Maïta

By Esther Beauchemin. Directed by Robert Bellefeuille. Starring Esther Beauchemin, Roch Castonguay, Henry Gauthier, Marie-Thé Morin et Nathalie Poiré

A Théâtre de la Vieille 17 (Ottawa) and Théâtre de Sable (Québec) coproduction. Presented in association with The Cultch.

Maïta is only 8 years old when, to pay off the family debts, her father "rents" her to a factory employing child labourers. Before leaving her, her father gives her a precious puppet Issane, the Princess of Light. On the puppet’s dress, Maïta's mother has sewn 1,461 pearls, one for each day that must pass until Maïta's father can return for her. Since she knows how to read and count, Maïta rapidly becomes indispensable to Wunan, the head of the toy factory. Maïta works hard but when the night falls into shadow, she tells Issane's story to the other children...