Poetry Slam - Double Bill - 5@7 Doux D'août

Gabriel Samson I is a performing artist who graduated with a degree in Acting from the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Québec in 2021. They are developing a hybrid stage practice that blends theater, poetry, rap, and monologue. A finalist for the 2024 Prix Relève Professionnelle and recipient of the City of Lévis’s grant for emerging artists, they created *Un chien en laisse qui jappe* (A Dog on a Leash That Barks), their first solo show, which was nominated for the Prix Théâtre for Best Original Script. It was presented at La Charpente des Fauves in 2025, then at the Festival Carrefour in a co-production with Le Diamant in 2026, where it was named Robert Lepage’s “Coup de Coeur.” Their second solo show, *Le Québec est un pays scandinave* (Quebec Is a Scandinavian Country), acclaimed by critics, received support for emerging artists from Carte Blanche and was presented at Premier Acte, in co-presentation with Mois Multi, in 2026. They also directed the documentary theater project *Tu charges combien?* – Testimonies from the Sex Industry. A Quebec team slam champion in 2025, they are also a co-producer of RIOT and Cabaret Chaud, presented in France, Belgium, the Congo, and Mali. Alongside their stage work, they won the Rookie of the Year award, as well as the web reality show *Nouvelle Époque* (Season 2), as part of the Versos.TV battle rap league. Thomas Valcourt is a slam artist and architect from Lévis who, much like a building, constructs his texts by blending technique and creativity, playing with the similarities in sounds and the differences in the meanings of words to create a harmonious and solid structure. Having made his big break on the spoken-word poetry scene in 2023, he competed in the Quebec slam finals for three consecutive years and won the 2024 Capitale Slam Championship.