crosses intelligent life forms.

2022
On the stage of the Théâtre Denise-Pelletier: five astronomy enthusiasts invite us to an encounter between fiction and documentary. Taking up the reflection of Sagan and his team, the quintet, whose friendship sometimes wavers, tries to position itself on this propensity that humans have to archive themselves, to send thoughts and pieces above themselves. of intimacy. And to hope that one day, all the planets will hear them.

In this hybrid and fascinating show, the performers ask: do we still recognize ourselves in this record that will represent humanity for the next 5 billion years?

Si jamais vous nous écoutez is reflected in two parts: a digital and a scenic.

An interactive digital experience is first used to immerse the public in the adventure of the Voyager probes, and to collect data that will be considered by the Golden Record creation committee.

Created in co-production at the Festival TransAmériques under the title Dans le nuage.

Premiered at Festival TransAmériques, Montreal, June 7, 2021.

Development with the support of the National Creation Fund of the National Arts Center (Ottawa).

We believe that today it is necessary to build a mythology around this adventure so that it continues to resonate and that we continue to recognize ourselves in this message sent to extraterrestrial civilizations. We felt like we needed to inject something personal into it, give it substance, and imagine a space where our time can also dialogue with this eternal projection of the human. Our era is archived more than any other before it, but what is the meaning of these archives and to whom do we address them?

Current NASA computers have great difficulty in communicating with Voyager's onboard computers. We will lose probably contact with the probes by 2025. At the dawn of this event, do we want to add one last thing? Do we still recognize ourselves in this disc which will represent humanity for the next 5 billion years?

In collaboration with the audience, this show is an opportunity to enrich the contents of the golden disc, bequeathed by Sagan and his team. This reconstitution non-historical of the creation of the Golden Record is a tribute to the Voyager program. Today, as at the time of the launch of two probes, humanity is afraid for its survival. This show of science-reality seeks to make visible the entanglement of culture human and technological innovation, to reflect on what will remain of us, together. Waiting for the answer to the Golden record implies a undertaking of unprecedented continuity for humans. And we the invite us to the theater, the ephemeral art of ephemeral arts, to listen to it. We want to create an act of union in a context of great divisions policies, where the distance between bodies is unprecedented.

Produced by La Messe Basse
Conceived + Written + directed by Maxime Carbonneau + Laurence Dauphinais
Cast Robin-Joël Cool + Évelyne Rompré + Phara Thibault + Olivier Morin + Simon Landry-Désy
Assistant Director + Stage Manager Delphine Rochefort-Boulanger
Dramaturgical Advisor Julie-Michèle Morin
Lighting Design Julie Basse
Set Design Max-Otto Fauteux
Video Creation Amelia Scott
Video integration Pierre Laniel
Music Navet Confit
Costume Design Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt
Props Julie Measroch
Artistic Advisor Dany Boudreault
Makeup + Hair Justine Denoncourt-Bélanger
Production Manager Mathilde Boudreau
Technical Director Rebecca Brouillard + Pierre Laniel
Voice Coaching Myëlle
Online Experience Script Maxime Carbonneau + Laurence Dauphinais
Online Experience Director + Technical Director + Programmer Osman Zeki
Game Designer Ruben Farrus
Artistic Director + 3D Modeling Romain Tavenard
Sound Design + Integration Joël-Aimé Beauchamp
Co-produced by Festival TransAmériques

Developed with the support of National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund (Ottawa)

2021
FTA ’21, first draft of the show as Dans le nuage

2022
Théâtre Denise-Pelletier, November 9-25, 2022