A GLIMPSE INTO NEW TRANSLATION INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP SERIES
New Translation Canada, Bouche Theatre Collective, & British Equity London Branch (UK)
ROBERT MOULE
By Martin Bellemare | Translated to English by Jack Paterson Translated fromMoule Robert
December 15, 2023 Digital
Featuring Angelica Servan, Des Fleming, Luana Holtz, & Seamus Hewison | Produced by Jack Paterson & Ayvianna Snow
“With Moule Robert, Martin Bellemare offers us a text of dazzling formal mastery (…). This virtuosic inventiveness is at the service of the ethical questions dividing our society. In his own way, Martin Bellemare wrestles with the question that haunted Brecht: how to be good in a world that is not?”– Prix Michel-Tremblay Jury
Robert Moule is a very ordinary man who works in a daycare. One day, he grabs a girl from the daycare by the arm and finds himself accused of sexual assault. He descends into a Kafka-like journey of inner decay and comic absurdity.
This translation was made possible by a translation grant from Canada Council for the Arts
NEW TRANSLATION CANADA: THE SIMINOVITCH PLAYWRIGHT PROJECT
Every three years, 5 Canadian playwrights in both official languages (French & English) are nominated for The Siminovitch Prize, Canada’s leading national theatre award. Each of these playwrights represents a leading voice in Canadian playwriting as nominated by their peers.
Bbouche’s Jack Paterson (BC), creature/creature’s Johanna Nutter (Quebec) and independant Yolanda Ferrato (Nova Scotia) formed the New Translation Canada Collective. We contacted each of the playwrights who shared our excitement for this vision. They each selected 1 piece from their body of work for translation. Working with a creative translation team drawn from leading theatre makers across Canada, we commissioned creative translation of the selected works.
RUNNING TIME 2 HRS including Q&A with the playwright and translator
FREE event. No registration required. Capacity 100. Latecomers welcome – audience does not appear on screen.
New Translation Canada
Robert Moule
By Martin Bellemare Translateranslated from Moule Robert
“With Moule Robert, Martin Bellemare offers us a text of dazzling formal mastery (…). This virtuosic inventiveness is at the service of the ethical questions dividing our society. In his own way, Martin Bellemare wrestles with the question that haunted Brecht: how to be good in a world that is not?” – Prix Michel-Tremblay Jury
Robert Moule is a very ordinary man who works in a daycare. One day, he grabs a girl from the daycare by the arm and finds himself accused of sexual assault. He descends into a Kafka-like journey of inner decay and comic absurdity.
Moule Robert premiered in 2017, produced by Théâtre La Rubrique at the Mont-Jacob Cultural Centre (Jonquière). It has since been produced in Switzerland by POCHE/GVE, and in Belleville and Paris, France by Théâtre de Belleville.
-Recipient of the Prix Michel-Tremblay, 2018 -Shortlisted for the Prix SACD de la dramaturgie francophone, 2017
New Translation Canada gratefully acknowledge the support of Canada Council for the Arts, CEAD, Prix Siminovitch Prize, and UBCP/ACTRA.
The Ballad of Georges Boivin nominated for 3 Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards
We are thrilled to share The Ballad of George Boivin (Western Gold Theatre) has been nominated for three 21/22 Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards – Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Set Design (Glenn Macdonald) and Outstanding Video Design (Joel Grinke).
Theatre is by it’s nature an ensemble based art form and no individual award nomination happens without the work of a great many people. A tremendous thank you to Tanja Dixon-Warren and Western Gold Theatre who supported the project from translation to stage, francophone playwright Martin Bellemare who allowed us to bring his work to English language, the entire Ballad translation, dramaturgy, production and creative teams, and – of course – the wonderful actors Jay Brazeau and John Innes who both returned to the stage for this project.
Bouche workshoped the creative translation through our digital “A Glimpse into New Translation series” and partnered with Western Gold Theatre for Senior Access Design and Creative Translation workshop prior to the producduction.
Congratulations to all the Jessie Richardson Award nominees!
DATES & Times
November 10 – 28, 2021 Evenings: Wed – Sat @ 7:30 pm Matinees (from Nov. 14): Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun @ 2:00 pm
Western Gold Theatre In association with Bouche Theatre Collectve
WESTERN GOLD: THE BALLAD OF GEORGES BOIVIN
By Martin Bellemare | Translated by Jack Paterson with Johanna Nutter Translated from LE CHANT DE GEORGES BOIVIN (Quebec, Canada)
FEATURING Jay Brazeau and John Innes alternating as Georges Boivin in repertory
At 77, Georges Boivin “gives the dice a roll”. Georges just lost his wife, you see, the “centre of his universe”. He’s terrified “he’s no longer exists for anyone”. But there is life after 70 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.
“…explores with great insight thematic territory I’ve never seen covered before…the execution is poetic and the insight genuine…his (John Innes) skill is a joy… a wonderful combination of ease and thoroughness in his technique…he inhabits every word…moments of magic and even transcendence…an intimate — and rewarding — conversation about love.”– Colin Thomas, colinthomas.ca
“…insightful, thoughtful and mind-expanding…Brazeau gives a riveting performance, showing that emotions are still alive – and even volatile – even in your seventies… This is a beautiful play, filled with hope and longing and the realization that yes, there is life and love well into our golden years!”– EntertainmentVancouver.com
“…a heart-warming play that shakes off the myth often associated with old age.”– Reviewvancouver.com
It is no secret that elder artists face barriers to partcipating in the live performing arts due to our professional structures and the natural process of ageing. We have attempted in this project to fuse all elements from scheduling, to rehearsal and design processes, to live performance with access. What has been particularly exciting is how the individual needs, priorities, and theatrical interests of each actor have come to play, creating two district pieces unique to each artist.
Francophone Canadian playwrighting is a uniquely Canadian form and is on the forefront of international practices. Born from different circumstances and cultural needs, the francophone theatre often places metaphor and experience over dramatic arc and the “well-made play”. Cross Cultural collaboration is inherent to bringing this work to English language translation.
One of the great joys of this project was over the pandemic, as we created a Zoom space bringing artists together across cultural, lingual, and physical distances in an intergenerational conversation – with playwright Martin Bellemare and translation collaborator Johanna Nutter joining us from Montreal.
I have had the privilege over the last few months of working with 2 remarkable theatre artists, a wonderfully creative design team, highly supportive producing body in a pan-Canadian conversation. A tremendous thank you to Western Gold Theatre and the Georges Boivin team.
Credits
Writen by Martin Bellemare Translated by Jack Paterson with Johanna Nutter Directed by Jack Paterson
FEATURING Jay Brazeau and John Innes alternating as Georges Boivin in repertory
Assistant Stage Manager: Jessica Adamson Assistant Lighting Designer: Chengyan Boon Sound Designer: Stephen Bulat Artistic Director: Tanja Dixon-Warren Video & Video Systems Design: Joel Grinke Costume Designer: Alaia Hamer Senior’s Access Consultant: Dr. Julia Henderson Set Designer: Glenn Macdonald Assistant Director: Hannah Siden Video & Video Systems Assistant: Vanka Chaitra Salim Stage Manager: Ingrid Turk Access And Surtitle Coordinator: Anika Vervecken Lighting Designer: John Webber
Meet the Cast
Jay Brazeau (He, Him)
Jay is seemingly everywhere. His TV work includes SUPERNATURAL, PSYCH, STARGATE SGI, BATES MOTEL, ROGUE, WEST WING, THE X FILES, AIR BUD and THE KILLING. Films: DOUBLE JEOPARDY, WATCHMEN, INSOMNIA, BEST IN SHOW, COOL RUNNINGS, WE’RE NO ANGELS, THE POSSESSION, LITTLE WOMEN, ANDRE, HEAD OVER HEELS, HORNS, FATHERS AND SONS and many others. You’ve HEARD him in countless voice roles for cartoons from “Sabrina: The Animated Series” to “My Little Pony”. Plus voicing the the NFB Oscar-nominated THE BIG SNIT. Jay’s favourite theatre roles includes: Man in the Chair “The Drowsy Chaperone” (National Arts Centre, Vancouver Playhouse), Tevye “Fiddler on the Roof” (California The Rubicon Theatre), “The Goat” (Presentation House Theatre), Cyrano (Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival), The Wiz in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s North American Tour of “Wizard of Oz” and the wonderful Edna Turnblad in the Canadian premiere of “Hairspray”. Jay is writing his own play FORTUNATE SONS and co-writing a screenplay THE PROFESSIONALS. IMBD
John Innes (He, Him)
John Innes was an early graduate of the National Theatre School (’67). He has performed in every major regional theatre in Canada, including 12 seasons with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival where he received a Tyrone Guthrie Award twice. He has also performed in regional theatres in the United States including 3 seasons with the Denver Center Theatre Company. In all, he has been a working actor for over 55 years.
A graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada’s writing program, Martin Bellemare was nominated for the 2020 Siminovitch Prize and awarded the 2009 Gratien Gélinas Prize for Le Chant de Georges Boivin. La Liberté was presented at La Rubrique (Jonquière) in 2013 and in Montreal in 2015, and was scheduled to be staged in Ottawa in 2020. Maître Karim la perdrix (2018 Prix SACD de la dramaturgie francophone, awarded by the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques) will premiere at the Théâtre des Capucins in Luxembourg in 2021. Moule Robert (CNL Scholarship, shortlisted for the 2017 Prix SACD de la dramaturgie francophone and the 2018 Michel Tremblay Prize) was produced simultaneously at La Rubrique and at the POCHE/ GVE in Geneva, then at the Théâtre de Belleville in Paris. Martin is a four-time recipient of the Aide à la création grant from the Centre national du Théâtre/ARTCENA in Paris, and two of his plays are included in the repertoire of the Comédie-Française. Two of his plays for young audiences, Un château sur le dosand Des pieds et des mains, which was first produced at the NAC, have toured in Canada and internationally. In 2019, Extraordinaire et mystérieux and Charlie et le djingpouite were produced, and Cœur minéral premiered at the Francophonies in Limoges. The latter play was scheduled for a Montreal production in 2020.
His work has been produced in Quebec, France, Poland and Switzerland and translated into German, Italian and Lithuanian.
About the translator
Jack Paterson
(He, Him, His)
Jack’s practice has taken him across Canada, the UK and around the world. His work has ranged from contemporary devising, multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural and multi-ligual projects to new works and contemporary approaches to classical theatre. He trained at Circle in the Square (NYC, USA), GITIS (Moscow, RU), SENI (Denpasar, INA) and received his MFA from The University of Essex and East 15 Acting School (London, UK). Recent project include devised creation in Italy (Teatro Trieste 34, Piacenza) and Indonsia (SENI, Denpasar), and a deep dive into German innovation with Flausen+ (theatre wrede+, Oldenburg). www.JackPatersonTheatre.com
About the colaborating translator
Johanna Nutter
(Elle, She, Her)
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 Western Gold Theatre
Western Gold Theatre is the premier company in the country focused on sharing and celebrating the talents of senior professional theatre artists (age 55+). Western Gold also mentors emerging younger professional artists as they ‘share the boards’ with us. We are a vibrant creative gathering place for artists and audiences, young and old. www.westerngoldtheatre.org
Western Gold Theatre In association with Bouche Theatre Collectve
WESTERN GOLD: THE BALLAD OF GEORGES BOIVIN
By Martin Bellemare | Translated by Jack Paterson with Johanna Nutter Translated from LE CHANT DE GEORGES BOIVIN (Quebec, Canada)
FEATURING Jay Brazeau and John Innes alternating as Georges Boivin in repertory
At 77, Georges Boivin “gives the dice a roll”. Georges just lost his wife, you see, the “centre of his universe”. He’s terrified “he’s no longer exists for anyone”. But there is life after 70 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.
“…explores with great insight thematic territory I’ve never seen covered before…the execution is poetic and the insight genuine…his (John Innes) skill is a joy… a wonderful combination of ease and thoroughness in his technique…he inhabits every word…moments of magic and even transcendence…an intimate — and rewarding — conversation about love.”– Colin Thomas, colinthomas.ca
“…insightful, thoughtful and mind-expanding…Brazeau gives a riveting performance, showing that emotions are still alive – and even volatile – even in your seventies… This is a beautiful play, filled with hope and longing and the realization that yes, there is life and love well into our golden years!”– EntertainmentVancouver.com
“…a heart-warming play that shakes off the myth often associated with old age.”– Reviewvancouver.com
It is no secret that elder artists face barriers to partcipating in the live performing arts due to our professional structures and the natural process of ageing. We have attempted in this project to fuse all elements from scheduling, to rehearsal and design processes, to live performance with access. What has been particularly exciting is how the individual needs, priorities, and theatrical interests of each actor have come to play, creating two district pieces unique to each artist.
Francophone Canadian playwrighting is a uniquely Canadian form and is on the forefront of international practices. Born from different circumstances and cultural needs, the francophone theatre often places metaphor and experience over dramatic arc and the “well-made play”. Cross Cultural collaboration is inherent to bringing this work to English language translation.
One of the great joys of this project was over the pandemic, as we created a Zoom space bringing artists together across cultural, lingual, and physical distances in an intergenerational conversation – with playwright Martin Bellemare and translation collaborator Johanna Nutter joining us from Montreal.
I have had the privilege over the last few months of working with 2 remarkable theatre artists, a wonderfully creative design team, highly supportive producing body in a pan-Canadian conversation. A tremendous thank you to Western Gold Theatre and the Georges Boivin team.
Credits
Writen by Martin Bellemare Translated by Jack Paterson with Johanna Nutter Directed by Jack Paterson
FEATURING Jay Brazeau and John Innes alternating as Georges Boivin in repertory
Assistant Stage Manager: Jessica Adamson Assistant Lighting Designer: Chengyan Boon Sound Designer: Stephen Bulat Artistic Director: Tanja Dixon-Warren Video & Video Systems Design: Joel Grinke Costume Designer: Alaia Hamer Senior’s Access Consultant: Dr. Julia Henderson Set Designer: Glenn Macdonald Assistant Director: Hannah Siden Video & Video Systems Assistant: Vanka Chaitra Salim Stage Manager: Ingrid Turk Access And Surtitle Coordinator: Anika Vervecken Lighting Designer: John Webber
Meet our Playwrights & Translator
About the playwright
Martin Bellemare
(He, Him, His)
A graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada’s writing program, Martin Bellemare was nominated for the 2020 Siminovitch Prize and awarded the 2009 Gratien Gélinas Prize for Le Chant de Georges Boivin. La Liberté was presented at La Rubrique (Jonquière) in 2013 and in Montreal in 2015, and was scheduled to be staged in Ottawa in 2020. Maître Karim la perdrix (2018 Prix SACD de la dramaturgie francophone, awarded by the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques) will premiere at the Théâtre des Capucins in Luxembourg in 2021. Moule Robert (CNL Scholarship, shortlisted for the 2017 Prix SACD de la dramaturgie francophone and the 2018 Michel Tremblay Prize) was produced simultaneously at La Rubrique and at the POCHE/ GVE in Geneva, then at the Théâtre de Belleville in Paris. Martin is a four-time recipient of the Aide à la création grant from the Centre national du Théâtre/ARTCENA in Paris, and two of his plays are included in the repertoire of the Comédie-Française. Two of his plays for young audiences, Un château sur le dosand Des pieds et des mains, which was first produced at the NAC, have toured in Canada and internationally. In 2019, Extraordinaire et mystérieux and Charlie et le djingpouite were produced, and Cœur minéral premiered at the Francophonies in Limoges. The latter play was scheduled for a Montreal production in 2020.
His work has been produced in Quebec, France, Poland and Switzerland and translated into German, Italian and Lithuanian.
About the translator
Jack Paterson
(He, Him, His)
Jack’s practice has taken him across Canada, the UK and around the world. His work has ranged from contemporary devising, multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural and multi-ligual projects to new works and contemporary approaches to classical theatre. He trained at Circle in the Square (NYC, USA), GITIS (Moscow, RU), SENI (Denpasar, INA) and received his MFA from The University of Essex and East 15 Acting School (London, UK). Recent project include devised creation in Italy (Teatro Trieste 34, Piacenza) and Indonsia (SENI, Denpasar), and a deep dive into German innovation with Flausen+ (theatre wrede+, Oldenburg). www.JackPatersonTheatre.com
About the colaborating translator
Johanna Nutter
(Elle, She, Her)
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.
Meet the Cast
Jay Brazeau (He, Him)
Jay is seemingly everywhere. His TV work includes SUPERNATURAL, PSYCH, STARGATE SGI, BATES MOTEL, ROGUE, WEST WING, THE X FILES, AIR BUD and THE KILLING. Films: DOUBLE JEOPARDY, WATCHMEN, INSOMNIA, BEST IN SHOW, COOL RUNNINGS, WE’RE NO ANGELS, THE POSSESSION, LITTLE WOMEN, ANDRE, HEAD OVER HEELS, HORNS, FATHERS AND SONS and many others. You’ve HEARD him in countless voice roles for cartoons from “Sabrina: The Animated Series” to “My Little Pony”. Plus voicing the the NFB Oscar-nominated THE BIG SNIT. Jay’s favourite theatre roles includes: Man in the Chair “The Drowsy Chaperone” (National Arts Centre, Vancouver Playhouse), Tevye “Fiddler on the Roof” (California The Rubicon Theatre), “The Goat” (Presentation House Theatre), Cyrano (Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival), The Wiz in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s North American Tour of “Wizard of Oz” and the wonderful Edna Turnblad in the Canadian premiere of “Hairspray”. Jay is writing his own play FORTUNATE SONS and co-writing a screenplay THE PROFESSIONALS. IMBD
John Innes (He, Him)
John Innes was an early graduate of the National Theatre School (’67). He has performed in every major regional theatre in Canada, including 12 seasons with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival where he received a Tyrone Guthrie Award twice. He has also performed in regional theatres in the United States including 3 seasons with the Denver Center Theatre Company. In all, he has been a working actor for over 55 years.
Western Gold Theatre is the premier company in the country focused on sharing and celebrating the talents of senior professional theatre artists (age 55+). Western Gold also mentors emerging younger professional artists as they ‘share the boards’ with us. We are a vibrant creative gathering place for artists and audiences, young and old. www.westerngoldtheatre.org
Resources: Francophone Canadian Theatre
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
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, December 13, 2020
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 Q&A
In Association with Western Gold Theatre & The Canadian Play Thing
WESTERN GOLD: THE BALLAD OF GEORGES BOIVIN
By Martin Bellemare Translated by Jack Paterson
Translated from LE CHANT DE GEORGES BOIVIN (Quebec, Canada)
“Admirably well-constructed, Le chant de Georges Boivin intimately reveals the experiences of an elderly person with great finesse and delicacy.” Jury of Prix Gratien-Gélinas 2009
“…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
At 77, Georges Boivin “gives the dice a roll”. Georges just lost his wife, you see, the “centre of his universe”. He’s terrified “he’s no longer exists for anyone”. But there is life after 70 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.
Join us after the reading for a conversation with the playwright and translator.
This translation and workshop were made possible by grants from Canada Council for the Arts. Artists appear courtesy of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the Dance Opera Theatre Agreement. This project is produced with the co-operation of the UBCP/ACTRA.
Le chant de Georges Boivin featuring legendary québécois actor Pierre Collin. Directed Mario Borges and produced by Les productions Kléos (2012-2015).
Meet our Playwrights & Translator
About the playwright
Martin Bellemare
(He, Him, His)
A graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada’s writing program, Martin Bellemare was nominated for the 2020 Siminovitch Prize and awarded the 2009 Gratien Gélinas Prize for Le Chant de Georges Boivin. La Liberté was presented at La Rubrique (Jonquière) in 2013 and in Montreal in 2015, and was scheduled to be staged in Ottawa in 2020. Maître Karim la perdrix (2018 Prix SACD de la dramaturgie francophone, awarded by the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques) will premiere at the Théâtre des Capucins in Luxembourg in 2021. Moule Robert (CNL Scholarship, shortlisted for the 2017 Prix SACD de la dramaturgie francophone and the 2018 Michel Tremblay Prize) was produced simultaneously at La Rubrique and at the POCHE/ GVE in Geneva, then at the Théâtre de Belleville in Paris. Martin is a four-time recipient of the Aide à la création grant from the Centre national du Théâtre/ARTCENA in Paris, and two of his plays are included in the repertoire of the Comédie-Française. Two of his plays for young audiences, Un château sur le dosand Des pieds et des mains, which was first produced at the NAC, have toured in Canada and internationally. In 2019, Extraordinaire et mystérieux and Charlie et le djingpouite were produced, and Cœur minéral premiered at the Francophonies in Limoges. The latter play was scheduled for a Montreal production in 2020.
His work has been produced in Quebec, France, Poland and Switzerland and translated into German, Italian and Lithuanian.
About the translator
Jack Paterson
(He, Him, His)
Jack’s practice has taken him across Canada, the UK and around the world. His work has ranged from contemporary devising, multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural and multi-ligual projects to new works and contemporary approaches to classical theatre. He trained at Circle in the Square (NYC, USA), GITIS (Moscow, RU), SENI (Denpasar, INA) and received his MFA from The University of Essex and East 15 Acting School (London, UK). Recent project include devised creation in Italy (Teatro Trieste 34, Piacenza) and Indonsia (SENI, Denpasar), and a deep dive into German innovation with Flausen+ (theatre wrede+, Oldenburg). www.JackPatersonTheatre.com
Meet the workshop team
Jay Brazeau (He, Him)
Jay is seemingly everywhere. His TV work includes SUPERNATURAL, PSYCH, STARGATE SGI, BATES MOTEL, ROGUE, WEST WING, THE X FILES, AIR BUD and THE KILLING. Films: DOUBLE JEOPARDY, WATCHMEN, INSOMNIA, BEST IN SHOW, COOL RUNNINGS, WE’RE NO ANGELS, THE POSSESSION, LITTLE WOMEN, ANDRE, HEAD OVER HEELS, HORNS, FATHERS AND SONS and many others. You’ve HEARD him in countless voice roles for cartoons from “Sabrina: The Animated Series” to “My Little Pony”. Plus voicing the the NFB Oscar-nominated THE BIG SNIT. Jay’s favourite theatre roles includes: Man in the Chair “The Drowsy Chaperone” (National Arts Centre, Vancouver Playhouse), Tevye “Fiddler on the Roof” (California The Rubicon Theatre), “The Goat” (Presentation House Theatre), Cyrano (Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival), The Wiz in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s North American Tour of “Wizard of Oz” and the wonderful Edna Turnblad in the Canadian premiere of “Hairspray”. Jay is writing his own play FORTUNATE SONS and co-writing a screenplay THE PROFESSIONALS. IMBD
John Innes (He, Him)
John Innes was an early graduate of the National Theatre School (’67). He has performed in every major regional theatre in Canada, including 12 seasons with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival where he received a Tyrone Guthrie Award twice. He has also performed in regional theatres in the United States including 3 seasons with the Denver Center Theatre Company. In all, he has been a working actor for over 55 years.
Dramaturg: Johanna Nutter (She, Her)
Johanna Nutter is artistic director of creature/creature, a polymorphic company born of Nutter’s passion for blurring lines between established divisions. Her work has toured extensively throughout her home province of Quebec, across Canada and internationally, in both English and French, to such venues as Soho Theatre (London), The Pleasance (Edinburgh), Les Halles (Brussels), and La Licorne (Montreal). She won the PWM/Cole Emerging Translator award and brought CHLORINE (Longpré & Michon), which produced and directed at The Centaur (Brave New Looks 2016). She is currently working on texts by Annick Lefèbvre, Guillaume Corbeil, and Étienne Lepage.
* Artists appear courtesy of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the Dance Opera Theatre Agreement and the UBCP/ACTRA ULB Agreement.
Western Gold Theatre is the premier company in the country focused on sharing and celebrating the talents of senior professional theatre artists (age 55+). Western Gold also mentors emerging younger professional artists as they ‘share the boards’ with us. We are a vibrant creative gathering place for artists and audiences, young and old. www.westerngoldtheatre.org
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
Resources: Francophone Canadian Theatre
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 helps 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.
This season Bouche had the pleasure of facilitating workshops of Jack Paterson’s translation of of Martin Bellemare’s Western Gold: The Ballad of Georges Boivin and Johanna Nutter’s translation of Annick Lefebvre’s Barbed Wire with British Equity. Both these amazing francophone Canadian playwrights have been shortlisted for the Siminovitch Prize. Congratulations to all the nominees!
Martin Bellmare’s work was described as “dazzling formal mastery” and “virtuoso inventiveness” by the Prix Michel-Tremblay jury, 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.
Annick Lefebvre founded Le Crachoir, a company that examines the role of the author in the process of creating, producing and presenting theatre. She is the author of Ce samedi il pleuvait (Marc Beaupré, Le Crachoir, Aux Écuries, 2013), La machine à révolte (Jean Boillot, Le Préau / NEST-Théâtre, 2015), Barbelés (Alexia Bürger, Théâtre de Quat’sous et Théâtre La Colline, 2017) and ColoniséEs (René Richard Cyr, CTD’A, 2019). Her play J’accuse (Sylvain Bélanger, CTD’A, 2015) received the BMO Dramatic Writing Award, was a finalist for the AQCT Critics’ Award, the Prix Michel Tremblay and the Governor General of Canada Literary Award in 2015. Annick is currently adapting J’accuse for France (Sébastien Bournac, compagnie Tabula Rasa). Her work is published by Dramaturges Éditeurs.
This year’s winner of the Siminovitch Prize will be announced in a national, virtual ceremony on November 26 at 7 p.m. ET
