WESTERN GOLD: THE BALLAD OF GEORGES BOIVIN
By Martin Bellemare | Translated by Jack Paterson
With British Equity WSW London (London UK)
March 2020
WESTERN GOLD: THE BALLAD OF GEORGES BOIVIN
By Martin Bellemare | Translated by Jack Paterson
with WSW British Equity London Branch
“…a theatrical road-movie brimming with vulnerability…the play destroys any prejudice that older people are devoid of passionate. Even after great loss, love is possible.”
Alix Forgeot, L-Express.ca
Special thank you to actors Micheal Grinter and Charles Roe.
At 77, Georges Boivin decides “gives the dice a roll”. Georges just lost his wife, you see, the “centre of his universe”. He’s terrified “he no longer exists for anyone”. But there is life after your 70s and it must continue even after great loss. With his three friends, all the same age as he, he sets out on road trip from Québec to Vancouver, in search of his first love who he hasn’t seen in 50 years. Recipient of Le Prix Gratien-Gélinas 2009.
This translation commissioned by Western Gold Theatre (Vancouver) and made possible by a grant from Canada Council.
About the playwright
Martin Bellemare
With his work described as “dazzling formal mastery” and “virtuoso inventiveness” by the Prix Michel-Tremblay jury, Martin Bellemare is a leading new voice in Quebecois theatre whose work has yet to be translated to English.
A graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada French Language Playwrighting program. He received NTC’s Creation Award for La Liberté (2012) and Moule Robert (2017). In 2018, he received the Prix SACD de la dramaturgie francophone for Maître Karim la perdrix and the Prix Michel-Tremblay for Moule Robert.
He has been writer in residence at Théâtre de l’Aquarium (Cartoucherie/Paris), La Chartreuse, Centre National des Écritures du Spectacle (Villeneuve-lès Avignon), La Maison des Auteurs (Limoges), the Domaine de Mariemont (CED-WB/Wallonie), Théâtre du Bic (Québec). His work for young audiences is published by Lansman and have been presented in Montréal, Paris and Poznan (Poland). Recently, Des pieds et des mains, was created at Centre National des Arts (Ottawa, 2016), and presented at Tarmac (Paris, 2017).
His work has been produced in Quebec, France, Poland and Switzerland and translated into German, Italian and Lithuanian.
About the translator
Jack Paterson
Launching from Vancouver, Jack is an award-winning divisor, director, dramaturge, translator, actor and creative producer whose work and practice have taken him across North America, the UK and around the world. Productions have ranged from contemporary devising, cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary projects to main stage and classical theatre in contemporary form.
He is the founder of Vancouver’s award-winning Mad Duck Theatre Collective for whom he adapted and directed Julius Caesar, Vancouver’s first female Prospero in The Tempest and the Vancouver premieres of Titus Andronicus and Shakespeare’s R&J. In 2012 he founded, BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective dedicated to shared practiced exchange between francophone and anglophone Canadian practitioners. He is the co-founder of Global Hive Labs, a network of international artists and organizations working in shared practice.
Shows under his direction have garnered over twenty-five Jessie award nominations with many wins. He is a recipient of “The Ray Michal Award”, “The Cole Foundation Award for Emerging Translators” and “The John Moffat & Larry Lillo Award for Outstanding West Coast Artist”.
Jack trained at Circle in Square (NYC, USA), GITIS The University of Performing Arts (Moscow, RU), The Indonesian Institute of the Performing Arts (Denpasar, IND) and received his MFA in Theatre Direction from the renowned East 15 Acting School (London, UK).
About our partner
British Equity
WSW London Branch
The West and South West London Branch of Equity UK. Equity is the UK trade union for professional performers and creative practitioners.