Bouche Theatre Collective

Speak Beyond Language

Haven World English Language Premiere

Haven World English Language Premiere

by | Jan 19, 2022 | A Glimpse into New Translation, Mishka Lavigne, News, Uncategorized

DATES & Times

January 28 – February 13, 2022 (Thurs-Sat at 8pm, Sun at 2pm)

Viewing available both in-person and on-line

Location

Jericho Arts Centre
1675 Discovery Street,
Vancouver BC V6R 4K5
Tel: 604-224-8007
Email: info@unitedplayers.com

Website

United Players of Vancouver – Theatre Company

English Language Wold Premiere

UNITED PLAYERS OF VANCOUVER
In association with BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective

HAVEN

By Mishka Lavigne | Translated by Neil Blackadder
Directed by Jack Paterson | Featuring  Tina Georgieva and Alexander Lowe

“…a moving and sensitive production of this GG-award-winning play…the perfect play for the pandemic: two lonely figures, reaching out, and discovering they have many points of connection..” – Toph Marshall, Artistic Director, United Players

“…convincing, nuanced performances… a fine example of the resilience of the human spirit.” – reviewvancouver.com

Elsie and Matt meet when a hole opens up in her road. She’s just lost her mother; he is tracing his ancestry in Sarajevo. Both are adults feeling voids concerning their parents, and they find what they need in their memories and each other. ‘Haven’ (Havre) won the 2019 Governor-General’s award for French drama, and is here produced for the first time in English.

Creative Team

Directed by Jack Paterson | Assistant Directed by Hannah Siden | Stage Managed by Maria Denhole | Technical Direction by Karen Chiang | Set & Projections Design by Joel Grinke | Lighting Design by Vanka Chaitra Salim | Set Decoration & Props by Alis B | Sound Desiign & Comosition by Georgia Couver | Costume Design by Shasta Lily Barkman | Head Carpentery by Bruce Suttie | Produced by Fran Burnside

Gallery

HAVEN By Mishka Lavigne & Translated by Neil Blackadder, United Players of Vancouver (2022)
Directed by Jack Paterson | Featuring Tina Georgieva and Alexander Lowe
Photos by Nancy Cadwell

Rencontre / Encounter

Mishka Lavigne

Join us for a Digital / Live post show chat with multiple GG Award winning francophone  playwright Mishka Lavigne and translator Neil Blackadder

Mishka Lavigne (she, her) is a playwright and literary translator. Her play, Havre, won a Governor General’s Literary Award (Drama – French, 2019). Her newest work, Copeaux, a poetic movement theatre creation developed with director Éric Perron, was produced in Ottawa in March 2020. It won the Prix littéraire Jacques-Poirier in February 2021 and a Governor General’s Literary Award in November 2021, and it was a finalist for the Prix Marcel-Dubé. Albumen, Lavigne’s first English-language work, won the Prix Rideau Award for best new creation in 2019 and the Quebec Writers’ Federation Playwriting Prize in 2020. Her works have been produced and developed in Canada, Europe, Australia, Haiti and the United States. She is currently working on a bilingual chamber opera libretto with Montréal composer Tim Brady, and her work, Shorelines, will soon be published by Playwrights Canada Press. Mishka Lavigne lives in the Ottawa/Gatineau area.

PRE & POST SHOW SHORT FILM SERIES

CONNECTORS

Conceived of by Jack Paterson | Curated by Hannah Siden

A series of local, national and international short films and media created over the pandemic.

Sunset in Spring, Wuhan | A film by: Haylin Cai. Shot when lockdown was lifted after the first wave in Wuhan, China.

Vancouver April 2020 18:59:30 PT | A film by: Ann Marie Fleming. Commissioned by “Greetings From Isolation”.

Óljós | Director/ Cinematographer: Ash Tailor-Jones. Shot in self-isolation in Toronto, Canada.

Plastic Wings | Music: David Beckingham. Choreographer: Emily Chessa. Director: Hannah Siden. In collaboration with Ballet BC.

Isolations | Director: Talia Shea Levin. Choreographer: MUDA/Maritza Navarro. Music: Amanda Leigh Jerry. In loving memory of Kat Devoe-Peterson.

East Vancouver April 7 2021 | A film by: Ann Marie Fleming. Commissioned by “Greetings From Isolation”.

We Rise Again – Cross Canada Virtual Choir Tour | Featuring: The Elmer Iseler Singers joined by Agincourt Madrigal Singers, Cape Breton Chorale, Thunder Bay Symphony Chorus, Whitehorse Community Choir, Wiarton Concert Choir.

International New Translation: Antigone in the Spring

International New Translation: Antigone in the Spring

by | Feb 1, 2022 | 3.Development, Antigone in the spring, Hugh Hazelton, International Projects, Nathalie Boisvert, News, QQ

PRESENCE THEATRE
IN ASSOCIATION WITH BOUCHEWHACKED! THEATRE COLLECTIVE PRESENTS

International Works in New Translation

This live digital reading is part of an ongoing occasional series of Presence ‘virtual’ readings exploring and celebrating new international theatre texts in translation, a main feature of which is the extraordinary work now emerging from the very vibrant Quebecois theatre community.  Readings are followed with followed by a discussion/Q&A with the writer and translator.

FREE EVENT

DATE

Monday, Jan. 31 2022

TIME

PT (Vancouver): 11 AM
ET (Montreal): 2 PM
GMT (London UK): 7 PM

RUNNING TIME

2 hrs including Intermission and conversation with the playwright

ANTIGONE IN THE SPRING

By Nathalie Boisvert | Translated by Hugh Hazelton
Translated from Antiogone au printemps (Quebec, Canada)

“The Antigone of Nathalie Boisvert’s beautiful text is so close to us…It’s impossible not to feel the contemporary resonance.” – Sorstu.ca

In this contemporary reimagining of Antigone, in a Montreal of now and myth, birds fall from the sky in the thousands and rot under the sun of an early spring. Antigone and her two brothers, Étéocle and Polynice, are swept up in the popular revolution rumbling through the city. Each must chooses a side. During a riot, the two brothers clash and kill each other. Polynice’s body becomes evidence to incriminate the protesters. How can Antigone, despite all the obstacles, escape the fury of power? In times of unrest, how do you stay whole, and true?

Antigone au printemps was first produced in 2017 (Théâtre Fred-Barry) in Montreal by Le Dôme créations théâtrales, directed by Frédéric Sasseville-Painchaud. It received the Prix Émilie Augier from the Académie Française; and was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for French Language Drama. In May 2019, it received a dramatic reading at the Teamtheatre Global Quebec event in Munich, Germany.

The professional performers/readers for ANTIGONE IN THE SPRING are: Lewis Bruniges; Rebecca Lee and Joseph Reed.

Last year, Presence Theatre presented from Quebec, MIDNIGHT by Marie-Hélène Larose-Truchon and (A DAY AT THE) MALL by Emmanuelle Jimenez.

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, 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 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 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.

About the translator

Hugh Hazelton

Hugh Hazelton (he, him) is a Montreal writer and translator who specializes in Quebec and Latin American literature. He has written four books of poetry, including Antimatter (Broken Jaw Press, 2nd edition, with CD, 2010), as well as Latinocanadá: A Critical Study of Ten Latin American Writers of Canada (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2007), which received the Best Book of the Year award from the Canadian Association of Hispanists. He has translated twenty works of poetry, theatre and fiction from French, Spanish and Portuguese into English. His latest translations are Volume I of the complete works of the Argentine avant-garde poet Oliverio Girondo (Wolsak & Wynn, 2018), and The Doorman of Windsor Station, a play by Julie Vincent (Playwrights Canada Press, 2017). His translation of Vétiver, a book of poems by Joël Des Rosiers, won the Governor General’s award for French-English translation in 2006. He is a professor emeritus of Spanish at Concordia University in Montreal and former co-director of the Banff International Literary Translation Centre. In 2016 he received the Linda Garboriau Award from the Banff Centre for his work on behalf of literary translation in Canada, and in 2018 he was awarded the Prix de poésie Lèvres urbaines by Les Écrits des Forges for his dedication to the advancement of poetry. He is an honorary member of the Literary Translators’ Association of Canada.

A Glimpse into New Translation: The Hardings

A Glimpse into New Translation: The Hardings

by | Jan 2, 2022 | 3.Development, Alexis Diamond, News, The Hardings, Uncategorized

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

Learn more about gender affirming language here

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

International New Translation Workshop: Facelift

International New Translation Workshop: Facelift

by | Jan 22, 2022 | 3.Development, Facelift, International Projects, Johanna Nutter, Nathalie Boisvert, News, QQ

PRESENCE THEATRE
IN ASSOCIATION WITH BOUCHEWHACKED! THEATRE COLLECTIVE PRESENTS

International Works in New Translation

This live digital reading is part of an ongoing occasional series of Presence ‘virtual’ readings exploring and celebrating new international theatre texts in translation, a main feature of which is the extraordinary work now emerging from the very vibrant Quebecois theatre community.  Readings are followed with followed by a discussion/Q&A with the writer and translator.

FREE EVENT

DATE

Monday, Jan. 17th 2022

TIME

PT (Vancouver): 11 AM
ET (Montreal): 2 PM
GMT (London UK): 7 PM

RUNNING TIME

2 hrs including Intermission and conversation with the playwright

FACELIFT

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

…a woman in her fifties leads an online 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 an examination of a woman’s life, questioning the relationship between women and beauty, seduction, aging and the subject of women’s freedom in the face of social diktats. A brand new work…

A live reading of a new work FACELIFT by Quebecois playwright Nathalie Boisvert, Monday Jan. 17th at 7pm via Zoom, followed by a discussion/Q&A with the writer and also the translator Johanna Nutter.

This is part of an ongoing occasional series of Presence ‘virtual’ readings exploring and celebrating new international theatre texts in translation, a main feature of which is the extraordinary work now emerging from the very vibrant Quebecois theatre community in association with BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective.

The professional performers/readers for FACELIFT are: Rachel Bavidge, Mufrida Hayes and Fiz Marcus

Last year, Presence Theatre presented from Quebec, MIDNIGHT by Marie-Hélène Larose-Truchon and (A DAY AT THE) MALL by Emmanuelle Jimenez.

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, 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 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 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.

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.

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.

Western Gold: The Ballad of Georges Boivin

Western Gold: The Ballad of Georges Boivin

by | Oct 23, 2021 | Martin Bellemare, News, Western Gold

DATES & Times

November 10 – 28, 2021
Evenings: Wed – Sat @ 7:30 pm
Matinees (from Nov. 14): Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun @ 2:00 pm

Location

PAL STUDIO THEATRE
581 CARDERO STREET, VANCOUVER

Website

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

Gallery

Creating Access, Inter-Gernerational & Cross-Cultural Dialogue

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.

Learn more about gender affirming language here

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

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

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