Approached as an elevator pitch, it’s kind of an amorphous one. The creators of Malaise dans la civilisation describe the work as “living somewhere between performance and philosophical thinkspace.”

The show, presented by Théâtre la Seizième and Pi Theatre, starts with four people entering the stage, the audience watching as they wander around like wide-eyed, bumbling, loud, and occasionally clueless tourists, subtly and playfully pushing each other’s boundaries.

A release for Malaise dans la civilisation offers this: “This small sample of humanity, tightly knit by improbable situations and mundane accidents, gradually transforms the stage’s empty space into a universe overflowing with possibilities…and absurdity. By creating a strange, playful vivarium of sorts, Alix Dufresne and Étienne Lepage’s acerbic and witty dramaturgy rattles social and theatrical conventions. The results are unusual, hilarious, and disturbing!”

If that bit about “unusual, hilarious, and disturbing” sounds a little bit like your day-to-day existence, that might be exactly the point of Malaise dans la civilisation, which translates as something we can all pretty much relate to: discontent in civilization. 

And if all this leaves one with more questions about what exactly the show is—a renegade dance piece, unflinching meta-theatre, dismantling of entrenched performance conventions, commentary on the idiocy of modern mankind?—that’s also the point.

Maybe the answer is that Malaise dans la civilisation can be whatever you want it to be if you’re willing to go in with an open mind. Kind of like life.

Théâtre la Seizième presents Malaise dans la civilisation

Where: Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie Street, Vancouver)

When: March 7 to 9

Tickets: seizieme.ca

Instagram: @laseizieme