Bouche Theatre Collective & Núcleo Experimental present A New Translation Workshop Reading
O LEITO DO RIO
(título provisório)
By Eric Noel Translated to Portuguese by Zé Henrique de Paula Translated fromFaire des enfants
Directed by Zé Henrique de Paula | Featuring Mafe Alcantara, Roberto Borges, Victor Edwards, Cleomacio Inacio, Marco Antonio Pamio, Fabio Redkowicz, Lena Roque, & Fabiana Tolentino.
Join us for a Q&A with the playwright, translator and English language translator Jordan Arseneault*
Saturday August 03, 2024 | 8 PM Teatro do Núcleo Experimental Rua Barra Funda 637, São Paulo, Brazil
“Fair des enfants touches us right to the heart…Pure and sublime.” – Luc Boulanger, Le Devoir
Philippe, 24, is self destructing, burning for the dark lights of drugs, sex, alcohol, prostitution. One Sunday, he and his mother wake up at the same time. 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, Fair des enfants won the le Prix Gratien-Gélinas (2010)and receiving critical acclaim for its uncanny depiction of grief and strong dialogue.
*The English (Canada) translation of Faire des enfants was commissioned and developed by Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal and The Cole Foundation Mentorship for Emerging Translators, with dramaturgy by Maureen Labonté.
Gallery
MEET THE ARTISTS
Eric Noel | Playwright (Canada)
Eric Noel (they, them) is a Quebecois playwright and graduate of NTS 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 a libretto for an opera by Vincent-Olivier Gagnon, Sans électricité, les oiseaux disparaissent (2009), and the children’s theatre piece La Mère, le Père, le Petit et le Grand (2012). They also adapted Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince for Theatre La Roulotte Asteroid B612 (2018).
Zé Henrique de Paula | Translator (Brazil)
The Artistic Director of Teatro do Núcleo Experimental, Zé Henrique de Paula has a Master’s degree in Theatre Direction from The University of Essex, London, UK; a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Urbanism from Mackenzie University and post-graduate degree in Performing Arts from the School of Communication and Arts of University of Sao Paulo. He studied Costume Design for Theatre and Screen at Central Saint Martins – University of the Arts – London (UK).
A multi award winning and nominated director, Zé Henrique de Paula’s credits include: The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, Naked Boys Singing, Spring Awakening, Side Man, Thrill me – the story of Leopold and Loeb, Natasha, Pierre and the great comet of 1812, Dogville, A view from the bridge, Assoiffés and Brazilian plays: Verdades e fotografias, Judas em Sábado de Aleluia, É 20! As Folias do Século, Revelação, O Endireita, Novelo, Fogo Azul de um Minuto, Antes de Mais Nada, Carrossel, o musical and Chaves – um tributo musical.
Jordan Arseneault | English Language Translator (Canada)
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.
About Núcleo Experimental
Since 2005, Núcleo Experimental has been dedicated to exploring new authors and reimagining the classics. Focusing on the quest for artistic excellence, the formation and improvement of its actors and the choice of texts that resonates with contemporary society, one of its aspects is also to explore the relationship between music and theater. We endeavor for the whole of our activities to be a platform for all the best culture can offer to the people of our city: Entertainment combined with intelligent thought, debate of ideas and pleasure. An aesthetic experience combined with a social responsibility. www.nucleoexperimental.com.br
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, Anais West & Nelson Wong
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 a libretto for an opera by Vincent-Olivier Gagnon, Sans électricité, les oiseaux disparaissent (2009), and the children’s theatre piece La Mère, le Père, le Petit et le Grand (2012). They also 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
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
All funds from this project and campaign go to employing theatre artists in a time of need
Bouche’s “A Glimpse into New Translation” workshop series will continue until all funds are exhausted. Our ambition is to engage and employ as many theatre artists as possible over the current pandemic. Our Campaign help raise critical funds for to keep theatre artists employed and engaged in the creative process under the current circumstances.
Sponsor a playwright, a translator or actor through the process. All donations over $10 will be recognized on our webpage.
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.
FAIRE DES ENFANTS (RIVER BED) By Eric Noel | Translated by Jordan Arseneault with British Equity WSW London Branch (London, UK)
Special thanks to actors Michèle Belgrand, Ryan Grossett, Will Lewis, Louis Pieris, Dannie Pye, Nicole Wood and the always wonderful Lola May for her organizing.
SYNOPSIS: Written in two acts – “Philadelphie” and “Assomption”– the play is a diptych of Montreal 20something rebellion and a gothic family drama that will be familiar to anyone who has ever tried to leave their suburban home forever.
Philippe is 24 years old, he refuses to be loved. He is self destructing, burning for the dark light: drugs, sex, alcohol, prostitution. One Sunday, very early in the morning, he and his mother wake up at the same time. He’s in the middle of a bad trip, in a strange bed, between two people he doesn’t know; she has nightmares, alone in her house of Assumption. He senses she’s trying to warn him; she senses something terrible has happened.
PRODUCTION HISTORY: Faire des enfants is a visceral and poetic text combining naturalism, surrealism in a blend of lush and gritty language. Receiving the le Prix Gratien-Gélinas in 2010, it was followed by a successful month-long run at Montreal’s prestigious Quat’sous theatre the next year, receiving critical acclaim for its uncanny depiction of grief and strong dialogue. It was immediately translated into German by Frank Weigand under the title Kinder machen and was presented at a series of stage readings. In 2012 it was published by Theater der Zeit.
“The 25-year-old author has brought us a dark and luminous text, a precursor to a beautiful work to come…With a talent and urgency to say that shakes the viewer from his first lines, Fair des enfants touches us right to the heart…At first, we think of Brad Fraser’s plays, wondering where all this sex will lead us. Then there are other characters: Philip’s best friend, mother, father and sister [the main character]. Fair des enfants then transcends the description of an environment to fly to another universe. And touch the universal. The work exposes an essential truth: the quest for love. Philip considers himself unworthy of affection; his quest thus turns into an enterprise of self-destruction. He plunges into tragedy. Pure and sublime.” – Luc Boulanger, Le Devoir, March 11, 2010
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: Eric Noel
Eric Noel is a Quebecois playwright and 2009 graduated of Canada’s National Theatre School French language writing program. He is the author of three contemporary plays in Faire des enfants (2009), Tirade pour Henri (2010) et Ces regards amoureux de garçons altérés (2015). He is also the author of a libretto for an opera by Vincent-Olivier Gagnon, Sans électricité, les oiseaux disparaissent (2009), and the children’s theatre piece La Mère, le Père, le Petit et le Grand (2021). In 2018, he adapted Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince for Theatre La Roulotte with “Asteroid B 612” (2021).
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR: Jordan Arseneault
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.
Translation commissioned and developed by Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal and the Cole Foundation Award for Emerging Translators.
