BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective is back in action. 2020 began with a series of translation commissions. During this current period of uncertainty, it is with a special gratitude to Canada Council for the Arts allowing us to support freelance and independent artists.
Francophone Canadian playwrighting is on forefront of international playwriting – their work is translated and presented all over the world. It is particularly hard to describe the unique “Langue D’Auteur” created by Francophone Canadian artists as there is nothing quite like it in Western English Language theatre. Imagine Shakespeare, Moliere, Sarah Kane and Martin Crimp smashed together on the page. The poetic or expressionistic are side by side with gritty realism and the mundane often becomes the fantastical. Ancient words, made up words, verse, prose, Joual (everyday Quebecois), other francophone dialects, all literary devices, often the live next to each other on the page.
CONTE DU SOLEIL By Philippe Soldevila | Translated by Leanna Brodie
Étienne, 10, and Octavio, his father, have isolated themselves from each oher. Étienne prefers his screens, his father takes refuge in his work. Exploring Etienne’s Spanish great-grandmother’s childhood, in the land of the Sun, these two may yet find a way back to each other and connect the worlds of multiple generations. The last chapter of a generational and deeply personal trilogy on the immigrant journey, Conte de soleil takes us on a tour of two continents, and four generations. From Spain to Quebec, from 1917 to 2017, Conte explores identity, the encounter between cultures.
“A touching play on family, separation and resilience.”– Anne-Josée Cameron, ICI Radio-Canada
Meet the playwright
Philippe Soldevila
Philippe Soldevila is a leading francophone director, playwright, author, and translator. With a BA in French literature (Université Laval) and Theatre (University of Ottawa), he studied at the Conservatory of dramatic art of Quebec. He is the artistic director of Théâtre Sortie de Secours. In May 1998, he received the John Hirsch Award from the Canada Council for the Arts in recognition of his work as a director. He wrote and directed Tale of the Moon (Mask 2006 for Best Production for Young Audiences, Éloizes 2007 Production of the Year Award and ZOF Award of the French Cultural Federation and SAIC). His artistic approach is guided by his fascination with cultural intermingling and identity issues.
Meet the translator
Leanna Brodie
Leanna Brodie is an actor, playwright, and translator whose passions include lifting up the stories and voices of women, and championing a new generation of French-Canadian playwrights by transmitting their extraordinary theatrical visions into the English language. Her original plays The Vic, For Home and Country, The Book of Esther, and Schoolhouse (Talon Books) have been performed across Canada. Her translations include Christian Bégin’s After Me and Why Are You Crying?; Louise Bombardier’s My Mother Dog; Annie Brocoli’s Stardust; Rébecca Déraspe’s You Are Happy, I Am William, and Gametes; Amélie Dumoulin’s Violette; Sébastien Harrisson’s From Alaska and Two-Part Inventions; Catherine Léger’s Opium_37 and I Lost My Husband!; David Paquet’s Wildfire and The Shoe; Olivier Sylvestre’s The Paradise Arms; Philippe Soldevila’s Tales of the Moon; Larry Tremblay’s Panda Panda; and multiple plays by Hélène Ducharme of Théâtre Motus, whose acclaimed, Dora Award-winning Baobab continues to tour China and the Americas after more than 600 performances.
This translation was made possible by a grant from Canada Council for the Arts.
This September and October, Bouche was kindly invited by the British Equity WSW London Office to lead some new play development activities. Taking advantage of this opportunity to introduce British artists to francophone Canadian and international works, we workshopped three translations.
Horses from Heaven fall in a rain of ash (Iran) By Naghmeh Samini | Translated by Jack Paterson
Prince Siyâvash, the symbol of innocence in Persian literature, is ordered by his father to ride into a burning pyre for a crime he did not commit. In the flames, he encounters those who confront his future actions and his current beliefs. Inspired and drawn from the Shahnameh (The Book of Kings), and South Asian, Chinese and Western mythologies.
About the playwright: Naghmeh Samini Naghmem Samini (Ph.D), playwright, scriptwriter and lecturer in Dramatic Arts, was born in Iran and received her BA in Drama and MA in Cinema from the University of Tehran. She did her PhD in Art Studies at the University of Tarbiat Modarres (Tehran) with a thesis focused on Drama and Mythology. Her plays have been staged in Iran, France, India, Canada, the United States and other countries. Her plays are experimental in structure and handle a variety of topical subjects at personal and sociopolitical levels. Her play The King and the Mathematician: A Legend(2012) was selected by UNESCO as one of the cultural achievements of the year.
Special thank you to the wonderful artists Rosie Akerman, Eleanor Bennett, Joan Blackham, Viny Lad, Kavé Niku, Caroline Partridge Jay Ramji, Saria Steeland and James Watterson; Vancouver translator Leanna Brodie joining us a 6AM Vancouver time by Skype, and Lola May for organizing it!
En Las Tablas Performing Arts & Steppenwolf Theatre (Chicago, USA)
Medusa
A Global Hive Labs. Creation: Bouche Theatre Collective, ChezActors, fusion theatre, Pop Magic Production
Devised by the Chicago & International Ensembles Directed and Faciltated by Denise Yvette Serna, Anna Donnell, Katie Merritt, Iman Kerroua, Carolina Migli-Bateson, Earl T. Kim and Jack Paterson
Movement Directed by Earl T. Kim | Access Coordinator Anna Donnell | Dramaturgy & Translation by Emma Pauly
Medusa is a multidisciplinary performance devised by an international ensemble of artists over one year, in four countries. Medusa celebrates the intersectional feminist revitalization of western mythology, the integration of accessibility design into the generative process, and the way social location affects participation in and interpretation of artistic experiences.
Featuring live music, dance, spoken word, multimedia and visual art, audiences will encounter Medusa’s journey, physical transformation, and isolation through all 5 senses.
Global Hive Laboratories integrates access design into the devising process from Day One. This includes thinking intentionally about how what we share can be experienced by different kinds people, and how to develop Accessible content that is present in every performance of a piece, rather than specifically assigned dates for those who would seek out those services.
Accessibility is intrinsic to our values as a collective and to the core of what we DO. We create an environment in which performers, directors, designers, playwrights, and audience members feel welcome to work with us and experience our productions. We can expect mistakes, shortfalls, and misunderstandings along the way, but if we go into providing access with open minds and hearts, we can always improve.
Chicago Ensemble: Terri Lynn Hudson, Melody DeRogatis, Jenn Geiger, Mari DeOleo, River Coello, and Electra Tremulis.
International Ensemble: Carolina Migli-Bateson, Alice Robbi, Elisa Ferrari, and Eliza Harris
Gallery
About
Global Hive Labs.
GHL is an international collective and network of companies and artists working together in shared practice. Home countries of participating organizations and artists include Italy, France, Spain, United Kingdom, the U.S.A., Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and China.
Practices include International Devised Collaboration, Multi-Lingual, Multi Disciplinary and Physical Theatre approaches, Long Distance Technologies (use of communication Technologies in creation and presentation) and Active Access Design (integrating Access Design such as audio description, etc. as core creative elements).
A project is workshopped in multiple countries over the space of a year. Projects have premiered at Chicago’s Seppenwolf Theatre (U.S.A.) and London’s The Pleasance Theatre (UK).
The Presentation House Theatre 333 Chesterfield Avenue, North Vancouver, BC V7M 3G9
The Presentation House Theatre In association with Bouche Theatre Collectve
DIGITAL CHALLENGES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN THEATRE: A NATIONAL CONFERENCE
The Naughty Children’s Bedtime Stories
By Étienne Lepage Directed & Translated by Jack Paterson* Featuring Corina Akeson*, Leanna Brodie*, Art Kitching* and Anthony Santiago* Stage Managed/ Assistant Directed by Marie Pike
“I was thoroughly engrossed – what a clever, funny, edgy piece!” Tessa Mendel, Artistic Director, Halifax Theatre for Young People
Eight terrible stories spring from the fertile imaginations two little good-for-nothings who refuse to go to bed. Spooking each other, they make up creepy, fun-filled stories, test boundaries, and explore what’s real and what’s not. 2015 French Language Governor General’s Awards finalist.
Special thank you to dramaturge Johanna Nutter and Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre.
This September and October, Bouche was kindly invited by the British Equity WSW London Office to lead some new play development activities. Taking advantage of this opportunity to introduce British artists to francophone Canadian and international works, we workshopped three translations.
The Naughty Children’s Bedtime Stories (Quebec, Canada) By Étienne Lepage | Translated by Jack Paterson
Eight horrible stories spring from the fertile imaginations two little good-for-nothings who refuse to go to bed. This play was 2015 French Language Governor Generals Award finalist.
About the playwright: Étienne Lepage Étienne Lepage is a multiple Governor General Award nominated playwright, screenwriter, translator, and transdisciplinary creator. Based in Montreal, his work has been presented across North America and Europe. His other writing includes Rouge Gueule, L’Enclos de l’éléphant, Ainsi parlait.
Special thank you to the wonderful artists Rosie Akerman, Eleanor Bennett, Joan Blackham, Viny Lad, Kavé Niku, Caroline Partridge Jay Ramji, Saria Steeland and James Watterson; Vancouver translator Leanna Brodie joining us a 6AM Vancouver time by Skype, and Lola May for organizing it!
CONTE DU SOLEIL
Philippe Soldevila
Leanna Brodie
