A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE IS A DIFFERENT VISION OF LIFE
Reaching across Distance, Language and Culture
Over the course of the pandemic, Bouche Theatre Collective has maintained our outreach to international theatre makers and engaging them in the development process of new Canadian work. And if one night wih London’s Presence Theatre is our 7th International new translation workshop.
In Association with Presence Theatre
(London, UK)
THE MALL
By Emmanuelle Jimenez | Translated by Johanna Nutter
Translated from CENTRE D’ACHATS (Quebec, Canada)
“This is one of the best texts of the new season…hard-hitting and funny…”
– Mario Cloutier, La Presse +
Sandrine – Sakuntala Ramanee
Léa – Julia Winwood
Simone – Marie Collett
Yvette – Fiz Marcus
Josiane – Susan Raasay
Suzanne – Mufrida Hayes
Julie-Josie – Helen Budge
Chorus 1 – Hemi Yeroham
Chorus 2 – Helen Budge
Stage Directions / Narrator / Chorus 3 – David Whitworth
Searching, finding, buying, again and again: the t-shirt, the earrings, the dog, the rabbit, the snake, the flying carpet… In search of comfort, seven women of divers background and ages dive desperately into a whirlwind of outrageous consumption. Seven prisoners of the shopping mall, each of them encounters her destiny.
Emmanuelle Jimenez examines shopping malls as both symbols of our collective alienation but also of our need for community. The need to share, to communicate, to feel surrounded, then confronts the need to consume more and more of the same things, at the risk of finding our souls bruised and our dreams shattered.
This translation was made possible by a grant from Canada Council for the Arts.
Meet our Playwright & Translator
About the playwright
Emmanuelle Jimenez
Emmanuelle Jimenez (she, her, hers) trained in performance at the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Montréal. While continuing working as an actor, she devoted herself to writing. Her plays include Du vent entre les dents (Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui), Rêvez, montagnes! (Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental), Le dénominateur commun co-written with François Archambault (Théâtre Debout), Cendres (Des pieds des mains), and Bébés co-written with Alexis Martin (Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental). She’s led numerous cultural projects, including with La Maison Bleue in Côte-des-Neiges and the Montreal North Cultural and Community House. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Festival du jamais Lu from 2003 to 2010 and has been a member of the AQAD Board of Directors since 2014.
About the translator
JOHANNA NUTTER
Johanna Nutter (she, euro-settler, multidisciplinary artist) developed her passion for translation through acting: being one of few perfectly bilingual theatre artists, she played leading roles at Centaur (Good People, You Will Remember Me) and La Licorne (Les Événements). The attention of both circles came thanks to the success of her solo my pregnant brother/mon frère est enceinte, which she translated during a residency in Tadoussac, accompanied by Linda Gaboriau. The show toured across Canada and Quebec in both languages, and to the UK and Belgium. Subsequently, she translated the works of Annick Lefebvre (Barbed Wire), Guillaume Corbeil (You’ll Go Looking for Her), and Florence Longpré & Nicolas Michon’s ballet-theatre hybrid CHLORINE, which she also produced and directed at Centaur, with her company creature/creature.
About our Partners
About Presence Theatre (London, UK)
In 2005 a group of actors and directors began to meet to read plays, aiming simply to rediscover and enjoy great works of dramatic literature. By 2007 Presence Theatre was formed. The company has since presented a number of performances and staged readings and continues to hold workshops approaching different genres of drama from the actor’s and director’s perspective. We embrace the classical and modern repertoire as well as new plays, with a particular interest in the avant-garde. www.presencetheatre.com
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.