RIVER BED
By Eric Noel | Translated by Jordan Arseneault
A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE IS A DIFFERENT VISION OF LIFE
A glimpse into
new translation
Join us online for our English language new translation development workshop series.
Discover the leading new works of francophone Canadian theatre, meet the playwrights and their translators, and play a part in the new translation process.
FREE EVENT
DATE
Sunday, Feb. 28
TIME
PT (Vancouver): 12PM
MT (Calgary): 1PM
CT (Regina): 2PM
ET (Montreal): 3PM
AT (Halifax): 4PM
GMT/ WET (London UK): 20:00 hrs
CET (Berlin EU): 21:00 hrs
RUNNING TIME
2 hrs including Intermission and conversation with the playwright
In Association with
The PHT Creation Hub Co-operative
& The Canadian Play Thing
RIVER BED
By Eric Noel | Translated by Jordan Arseneault
Translated from FAIRE DES ENFANTS (Quebec, Canada)
“…a dark and luminous text…With a talent and urgency to speak that gripes us from the very first lines and touches us right to the heart… Pure and sublime.” – Luc Boulanger, Le Devoir
Philippe, 24, burns for the dark light: drugs, sex, alcohol, prostitution. One Sunday, very early in the morning, he and his mother wake at the same time. He’s in the middle of a bad trip, in a strange bed, between two strangers; she has nightmares, alone in her house. He senses she’s trying to warn him; she senses something terrible has happened.
A visceral and poetic text combining naturalism, surrealism in a blend of lush and gritty language, Faire des enfants received the 2010 Prix Gratien-Gélinas. It was followed by a successful run at Montreal’s prestigious Quat’sous Theatre, receiving critical acclaim for its uncanny depiction of grief and strong dialogue.
Featuring Scott Button, Rhiannon Collett, Rick Dobran, Brian Postalian, Christine Quintana, Lisa C. Ravensbergen, Deneh’Cho Thompson, Anais West & Nelson Wong
This translation was made possible thanks to the generous support of The Cole Mentorship for Emerging Translators and Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal with translation Mentorship and dramaturgy by Maureen Labonté.
This workshop is made possible by a grant from Canada Council for the Arts. This project is produced with the co-operation of the UBCP/ACTRA.
FAIR DES ENFANTS (2011) at Montreal’s reknown Theatre Quat’ Sous
PHOTO: YANICK MACDONALD,
Meet our Playwright & Translator
About the playwright
Eric Noel
(They, Them, Theirs)
Eric Noel is a Quebecois playwright and 2009 graduated of Canada’s National Theatre School French language writing program. They are the author of Faire des enfants (2009), Tirade pour Henri (2010), Ces regards amoureux de garçons altérés (2015) and L’Amoure Looks Something Like You (2020). They are also the author of the children’s theatre piece La Mère, le Père, le Petit et le Grand (2012) and adapted Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince for Theatre La Roulotte with “Asteroid B 612” (2018). “
About the translator
Jordan Arseneault
(He, Him)
Jordan Arseneault (b. New Brunswick, 1980) is a critic, drag performer, social artist, meeting facilitator and translator. His staged work and participative workshops address issues of criminalization, stigma, mental health, HIV/AIDS, addiction, biculturalism, queerness and community. Former editor of Quebec’s only English language monthly for the LGBT community, 2Bmag (2010-2013), his reviews and articles have been published in Maisonneuve, Nightlife.ca, Forget the Box. He currently lives in Montreal.
Meet the workshop team
Scott Button ( he, him, his)
Scott is a Jessie-nominated actor and writer residing on unceded Coast Salish territory. Look out for his upcoming queer-historical-fiction podcast NIGHT PASSING, presented by the Arts Club Theatre Company. www.scottbutton.ca
Rhiannon Collett (They, Them)
Rhiannon Collett is a non-binary playwright, performer and translator working in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Selected playwriting credits include Miranda & Dave Begin Again (awarded the Playwrights Guild of Canada RBC Emerging Playwright Award); Wasp (Nightswimming/Rhubarb Festival); The Kissing Game (Youtheatre/Young People’s Theatre/Banff Playwrights Lab); Tragic Queens (Cabal Theatre/Wildside Festival). www.rhiannoncollett.com
Rick Dobran (He, Him, His)
Rick Dobran is an actor and writer living in Vancouver, BC. Rick is very excited to be able to contribute to this creative effort even through the pandemic.
Brian Postalian (Any)
Brian Postalian (Բրայն Փոսթալյան) is a theatre director, producer, and performance creator born and raised in Toronto/Tkaronto by way of Armenia, Ireland, Wales, and the Czech Republic. He is the founding Artistic Director of Re:Current Theatre, a Toronto/Vancouver based company creating performances that reimagine gathering. www.brianpostalian.com
CHRISTINE QUINTANA (SHE, HER, HERS)
Christine is an actor, playwright, and co-artistic director of Delinquent Theatre, based on unceded Coast Salish Territory. www.christinequintana.ca
Lisa C. Ravensbergen (She, Her, Hers)
A tawny mix of Ojibwe/Swampy Cree and English/Irish, Lisa is an award-winning, multi-hyphenate theatre artist and emerging scholar. Her work is rooted in Indigenous protocol, ontologies, and decolonial methodologies and is recognized nationally and internationally for its rigour and artistic excellence. Lisa resides on unceded Coast Salish territory. lisacr.com
Deneh'Cho Thompson (He, him, his)
Deneh’Cho Thompson, Assistant Professor, University of Saskatchewan is an actor, director, and educator of mixed Indigenous decent. His research interests include Indigenous pedagogies for theatre training, Indigenous dramaturgies, and destabilizing the mainstream theatre forms.
Anais West (she, her, hers)
Anais is a queer writer, actor and producer, as well as a Polish settler on the occupied lands of the Coast Salish people. Her plays have been presented across North America, and have been nominated for two Jessie Awards (for Poly Queer Love Ballad). She has performed with Théâtre La Seizième, The Only Animal, Rumble Theatre, and more. www.anaiswest.com
Nelson Wong (He, Him, His)
Nelson Wong has been acting in Vancouver for over 20 years and boasts over 100 IMDb credits, including 20 plus appearances in Hallmark movies, and recurring roles on Lucifer (FOX), Riverdale (CW), and The Good Doctor (ABC). On stage Nelson has worked closely with playwright C.E. Gatchalian, originating the characterizations of Jeff and Chang Hyun for his world premieres of Broken (2006 Meta4Theatre), and Falling In Time (2012-Screaming Weenie). Nelson Wong Actor
Creative Producer: Jack Paterson (He, Him, his)
Jack is an award winning theatre maker whose work and practice has taken him across Canada, UK, EU and around the world. Work has ranged from devising creation, multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural and multi-ligual projects to new works & texts, contemporary approaches to classical theatre. www.jackpatersontheatre.com
About our Partners
About The Canadian Play Thing
The Canadian Play Thing is a playwright-centred virtual theatre that shares live readings of new and under-produced Canadian plays online. The goal is to support and celebrate the work of playwrights, and to connect our theatre family across the country. Artists and audiences around the world are welcome. www.plaything.ca
About The PHT Creative Hub
Co-operative
The PHT Creative Hub Co-operative has transformed how we collaborate and share performing arts with our communities. Co-op artist members from across performance disciplines fill our spaces, work on their own creative projects, and share their skills and expertise with each other. The PHT Creative Hub Co-operative
Francophone Canadian Theatre Resources
About Centre des auteurs dramatique
An association of authors serving authors, CEAD is a centre for the support, promotion and dissemination of French-language dramaturgy here. It occupies a unique place both in terms of the number of authors it brings together and the objectives of quality and innovation it pursues. www.cead.qc.ca
About Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal
Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal is a new creation development centre. PWM gives artists the opportunity to create and experiment, dream and take risks, fail and try again. Our dynamic collaborative process draws on our team’s unique expertise and is tailored to the artist’s individual needs. At PWM, playwrights, dramaturgs, translators, directors, performance artists, and theatre companies across the country find a creative accomplice willing to invest deeply in the development of meaningful work. www.playwrights.ca
Special
Thank You
Land Acknowledgement
Bouche’s activities take place on and are launched from the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish People: the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. We recognize and honour the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation commission and acknowledge the importance of Indigenous sovereignty on this unceded territory.
*A territorial or land acknowledgement is an act of reconciliation that involves making a statement recognizing the traditional territory of the Indigenous people who called the land home before the arrival of settlers, and in many cases still do call it home.
For more information on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada click here.