Review: (Ottawa) Ciseaux (Undercurrents)

Two Lives Entwined
Some people are forever bound together…for better, or for worse
by Robyn Lester
@RobinRobynRob

There are some heavy themes at work in Lisa L’Heureux’s Ciseaux. Political upheaval, child soldiers, even sex trafficking. It’s all there, playing out before our very eyes, forcing us to consider the realities of our world.

Ciseaux follows two young girls, Phanie and Olivia. When we first meet these characters they are eight years old. Phanie is loud and abrasive. A bully. Olivia is quiet and timid. An easy target for Phanie. But every action has a consequence, and it just so happens that the choices they each make affect the other in unimaginable ways. And with that we are pulled from the comfort of the classroom and thrown into a world of war and child soldiers.