To understand the significance of the show at the Théâtre de Quat’Sous, Osstidcho, you have to know something about cursing in Quebec. While English words of anger and insult usually have to do with bodily functions, as Céline has noted a few pages back, the francophone Quebec equivalents come from religion, from the Roman Catholic church. The most powerful of these is hostie, the sacred host, which like the English fuck can be, variously, noun or verb or modifier.
In 1968, to use the word publicly was very daring. To call a popular entertainment an osstidcho (hostie de show) would be like naming one this fucking show in English. The show in question, which premiered on 28 May 1968, at the Théâtre de Quat’Sous, was as revolutionary as its creators hoped.
As were a number of the participants and some other individuals, such as the fictional Gilbert Forget, who moved in the same circles. You’ll have met some of them in the preceding pages: curly-haired Robert, author of the song about airplanes and airlines, is Robert Charlebois; the song, “Lindbergh,” is a Quebec classic and Charlebois himself can now be seen from coast to coast to coast on a postage stamp. Louise is the well-known singer Louise Forestier; Yvon, beloved monologist Yvon Deschamps; Rita, the marvelous actress Rita Lafontaine; the unnamed young theatre director, the famous André Brassard; and the hairy youth whose first play is about to be performed is famous too, as both playwright and novelist – in fact you’ve just read one of his latest.
The theatre itself, located part-way between the homes of the author and the translator of this book, was torn down some months ago and replaced by a beautiful new version in steel, cement and glass where, who knows, a landmark twenty-first-century theatre piece may well be in rehearsal at this very moment.
Sheila Fischman