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

Ricki

By Joseph Shragge
Translated to French by Étienne Lepage

Ricki is a darkly absurdist fable. When Woman and Son move to Montreal after the loss of her husband and home, their relationship strains as they face a series of challenges leading to a monster arriving at their doorstep—a fantastical, faceless bear-like creature with a long snout and small wing-like ears. Son instantly falls in love with the creature until he and Woman realize its presence is not entirely benign.

Ricki was developed by Joseph Shragge and Scapegoat Carnivale in a residency with Infinitheatre.

Meet the Playwright & Translator

About the playwright

Joseph Shragge

Joseph Shragge is the co-artistic director/founder of the Scapegoat Carnivale Theatre, and a member of The Bakery Theatre. Some of his writing includes: Yev, co-written with Alison Darcy, in collaboration with the National Arts Centre (META Best Independent Production 2019), Sapientia based on Roswitha of Gandersheim adapted for object theatre, Fuck You! You fucking Perv! in collaboration with Leslie Baker, translated by Fanny Britt (The Bakery/Théâtre La Licorne, META winner for Best Production), The Heretics of Bohemia, a puppet epic (Scapegoat Carnivale/Segal Centre). Co-translator of Euripides’ Medea with Andreas Apergis (Scapegoat Carnivale/Centaur), MECCA winner for Best Production. His short fiction has appeared in Matrix Magazine, Phantasmagoria and The Capilano Review.

About the translator

Étienne Lepage

Impetuous, committed, and passionate about movement and ideas, Étienne Lepage quickly made a name for himself as a playwright after graduating from the National Theatre School of Canada (playwriting, 2007). He co-wrote, directed, and performed in Théâtre Catastrophe with the Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental, then in 2008, his play Le mariage de Francis Camélias won the Centre national du théâtre’s Aide à la création award in Paris. In 2009, his translation of David Harrower’s play Blackbird was presented at the Théâtre Prospero. The same year, audiences discovered his play Rouge gueule, staged by the Théâtre PàP and directed by Claude Poissant. Several powerful texts followed: Éclats et autres libertés (Louise-LaHaye Prize 2010), L’Enclos de l’éléphant (finalist for the Governor General’s Award 2011), Robin et Marion (2012). He also successfully devoted himself to theater for young audiences, notably with Histoires pour faire des cauchemars, a play created in Brussels and presented at Coups de théâtre (2012). More recently, at the Maison Théâtre, he reinvented the fairy tale “The Snow Queen” for puppets, which became Le cœur en hiver (Louise-LaHaye Prize 2016). Also a screenwriter, translator, and transdisciplinary creator, he has produced Ainsi parlait… (Thus Spoke…; FTA, 2013) and Logique du pire (Logic of the Worst; FTA, 2016) with choreographer Frédérick Gravel, two radical and committed works that have been presented across Canada and Europe.

Related Projects & News