Western Gold: The Ballad of Georges Boivin

Western Gold: The Ballad of Georges Boivin

WESTERN GOLD:
THE BALLAD OF GEORGES BOIVIN

By Martin Bellemare | Translated by Jack Paterson
Western Gold Theatre – Virtual Gold

 

Western Gold Theatre

in association with Bouche Theatre Collective
& The Canadian Play Thing

Virtual Gold

Western Gold presents a series of FREE online presentations, podcasts, and creative workshops to help keep you engaged and entertained during these challenging times.

Click here for Western Gold Theatre’s most recent Virtual Gold offerings!

FREE EVENT

DATE

Sunday, August 29, 2021

TIME

PT: 2 PM
MT: 3 PM
CT: 4 PM
ET: 5 PM
AT: 6PM

RUNNING TIME

1 hr 20 mins with talk back to follow

Western Gold Theatre

In association with Bouche Theare Collective
& The Canadian Play Thing

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 Paul Beckett, Jay Brazeau, John Innes and Allan Morgan
Translation Dramaturgy by Johanna Nutter.

“…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

“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

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).

Georges Boivin’s Journey 

“Le Chant de Georges Boivin is a precious gift. A “beautiful adventure” for a senior artist…” – Isabelle Houde, Le Soleil

LE CHANT DE GEORGES BOIVIN has been presented at Théâtre du Rideau vert (Montréal, 2010), Théâtre de la Huchette (Paris, 2011), and la Maison-des-Arts (Laval, 2011) with Théâtre Bluff.

2013/14, a production directed by Mario Borges and featuring well known francophone actor Pierre Collin (above), was seen across Quebec and francophone communities across Canada from Community and Senior Centres to the National Arts Centre (Ottawa).

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 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. Martin was one of the five playwrights nominated for Canada’s leading theatre awarsd the 2020 Siminovitch Prize.

About the translator

Jack Paterson

(He, Him, His)

Jack Paterson is a Vancouver director, devisor, dramaturge, translator, and creative producer whose practice has taken him across Canada, UK and around the world. Projects have ranged from contemporary devising, cross-cultural, multilingual, and multi-disciplinary experiences, new creations, text and translations development to main stage and classical theatre in post drama and contemporary forms. Jack trained at leading international institutions including 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 & The University of Essex (London, UK). He is a recipient of “The Ray Michal Award for Outstanding Body of Work”, “The Cole Foundation Award for Emerging Translators” and “The John Moffat & Larry Lillo Award for Outstanding West Coast Artist”. www.JackPatersonTheatre.com

Meet the workshop team

Paul Beckett (He, Him, his)

Paul Beckett has been out of the theatre scene due in a large part to the pandemic. But over this time, Paul has been finding his way with writing. Please keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for he and his partner’s one-act play “The Village Girl and the Frog King”, which will be airing are a radio production on Vancouver Co-operative Radio, CFRO. The play which probably brought Paul his greatest attention was a one-man show solo piece about the late 19th century Parisian artist, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec. That had to be about thirty years ago. Currently, he is working under CAEA contract to workshop the translation of Quebec writer Martin Bellemare’s piece about 4 men, seniors, driving from Montreal to Vancouver in search of a long-lost love.

Jay Brazeau (He, Him, HIS)

Jay Brazeau has been featured in dozens of films and many more TV series and specials, best known for his role as Sam Fisher in Cold Squad, as Harlan in Stargate SG-1, and for voicing Uncle Quigley in Sabrina: The Animated Series, and as Bobby in Double Jeopardy, as Referee in the Air Bud Films, and his film role in We’re No Angels. A busy stage actor, credits include Duddy and Brighton Beach Memoirs (The Citadel), Moonlight and Magnolias and Other People’s Money (Vancouver Playhouse); Urinetown (Firehall Arts Centre); Hairspray (Mirvish), ); The Producers (Arts Club Theatre); Fiddler on the Roof (The Rubicon Theatre, California) and “Man in chair” in the Drowsy Chaperone (National Arts Centre).

Allan Morgan (He, Him, HIS)

Allan Morgan has been a professional actor for more than 30 years, with his home in Vancouver. He is currently one of the artists in residence at the Massey theatre in New Westminster. Allan’s acting work has taken him across the country, and he has been the recipient of numerous awards for his work. He has also written two one-person shows: Pride for the Young Gay, the Un-Gay and the Jaded Queen in All of Us, as well as, I Walked the Line.

John Innes (He, Him, HIS)

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 (Elle, She, Her, Hers)

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.

AGEING IN THE ARTS CO-ORDINATOR : DR. JULIA HENDERSON (SHE, HER, HERS)

Julia Henderson has a PhD in Theatre Studies from the University of British Columbia; her disserta-tion explored how theatre and performance practices contribute to cultural constructions of aging and old age in contemporary North American theatre. She is now a SSHRC-funded Postdoctoral Fellow with Concordia University where her research focuses on the Imagination Network of Gibsons’ Raising the Curtain project, a community-engaged initiative that involves collaborative creation with people with the lived experience of dementia. Julia’s research on dramaturgies of age offers insights on how dramatic structure, design, staging, performance style, and marketing might influence understandings of ages across the life course. She is Vice Chair of the North American Network in Aging Studies and on the Governing Board of Concordia University’s Ageing + Communication + Technologies Project. Her work on ageing and theatre has been published in Theatre Research in Canada, The Journal of American Drama and Theatre, Theatre Journal, Canadian Theatre Review, Age, Culture, Humanities, RIDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, and the Thornton Wilder Journal. Recently, Julia has guest-edited an upcoming issue of Theatre Research in Canada titled “Age and Performance: Expanding Intersectionality”— the first to address the topic of age.

Assistant Director: Hannah Siden (SHE, HER, HERS)

Hannah is a filmmaker, writer, actor, and yoga teacher. She is currently based in Vancouver, BC.  Most recently, she wrote and directed the short film Breathing Easy over Zoom, featuring Arts Club regulars Agnes Tong and Anita Wittenberg. She also directed, produced, and co-edited a music video for singer-songwriter David Beckingham in collaboration with Ballet BC, Plastic Wings. Her latest short screenplay, Tumbling, is a Semi-Finalist at the 2021 HollyShorts Screenplay Contest.  She holds a BA in International Development Studies from McGill University, an MA in Acting from East 15 Acting School, and a postgraduate filmmaking diploma from the London Film Academy. She also holds a 200hr yoga teaching certification from Semperviva Yoga. www.hannahsiden.com

* Artists appear courtesy of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the Dance Opera Theatre Agreement and the UBCP/ACTRA ULB Agreement.

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

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

Special

Thank You

A Glimpse into New Translation: Facelift

A Glimpse into New Translation: Facelift

Facelift

By Nathalie Boisvert | Translated by Johanna Nutter

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 July 18, 2021

TIME

PT (Vancouver): 12PM
MT (Calgary): 1PM
CT (Regina): 2PM
ET (Montreal): 3PM
AT (Halifax): 4PM
GMT (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 Canadian Play Thing, PHT Creative Hub Co-operative,  Ruby Slippers Theatre & Théâtre la Seizième

FACELIFT

By Nathalie Boisvert | Translated by Johanna Nutter
Translated from FACELIFT (Quebec, Canada)

Featuring Nimet Kanji, Lisa C. Ravensbergen and Gwynyth Walsh
Q&A moderated by Catherine Ballachey

A woman in her fifties leads us in a makeup tutorial: first the foundation, then the eyes and finally the mouth… As she constructs the perfect face, she shares with us the secrets of successful make-up, her thoughts on the necessity of this camouflage, the dangers of age, loneliness and failure. As she drifts away from the female ideal, she enters into a dialogue with Nelly Arcan and Simone de Beauvoir. The activity of daily make-up turns into a examination a woman’s life, questioning the relationship between women and beauty, seduction, ageing and the subject of women’s freedom in the face of social diktats.

A brand new work, Facelift was featured at TEAMTHEATER TANKSTELLE e.V (Munich) and TeamTheatreGlobal:Quebec 2019

This translation and 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.

Meet our Playwright & Translator

About the playwright

Nathalie Boisvert

Nathalie Boisvert (she, her, hers) holds a bachelor’s degree in acting and a master’s degree in drama from the University of Quebec in Montreal (1993). In 1997, her first play, The Sordid Story of Conrad B., was performed at the Festival ide Spa (Belgium), remounted in Brussels and translated into English by Bobby Theodore. In 1999, her work, L’été des Martiens (Lansman) premiered simultaneously in Quebec (Théâtre Niveau Parking) and France (La Comédie de la Mandoune) and again produced simultaneously in 2006 in Dusseldorf (Landstheatre) and Berlin (Grips) in German translation by Frank Heibert. Translated into English by Bobby Theodore, it was also produced in 2002 by Theatre Direct (Toronto). In 2006, her play Vie et Mort d’un village, received lauréate des Journées de Lyon (Éditions Comp’Act) and she received le Prix Gratien-Gélinas in 2007 for Buffet chinois. Her Antigone au printemps was a finalist for the 2018 Governor General’s Award French Language Drama and received the Prix Émile-Augier.

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.

Meet the workshop team

Nimet Kanji (She, her, hers)

Nimet is an award winning Theatre and TV/Film actor and has had the pleasure of working with Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica), Kevin Sorbo (Paradox) and John Cusack (Martian Child) amongst other notable names. Her theatre credits include ‘Sultans of the Street’ (Carousel Theatre), ‘9 Parts of Desire’ (The Maggie Tree) and ‘Victim Impact’ (Theatre Conspiracy).

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

Gwynyth Walsh (She, Her, Hers)

Well versed on stage and screen, Gwynyth is happy to be working with Jack Paterson again. Screen credits include Virgin River, Man in the High Castle and Black Summer. Stage credits include The Tempest ( with Jack! ), Mary Stuart, King Charles III, and Barefoot in the Park.

Guest Dramaturg: Diane Brown (She, Her, Hers)

Diane is a multi award-winning director, actor, and Artistic Director of Ruby Slippers Theatre (RST). In 2017, she received the prestigious Bra D’Or Award from Playwrights Guild of Canada and was a 2018 Nominee for the Women of Distinction Awards, in recognition of her years of empowering the voices of diverse female-identifying artists. She and RST earned the reputation as Vancouver’s finest producers of crucial Quebec works in English, translations commissioned by RST. Diane has a BFA from SFU and an MFA in Directing from UBC.

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

 

About Ruby Slippers Theatre

Ruby Slippers Theatre imagines a world where diversity is celebrated through a deeper understanding of each other. www.rubyslippers.ca

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

About Théâtre la Seizième

Founded in 1974, Théâtre la Seizième is the main French language, professional theatre company in British Columbia. Since its creation, la Seizième contributes to the richness and diversity of the performing arts through its activities in new play development, production, presentation, and touring in French. Through powerful experiences that reflect the very best of francophone performing arts, from here and elsewhere, our company aims to inspire, enrich, and bring together diverse audiences. www.seizieme.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.

CRFO Arts Rational Interview with Nathalie Boisvert

CRFO Arts Rational Interview with Nathalie Boisvert

CRFO Arts Rational Interview with Nathalie Boisvert

Listen to award winning francophone playwright Nathalie Boisvert and John Jack Paterson on Vancouver Co-op Radio CFRO’s Arts Rational to discussing francophone theatre and her play Facelift.

Available on all following platforms:

http://www.coopradio.org/content/arts-rational-874

ABOUT NATHALIE BOISVERT (ELLE, SHE, HER, HERS) | PLAYWRIGHT: FACELIFT

Nathalie Boisvert holds a BA in acting and a MA in drama from the University of Quebec. In 1997, her first play, L’histoire sordide de Conrad B., was performed at the Festival de Spa (Belgium), remounted in Brussels and translated into English by Bobby Theodore. In 1999, her work, L’été des Martiens (Lansman) premiered simultaneously in Quebec (Théâtre Niveau Parking) and France (La Comédie de la Mandoune) and again produced simultaneously in 2006 in Dusseldorf (Landstheatre) and Berlin (Grips). In 2006, her play Vie et Mort d’un village, received lauréate des Journées de Lyon (Éditions Comp’Act) and she received le Prix Gratien-Gélinas in 2007 for Buffet chinois. Her Antigone au printemps was shortlisted for the 2018 Governor General’s Award French Language Drama and received the Prix Émile-Augier. Antigone is currently being translated to English by Hugh Hazelton.

A Glimpse into New Translation: And if one night

A Glimpse into New Translation: And if one night

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, June 20 2021

TIME

PT (Vancouver): 12PM
MT (Calgary): 1PM
CT (Regina): 2PM
ET (Montreal): 3PM
AT (Halifax): 4PM
GMT (London UK): 20:00 hrs
CET (Berlin EU): 21:00 hrs

RUNNING TIME

2 hrs including Intermission and conversation with the playwright

How to Attend:

Click the image below for how to attend

Free event. Online venue opens 5 minutes prior to start. Capacity 100.

Latecomers welcome – audience does not appear on screen.

In Association with The Canadian Play Thing, PHT Creative Hub Co-operative & Théâtre la Seizième

AND IF ONE NIGHT

By Lisa L’Heureux | Translated by Mishka Lavigne
Translated from ET SI UN SOIR (Quebec, Canada)

Featuring Carmina Bernhardt, Lauren Brotman, Chris Francisque & Julie Tamiko Manning | Q&A moderated by Catherine Ballachey

“Modern and poetic…four characters whose desires for true human contact seek to transcend the virtuality of screens…Lisa L’Heureux portrays a generation in search of self and real, concrete meaning to give to its intimacy. “ – ici.radio-canada.ca

In a grey apartment building, four characters live in a dreamlike space in which time moves forward without moving, sometimes in an offbeat and unsettling way. Written as a fragmented dream, this choral piece draws its inspiration from the night to dive into zones of human intimacy that are often hidden. Here, inaction, the moment that precedes the act, is the root of all tension.

Et si un soir was directed by Lisa L’Heureux, produced by Théâtre Rouge Écarlate with the support of Théâtre du Trillium, Nouvelle Scène Gilles-Desjardins in Ottawa, 2018 and received a residency at Chartreuse-lez-Avignon, France, 2015. It was a shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award French Language Drama 2019, the Prix du livre d’Ottawa (2019) and the Emerging Author Award Prix littéraire Émergence de l’AAOF (2019).  It was the recipient of the Prix littéraire Trillium (2019) and Lisa’s production won the Prix Rideau, Outstanding Production Award.

This translation and 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.

Et si un soir (2018) | A Théâtre Rouge Écarlate production, with the support of Théâtre du Trillium, presented at La Nouvelle Scène Gilles Desjardins.
Photo credit: Jonathan Lorange

 

Meet our Playwright & Translator

About the playwright

LISA L’HEUREUX

LISA L’HEUREUX (she, her, hers) is an Ottawa-based playwright, director, and dramaturg. She is a graduate of University of Ottawa (B.A. in Theatre and History) and of University of British Columbia (M.A. in Theatre Research). With her company, Théâtre Rouge Écarlate, she has created Ciseaux, Pour l’hiver (Prix Jacques-Poirier 2017), and Et si un soir, cocreated Proximité and directed Projet D. She has had playwright residencies in Belgium (Mariemont, CED-WB), France (La Chartreuse de Villeneuve les Avignon) and with Théâtre du Trillium (Ottawa). She has contributed to many collaborative pieces, such as À quoi ça sert d’être brillant si t’éclaires personne (NAC French Theatre). As a dramaturg, Lisa worked with Satellite Théâtre (Moncton) and with Sudbury playwright Antoine Côté Legault. She recently completed a podcast version of Et si un soir

About the translator

Mishka Lavigne

Mishka Lavigne (she, her, hers) is a playwright and literary translator based in Ottawa/Gatineau. Her translation work for theatre has been seen in Ottawa, Montreal, and France. Héritage, her translation of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun opened the 2019-2020 season at Duceppe in Montreal. She is currently working on a French translation of Karen Hines’ All The Little Animals I Have Eaten. Her translations of poetry were published in Ontario and Québec, included the recently published Cette blessure est un territoire, a French translation of Billy-Ray Belcourt’s Griffin Poetry Prize winning collection This Wound is a World. Her own works include Cinéma (Théâtre la Catapulte and Théâtre Belvédère.), Vigile (Théâtre Rouge Écarlate). Her play Havre recently won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama (French) and was shortlisted for the Prix Michel-Tremblay.

Meet the workshop team

Carmina Bernhardt (she, her, hers)

Vancouver-born, London-based, mixed Caucasian/Japanese/Chinese woman who acts, writes, directs for theatre and film. Graduated with Distinction from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama’s MA Acting for Screen. Recipient of the London Library’s Emerging Writers Award 2019 and in 2020, New Earth Theatre’s BESEA Professional Writers Programme.

Lauren Brotman (She, Her, Hers)

Lauren is an award-winning actor, creator, and artist educator, her work taking her across Canada and Europe. Her company, Bound to Create (B2C), explores the beauty of dark and light, having partnered with Obsidian, Tapestry, Native Earth and Theatre Northwest, recently expanding to create work for stage, tv and film. www.boundtocreate.com

Chris Francisque (He, Him, His)

Chris is a Jessie award-winning actor, who was born in Montréal, Québec and raised on the south shore in St-Hubert.
Chris has been featured in various commercials, television and film roles. Before the pandemic, Chris would have been seen in Le NoShow Vancouver, which was his French theatrical debut with Théâtre La Seizième.

Julie Tamiko Manning (She, Her, Hers)

An award-winning actor and theatre creator based in Tiohtiá:ke /Montréal, Julie has performed across the country and beyond from the NAC (Ottawa) to Factory (Toronto) to the Firehall (Vancouver) to the Festival Grec (Barcelona).  Her play The Tashme Project (with Matt Miwa) was published in 2019 and she is currently writing her third play, Mizushōbai.

Guest Dramaturg: Catherine Ballachey (She, Her, Hers)

Catherine Ballachey is a Vancouver-based dramaturg and administrator. She completed her MA in Dramaturgy at the University of Ottawa in 2016. In 2009, she received her BFA in Performance Theatre and French from Simon Fraser University. She has worked with many local companies including Neworld Theatre, Pi Theatre, Electric Company Theatre, and Théâtre la Seizième.

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

 

About Théâtre la Seizième

Founded in 1974, Théâtre la Seizième is the main French language, professional theatre company in British Columbia. Since its creation, la Seizième contributes to the richness and diversity of the performing arts through its activities in new play development, production, presentation, and touring in French. Through powerful experiences that reflect the very best of francophone performing arts, from here and elsewhere, our company aims to inspire, enrich, and bring together diverse audiences. www.seizieme.ca

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.

International New Translation Workshop: Mall

International New Translation Workshop: Mall

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.

La Coalition de la robe

La Coalition de la robe

This translation was made possible by a grant from Canada Council for the Arts.

LA COALITION DE LA ROBE

By Marie-Claude Garneau, Marie-Ève Milot & Marie-Claude St-Laurent
Published by Éditions du remue-ménage
Translated by Rhiannon Collett

“…the revival of Quebec’s feminist theatre, a vibrant homage to art, the place of women to challenge everything, to move from the shadows to the light, from death to life, from imprisonment to freedom.” – Le Devoir

“These creators, who advocate for the place of women in theatre, present unique work, of incandescent intelligence.” – Urban Bible

They appeared from the shadows, like from a horror movie, the invisible armed with all their crumpled and scraped ideas. In their hands were their stillborn dreams & characters.

Make room for LA COALITION DE LA ROBE – infiltrating the theatre to get women in, and they will not leave. Marie-Claude Garneau, Marie-Eve Milot and Marie-Claude St-Laurent investigate a story of invisibility and anonymity.

This interdisciplinary document records the writers’ political awakening, and their discovery of a heritage not taught in school – the works of Quebecois women. They share their personal journeys, their theatre knowledge, their liberating anger in a collection of scenes, essays and manifestos. A new generation of writers, performers, and audiences is here to shake off their chains and take their rightful place.

Chienne(s) (2018), Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui and Théâtre de l’Affamée.
Photo by Dominic LaChance

Meet the Playwrights

Marie-Ève Milot & Marie-Claude St-Laurent are the Artistic Directors of Théâtre de l’Affamée. Mandated to invest in a (re) new Feminist/feminine theatre, they create complex characters that can be identified outside the binary mode of gender, question normativity and provoke new possibilities. Active members of Femmes pour l’Équité en Théâtre (F.E.T.), they co-wrote the Jeu magazine cry t action, addressing the under-representation of women in theatre, and created reference documents for students and faculty about the under-representation of women and the systems that marginalize them. They have written 8 works together including Cour à scrap – Portrait d’une famille reconstituée, Débranchée (Unplugged) (shortlisted for the prix Louise-LaHaye 2017) and Guérilla de l’ordinaire, (shortlisted for the prix Michel-Tremblay 2020). Their essay La coalition de la robe, co-written with Marie-Claude Garneau, was published in Editions du remue-ménage in 2017. 
Théâtre de l’Affamée

Marie-Ève Milot

(Elle)

Since graduating l’École de théâtre du Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe, Marie-Eve Milot has been deeply involved in the theatre world. As an actress, she has collaborated with Hugo Bélanger (Princess Turandot, Pinocchio, Peter et Alice), Marc Beaupré (Ce samedi il pleuvait), Serge Denoncourt (Thérèse et Pierrette à l’École des Saints-Anges), Geneviève L. Blais (Si les oiseaux, Local B-1717) and Sébastien David Scratch. She was seen le Petit Théâtre de La Colline in Paris, in Les barbelés by Annick Lefebvre, staged by Alexia Boerger, and then remounted the show at the Théâtre de Quat’Sous. She can be seen on large and small screen (Les pays d’en haut, 5e rang).

Marie-Claude St-Laurent

(Elle)

Marie-Claude St-Laurent is an actor, author, feminist activist, co-editor of La Nef aux Éditions du remue-ménage. On the small screen, she was seen in the popular youth show Vrak La vie and is more recently as a cast member in L’écrivain public III and des Sioui-Bacon V. On stage, she produced Guérilla de l’ordinaire, Chienne(s), Toc Toc, Grease and Aller chercher demain. A member of the steering committee of Espace Go, and collaborated in the research study conducted by the RéQEF.

Marie-Claude Garneau

(Elle)

MARIE-CLAUDE GARNEAU trained at the Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe Theatre School. As an end-of-study internship, she participated in the UNESCO-IIT International Chair Workshops in Sinaia, Romania. She is a graduate of the University of Ottawa with her research focused on feminist dramaturgy, critical and feminist theories, women’s theatre, Quebec theatre, research-creation and socio-criticism. An actor and director, she is known for the role of Leena Babin in the popular youth series RamDam.

About the translator

Rhiannon Collett

(They, Them)

Rhiannon Collett is an award-winning non-binary playwright, performer, director and translator based in Montreal and Toronto. Their work explores the ritualization of grief, gender performativity, queer/trans identity and the psychological effects of sexual objectification. Selected playwriting credits include Miranda & Dave Begin Again (2016 Playwrights Guild of Canada RBC Emerging Playwright Award); Wasp; The Kissing Game); Tragic Queens; La Somnambule (an immersive, site-specific adaptation of Djuna Barnes’ Nightwood); The Revolutions (commissioned and produced by Spiderwebshow, a cross-country collaboration featuring artists broadcast live from Montreal, Toronto, Kingston and Vancouver); There are No Rats in Alberta. Their theatre criticism has been featured in The Globe and Mail, Now Magazine, Intermission Magazine and HowlRound. www.rhiannoncollett.com

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