The Divine

“It’s [Bouchard’s] best work, and the most exciting new Canadian play in years. … Sex embraced or coerced, religion used or abused, exploitation industrial and institutional, theatre celebrated and satirized and satirizing itself: it’s a heady mix, and I wondered halfway through if the ingredients could be kept in balance. It turns out that they can. This is a play with an all-conquering narrative drive and an abundance of twists; there are no unabsorbing moments.”
– National Post

“a wonderful wrestling match between art, religion and business … a moving and entertaining yarn drawn from our own history … a play that is constantly pulling the rug out from underneath itself – and yet somehow keeps landing on its feet with only a few wobbles, quickly righted … The Divine is a rebuttal to its own criticisms about theatre – and [a solid] justification of the Shaw Festival’s own existence…”
– Globe and Mail

“Michel Marc Bouchard's play quivered with sexual tension. A five-alarm blaze.”
– Gary Smith, The Hamilton Spectator

“Simply put The Divine is divine. … The writing alone makes the production worth watching. The Divine will certainly leave the audience with plenty to think about … The cast performs admirably in the Shaw production, delivering on the complex themes of the script.”
– Niagara This Week

“Bouchard takes a real event in history – the visit of legendary French actress Sarah Bernhardt to Québec City in 1905 – and uses it to cast some dazzling new light on the themes that this gifted author has pursued with passion for all of his career: the destruction of innocence, the inequalities in his native province’s social and religious systems, and the healing capability of theatre in the face of these ills. … Bouchard writes with power, using broad strokes of language (muscularly translated by Linda Gaboriau) … Virtually every scene in the play makes its points well and leaves you thinking afterwards.”
– Toronto Star

“In some ways it is uniquely Canadian. But the power and passion … will resonate with audiences around the world because it speaks so directly to the most fundamental issue of our time – the corruption of and exploitation by the institutions we believed were created to protect and serve us. … profound and timely. … It will become a timeless Canadian classic.”
– ShalomLife.com

“the most extraordinary play of the [2015 Shaw] festival … always compelling, and even intensely moving. Surely this play has a solid future.” – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“a fascinating, moving, ambitious piece of theatre”
– NOW Toronto

“Bouchard writes with scathing temper and his play is both touching and frightening.”
– Hamilton Spectator

“a finely crafted work that soars beyond its seemingly divergent elements. … Ultimately, The Divine speaks to our time. … The Divine does what fine theatre should: provides humour as well as heart-wrenching moments, a gripping and believable story with engaging characters, provocative questions and the possibility of hope.”
– Canadian Jewish News