The Death of René Lévesque

Ronald Charles Epstein is a Toronto-based freelance writer and published poet.

David Fennario’s dramatic account of how René Lévesque and his
followers compromised their Parti Québécois social democratic ideals
was loudly denounced by Quebec nationalists led by Le Devoir drama
critic Robert Lévesque, who “bombed the play on the front page of
[his newspaper].”

This response was unprecedented, but the work’s real contribution was
its indirect revelation about the political attitudes of Quebeckers who
are not part of the province’s traditional francophone majority. Such
individuals will not support separatism, due to nationalist feelings,
but may endorse a Republic of Quebec that reflects their progressive
ideals. Fennario’s description of compromised péquistes subtly
reveals why few non-francophones share his sovereignist convictions. The
play precedes, but answers, Premier Jacques Parizeau’s notorious
xenophobic, post-referendum jibe.

Fennario denies publisher Karl Siegler’s assertion that this play is
a Sophoclean tragedy. Since it is a simplified, partisan recapitulation
of modern Quebec’s development, it can be more accurately compared to
1970s author Léandre Bergeron’s A History of Quebec: A Patriot’s
Handbook.

The playwright deftly straddles provincial solitudes with differing
definitions of Place Desjardins, the nationalist credit union’s
Montreal headquarters. A broadcaster extols the edifice as a
demonstration of Quebecois’ ability “to transform our aspirations
into reality.” Fennario describes it as an “office and shopping
complex.”

The text is not totally comprehensible (the French passages are
untranslated). The story’s brevity is both asset and liability. Some
may dismiss this work as superficial, but it ends before boredom has a
chance to set in. Unfortunately, the conclusion is derivative. If The
Death of René Lévesque is presented outside Quebec, it may be booed by
patrons who are familiar with George Orwell.