About the Play:

You Will Remember Me (English version of Tu te souviendras de moi) is a full-length play by François Archambault translated by Bobby Theodore. The play by one of Quebec's most dynamic voices portrays a family whose aging patriarch – a university professor, long-time sovereigntist and intellectual force – is in the early stages of dementia. With humour, love, and compassion, each family member reacts in their own way to the challenges of creating room in their lives for his care. A powerful drama that raises broader questions of the role memory plays in all our lives.

You Will Remember Me is a story about memory – personal, familial, and societal – that follows a family's struggle with dementia. Edouard is a highly respected university professor and historian, a figure prominent in the public eye, and a long-time sovereignist. He has been proud throughout his life of his prodigious memory. As memory fails, Edouard tests the ability of family members to care for him. He can recite famous historical dates but can't remember what he ate for breakfast. When a suppressed memory springs to life in the form of a cell phone-obsessed young girl he confuses for a lost family member, he gets a chance to reinvent the past and heal old wounds. The play also examines collective memory and the current state of affairs in Québec. Edouard has been appearing on talk shows since his retirement, railing against the dumbing down of society and the adverse effects of technology. François Archambault uses personal memory as a foil and metaphor to explore social memory, particularly re-examining moments from the history of the Parti Québécois. Subtle, moving, and funny, You Will Remember Me shows that living completely in the present moment is a nightmare. Hearkening to the past, and memory, are essential for the human condition.

Tu te souviendras de moi premiered in French in 2014 in a production by Théâtre La Manufacture at La Licorne Theatre in Montréal, Québec. You will Remember Me premiered English in 2014 by Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary, and then opened in 2015 at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. The Québec English-language premiere was in 2017 at Centaur Theatre in Montréal. The play has been performed in regional, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 3 female, 2 male

What people say:

"You Will Remember Me is personal, familial and political: It's the first new play in a long time to occasion honest tears." — The National Post

"A curious and evolving portrayal of family dynamics and how memory and identity plays into that. What emerges are some touching and unexpected connections. … On one level, this is a play about a specific family dealing with dementia, but it also speaks to a wider social phenomenon. … What does it mean for a society to have a kind of collective dementia when it comes to its own history? Archambault offers no answer, but he leaves us with memorable questions." — Richmond News

"[A] thought-provoking, mind-bending drama…." — Tap Into Mahopac

"Bobby Theodore's adept English translation [of] François Archambault's acclaimed 2014 play Tu te souviendras de moi, a big hit, [was first produced in Calgary and is now on stage in Toronto.] … Memory is a central preoccupation, of course, in Quebec, where the imperative to remember the province/nation's ongoing fight for recognition is embossed on its licence plates: Je me souviens. … Part of the success of Archambault's play is his lightness of touch with the national metaphor: this is principally an intergenerational family story exploring the painful effects of memory loss with sensitivity and wit." — Toronto Star

"There's a kind of genius in You Will Remember Me. … What really makes the play work, though, is its narrative flexibility. … it's core is compelling." — The Georgia Straight

About the Playwright:

François Archambault is a Québec playwright who has authored or co-authored more than twenty plays, many of which have been translated into English, German and Italian, and produced across Canada and in Europe. Born in Montréal, and raised in its suburbs, he graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada's playwriting program and established his importance on the Québec theatre scene with the award-winning 15 secondes (15 Seconds), a darkly humorous play about social alienation arising from superficial relationships.

Bobby Theodore is a Canadian screenwriter, playwright, and translator who is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada's playwriting program. His first translation, François Archambault's 15 Seconds, was produced across Canada and earned him a nomination for the Governor General's Award for Literary Translation in 2000. Since then, he has gone on to translate over 20 plays from French to English, including the works of some of Quebec's most talented playwrights.