The Anorak : a Chateauguay woman in the role of Marc Lépine

On December 6, 1989, the worst feminicide in Canadian history, the Polytechnique massacre, took place. Lisa McCormack plays the role of the killer, Marc Lépine, in The Anorak, currently playing at the Monkland Community Centre. It's a challenge for the Châteauguay actress, but above all, it's a thumbing of the nose at the murderer.

Translation Amanda Bennett

It's really a statement that speaks for itself to entrust the role of Marc Lépine to a woman,” admits the actress. When I saw the ad for an actress for this role, I was intrigued, but at the same time, I was afraid. I didn't want to give the killer a voice.”

The play The Anorak was written in 2004 by Adam Kelly. It tells the story of Marc Lépine, who killed 14 women before committing suicide. “I sat down with the writer/director to read the story; I like the way it's told. The play presents an analysis of his mental state. To try and make people understand what he did. But at the same time, there's no excuse for what he did.”

58 pages of text

Beyond the fact that a woman takes on the role of Marc Lépine, it's the character she has to play that is utterly unsympathetic. “I sort of channeled the character to tell the story,” she explained. My voice and my body are used. If I do it right, I'm just a vessel to tell the story. It's not necessarily me, Lisa, who tells the story, but the vessel that carries the story.”

In addition to the killer, she plays 14 other minor roles in the 90-minute play. Alone on stage, with numerous monologues at the end of the 58 pages of text. The challenge is both physical and emotional for the actress, who loves getting up on stage to tell stories that make people react.

Still relevant today

Thirty-five years after the events, Lisa ruefully notes that the situation hasn't changed too much. “I see, in the world we live in, that the play is still relevant,” she concedes. There are still a lot of feminicides in Quebec. It's a problem.”

She was 10 years old at the time of the killing. She remembers the media coverage that followed, and being marked by it. Over time, and through research, she realized that the Polytechnique massacre had a much greater impact. “People remember where they were when they heard the story,” she says.

The play runs in English until December 8 at the Monkland Community Centre. On December 6, Lisa McCormack will visit the memorial on the mountain.  “It's important for me to honor the victims and show respect to their families,” she said.