Playing Devil’s Advocate: DAUMAS at the Montreal Fringe
By Misha Nye
June 5, 2026
Whenever I see a really great play, sometimes my favourite part takes place in the bar afterwards. A dark auditorium is magic, but being sat with my friends and arguing about what I’ve just seen—that bit might be even better. Were they the hero or the villain? Was the outcome unfair or just? DAUMAS: Devil’s Advocate, the new show by MBC Productions, is an interactive courtroom drama that places these debates centre stage.
“Inspired by true events, DAUMAS tells the story of anticolonial French lawyer Georges Daumas … now on trial for treason, Daumas represents himself as witnesses from his past emerge and his very life hangs in the balance.”
— MBC Productions
I first spoke to playwright Fred Azeredo about DAUMAS way back in September. The summer had barely drawn to a close, yet his new script was already done. And as I learned more about the show and the real-life events that inspired it, I began to understand why. With a story this good, you’ve got to put pen to paper before anyone else can get there first!
DAUMAS is based on the real-life figure of Jacques Vergès. They say that truth is stranger than fiction, and this time it is certainly the case. Vergès seems to have lived a dozen lives, each as absurd and extreme as the next. He was a French Resistance fighter, an anti-colonial activist, and a lawyer infamous for defending war criminals and dictators alike. To put it lightly, his Wikipedia page is a damn good read.
Daniel Wan as Daumas in DAUMAS.
One thing is clear: the play’s eponymous Daumas is no flawless hero. Brought to life by Daniel Wan, this character is complex and contradictory, bullish and brilliant. And in fact, it is this imperfect nature that so excited Fred Azeredo and Krystie Nguyen, co-directors of the show. As Brazilian and Vietnamese artists, they tell me, they were hugely excited by the chance to show the racialized person in all their complexity. Particularly in historical fiction, too often are minorities either put on a pedestal or ignored completely. But here is Daumas, imperfect and unafraid, a truly mythological figure.
“His story seemed like a great way to capture all the contradictions of living in a colonized country - stuck between Westernization/ modernization and your own culture, using the master's tools to dismantle the master's house.”
— Fred Azeredo
On a larger scale, Daumas was a conduit for a story Fred had always wanted to tell, one that probes the mechanics of colonialism. Set in a 20th century courtroom, DAUMAS: Devil’s Advocate asks questions such as: how is colonial power exerted, and with what legal justification? Daumas himself is at the centre of this debate, sardonic and ferociously quick-lipped, railing against the imperial French power and the judiciary system that exists to prop it up.
The cast of DAUMAS at the Fringe-for-all on June 1, 2026.
Make no mistake, however, this is no hermetically sealed history play. As Daumas exposes the tools and sham logic of colonial France, audiences will recognise many such tactics on show. Even when colonialism ends, its authority endures. And as Daumas questions this colonial authority, tearing down the very language that it is based on, the contemporary audience is encouraged to do the same.
“If we treat imperialism as a monolithic object of pure evil that lies safely in the past, we're failing to learn important lessons. Colonization, after all, is ongoing and the structures it built (like the legal system) are those we still occupy.”
— Fred Azeredo
In our current day, Western countries point the finger when they themselves have blood on their hands. You don’t need to be a swaggering lawyer like Daumas to see the sheer hypocrisy on show. Daumas represented some of the most reprehensible people on the planet. Defending him is no easy task – and I won’t try to here – but he certainly exposed this Western hypocrisy for what it was.
But yes, the question of defensibility. Part of the reason I won’t go to lengths to attack or defend his character, is that you will. DAUMAS is an interactive show. Upon being presented with all the evidence, the audience will then vote on whether or not Daumas is guilty. MBC Productions are not strangers to maneuvers like this. Inspired by their sojourn into the world of Boal, they take the challenge to the audience once more.
The cast of crew of DAUMAS in rehearsal.
At the heart of this lies agency. If not careful, an auditorium can become a passive place – all the more so for a play grounded in historical fact, where the urge to detach yourself from the action can be even stronger. By shattering this illusion, the production implicates the audience, places faith in them as critical viewers, and grants them the agency to alter the story for good.
But more than a playful theatrical device, Fred and Krystie seem to genuinely revel in this indeterminacy. “We genuinely don't know how we feel about him as a person, so we leave that to the audience to decide”, they tell me. Right then: is he a self-serving upstart defending the evil of humanity to boost his career? Or is he a provocateur challenging the heart of colonial authority? We will leave that up to you.
DAUMAS: Devil’s Advocate is part history play, part courtroom drama, and part parable for our modern era. Running from June 11-20, it shows at Mission Santa Cruz as part of the 2026 Montréal Fringe Festival. Come along to cast your vote and decide Daumas’ fate for yourself!
Daumas: Devil’s Advocate
MBC Productions
Running June 11-20, 2026 as part of the Montréal Fringe Festival
At Mission Santa Cruz