Cast: Annick Bergeron, Eric Bernier, Gérald Gagnon, Reda Guerinik, Andrée Lachapelle, Marie-Claude Langlois, Isabelle Leblanc, Isabelle Roy, Richard Thériault

In the introduction to Scorched, by Wajdi Mouawad describes the play as an exploration of  “the questions of origins”.  The story centres on twins – a brother Simon and sister Janine  – who are summoned to the office of a notary to hear the last will and testament of their mother, Nawal.  They are both handed a letter written by their mother; one is to be delivered to their brother and one to their father.  And the mystery begins - both thought their father was dead and never knew of a brother. The letters send them on a journey into their mother’s past – to a Middle Eastern country engulfed in a civil war where she was a political activist and later became a prisoner of war.  The play also follows the life of Nawal from her youth and her liberation through education to her final years spent in silence.  Through poetic language and startling imagery, the play connects the origins of these three members of a family in startling and unforgettable ways. 

Wajdi Mouawad has said: "There is a certain reticence these days to tell our stories, a tendency to position the story as a trap for intelligence, so that the latter can only be expressed through formalism pushed to the limit. History tells us that the story has often been the cradle of dictators – as such it must be rejected, banished. What, then, are our stories today – or, to put it another way, what stories can we trust to provide a gathering place for our individual and collective souls? "