BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective and UpintheAir Theatre present
ENCOUNTER/ RENCONTRE 2014: CROSS CULTURAL ROUNDTABLE
Meet leading Francophone theatre artists and their translators in a round table discussion.
Featuring Larry Tremblay, Chantal Bilodeau, Diane Brown and Leanna Brodie.
Hosted by France Perras & Moderated by Gilles Poulin-Denis.
Saturday, May 18th
The Vancity Culture Lab
The Cultch | 1895 Venables St
Larry Tremblay, Playwright
Larry Tremblay is a writer, director, actor and kathakali specialist. He is the author of more than twenty books and is one of Quebec’s most produced and most translated playwrights. His work is noted for the diversity of genres it explores and has achieve international recognition. His novel The Bicycle Eater, published by Leméac, was unanimously saluted by the critics, won the Prix Roman 2003 at the Salon du Livres in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award. In 2006 he was awarded the Canada Council Victor-Martyn-Lynch-Staunton Prize for his contribution to the theatre.
Rébecca Déraspe, Playwright
Rébecca Déraspe is a graduate of the École Nationale de Théâtre. Her graduate project Plus (+) que toi was presented at the Monument National directed by Martin Faucher. She was a member of the Nous sommes faits (comme des rats) collective produced by Les Biches Pensives and directed by Alexia Bürger. Her young audience work Le Radeau was presented at the Théâtre de la Petite Marée. IT’LL NEVER LAST (DEUX ANS DE VOTRE VIE) was produced by Les Biches Pensives room at Théâtre d’aujourd ‘ hui. Her theatrical adaptation of Les Merveilleux voyage de Nils Holgersson à travers la Suède by Selma Lagerlöff was presented at Théâtre de la Petite Marée.
Chantal Bilodeau, Translator
Chantal Bilodeau is a New York-based playwright and translator originally from Montreal, Canada. Her play Sila recently won the Woodward International Playwriting Prize, First Prize in the Earth Matters on Stage Ecodrama Festival and the Uprising National Playwriting Competition. She is the recipient of a Jerome Travel & Study Grant and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. Her translations include plays by playwrights Julien Mabiala Bissila (Congo), Sébastien David (Quebec), Mohamed Kacimi (Algeria), Koffi Kwahulé (Côte d’Ivoire), Étienne Lepage(Quebec) and Larry Tremblay (Quebec).
Leanna Brodie, Translator
Leanna Brodie is an actor, writer, and translator whose work includes For Home and Country as well as CBC radio plays and opera libretti. She has translated plays such as Catherine Léger’s Opium_37 and Louise Bombardier’s My Mother Dog, Philippe Soldevila’s Tales of the Moon, Sébastien Harrisson’s From Alaska, and the Dora and Victor award-winning Baobab. She was nominated for a 2013 Jessie Award for her performance in Pi Theatre’s Terminus.
Diane Brown, Director/ Dramaturg
Diane is the Artistic Director of Ruby Slippers Theatre and a multi award-winning director, actor, and. Diane has commissioned many English language translations of the best in contemporary French Canadian plays and produced and directed their award-winning English language premieres in Vancouver.
Heidi Taylor, Director/ Dramaturg
Heidi Taylor is the Artistic and Executive Director of PTC and Vancouver-based dramaturg, director and performance maker and. She has worked with writers from across the country in the annual PTC Writers Colony. Heidi co-created and produced a variety of cross-disciplinary projects with Proximity Arts from 2003-2011, including Susan Elliott and Tanya Marquardt’s sited dance piece, Mal de mer, an Recent projects include: Sea of Sand, Transmission, and Cloudless (José Teodoro/BC Buds). Heidi holds an MFA from Simon Fraser University, where she taught intro acting for eleven years.
France Perras, Actor/ Producer
A graduate from the University of Ottawa theatre department, France is an accomplished bilingual actress who produces, and has directed. She works in theatre, television/film, voice-overs, and hosting/moderating. She is the co-founder and Co-creative Producer of BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective. She has acted at Théâtre la Seizième on a variety of national tours including Jessie nominee for Outstanding Production “Lentement la beauté”. She received a Jessie Richardson Award for Best Ensemble Performance for “Clon@ge.PA“, and for Best Supporting Actress for “Porc-épic”.
Gilles Poulin‐Denis, Playwright/ Actor
Gilles Poulin‐Denis is a graduate of l’Université du Québec à Montréal. In 2010 he was nominated for ‘Outstanding performance by an actor in a lead role’ at Vancouver’s Jessie awards for his role in Le Périmètre. His first full‐length play Rearview was produced in Saskatoon in 2009, receiving ‘Outstanding achievement in new playwriting’ award, and has since toured the country. The play was also nominated in 2010 for the Governor General’s literary arts award. Gilles is currently working on two new plays, one with the National Arts Centre’s Théâtre Français and the other for Vancouver’s Théâtre la Seizième.
Multi award-winning Ruby Slippers Theatre has had a fantastic 2014/15 season that includes the critically acclaimed productions of The Duchess a.k.a. Wallis Simpson, After Me (Après Moi) and The List. Other recent hits: Communion, A Beautiful View and Hotel Bethlehem. RST produces, creates and presents provocative text-based theatre from the vanguard of the English and French Canadian canon. Our work illuminates diverse perspectives and social issues, inspiring independent critical thought and communion. 
