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, Jan. 30th 2022
TIME
PT (Vancouver): 4PM
MT (Calgary): 5PM
ET (Montreal): 7PM
AT (Halifax): 8PM
RUNNING TIME
2 hrs including Intermission and conversation with the playwright
HOW TO ATTEND
FREE event. No registration required. Capacity 100.
Latecomers welcome – audience does not appear on screen.
In Association with
The Canadian Play Thing, PHT Creative Hub Co-operative & United Players of Vancouver
THE HARDINGS
By Alexia Bürger | Translated by Alexis Diamond
Translated from LES HARDINGS (Quebec, Canada)
Featuring Rick Dobran, Paul David Power, & Anthony Santiago
“…an enormously powerful and touching piece… an important theatrical experience…” – Mazrou
A Quebecois railway worker, an American insurance salesman and a New Zealander researcher have the same name: Thomas Harding. On the surface, they have nothing in common. Until one night, a train derails blowing up a city. The invisible tracks that connect these three existences begin to reveal themselves. Inspired by the documentary material, Alexia Boerger questions conformism and the individuals’ responsibility when tragedy strikes.
Les Hardings premiered Centre du Théâtre d’hui (2018). It received the Prix auteur(e) dramatique du CTD’A and was selected by Jury of Grand Prix du livre de Montréal 2019.
This translation and workshop is made possible by grants from The Canada Council for the Arts. This project is produced with the co-operation of the UBCP/ACTRA.
LES HARDINGS
Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, 2018
Meet our Playwright & Translator
About the playwright
ALEXIA BÜRGER
ALEXIA BÜRGER (elle) is a Montreal actor, playwright and director. A long-time accomplice of Olivier Choinière, Alexia co directed Chante avec moi (Espace Libre / Festival TransAmériques / Centre National des Arts / Le Trident) and Polyglotte (Théâtre Aux Écuries / Festival TransAmériques). She co-created Alfred (Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui) with Emmanuel Schwartz. She co created the theatrical ambulatory Je ne m’appartiens plus (Espace Go) with Sophie Cadieux. She has worked on numerous installations combining fictitious and documentary material, visual art and sound research, such as Pensées courantes (Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui lobby over the 2016/2017 season). In 2017, she directed Les barbelés in France (Théâtre La Colline) which was revived in Quebec (Théâtre de Quat’Sous). In 2018, Alexia and collaborator Fanny Britt, won the Jean-Louis Roux Creative Fellowship of the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde for writing Lysis.
About the translator
Alexis Diamond
Alexis Diamond (she, her) is a Montreal-based playwright, opera librettist, translator and theatre curator. Her award-winning plays, operas and translations for audiences of all ages have been presented across Canada, in the U.S. and in Europe. She also collaborates with several international artists on performance-installations involving text, movement and sound. In 2019, Alexis Diamond served as co-artistic director of the Jamais Lu festival, where she also presented a bilingual play, Faux-amis, with co-author Hubert Lemire, with support from the CALQ. In 2018, Alexis joined a multiyear project led by professor Erin Hurley (McGill University) on the history of Quebec’s English-language theatre.
Meet the workshop team
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.
PAUL DAVID POWER (HE, HIM, HIS)
Paul David Power has spent 25 years working as a writer, playwright, actor and director. His leadership positions include President of the Liffey Players Drama Society (Calgary), Artistic Director for Hubcity Theatre (Moncton) and Artistic Associate for the Shakespeare by the Sea Festival (St. John’s). Paul is an award winning playwright with Roomies, Last Chance, The View From Down Here, In Your Eyes and his current critically acclaimed touring production, Crippled. Paul is currently the Artistic Director of Power Productions (NL) – a professional theatre company dedicated to the development of works and artists with a focus on the disabled Deaf and MAD Arts domain. www.powerproductionsnl.com
ANTHONY SANTIAGO (HE, HIM, HIS)
Anthony’s selected theatre credits include: Best of Enemies (Pacific Theatre), Coriolanus (Bard on the Beach), Company (Raincity Theatre), Sweat (The Arts Club/The Citadel Theatre), Dear Elizabeth (Wunderdog Theatre) Superior Donuts (Ensemble Theatre Company), True West (Sonderhouse Productions). Special love and thanks to his family, friends, Nya-Manet, James and AKC.
ASSISTANT PRODUCER: HANNAH SIDEN (SHE, HER, HERS)
Hannah is a writer, director, producer and actor currently based in Vancouver, BC. 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. Hannah wrote and directed the short film Breathing Easy featuring Agnes Tong and Anita Wittenberg. She directed, produced and edited a music video for singer-songwriter David Beckingham in collaboration with Ballet BC, Plastic Wings. www.hannahsiden.com
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 United Players
The uniqueness of United Players has been this diverse blend of artists of all ages, experiences and from all walks of life. The result is an exciting, energetic, creative, and fulfilling environment in which dreams can be realized, careers advanced, achievements accomplished, and magic created.
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.