International New Translation: Antigone in the Spring

International New Translation: Antigone in the Spring

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.

Antigone in the Spring

Antigone in the Spring

Antigone in the Spring

By Nathalie Boisvert | Translated by Hugh Hazelton

 

Running Time:
1 hr 15

Characters:
1 F / 2 M

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

Antigone in the Spring

By Nathalie Boisvert
Translated by Hugh Hazelton
Translated from Antigone en printemps (Quebec, Canada)

“The character of Antigone in Nathalie Boisvert’s beautiful text is so close to us. The young woman’s personality echoes through Rivière-Éternité in her rejection of all authority…It’s impossible not to feel the contemporary connections such as the student demonstrations of the spring of 2012, a rebellion that is now part of Quebec’s history.” – 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 the popular revolution rumbling through the city. Each must chooses a side: Polynice and Antigone join the protesters and the people, Étéocle, joins the repressive forces of Creon and the state. 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.

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

Original Production: Frédéric Millaire-Zouvi (left), Xavier Huard (right) et Léane Labrèche-Dor (center)
Photo credit: @Francis Sercia

About the playwright

Nathalie Boisvert

Nathalie Boisvert 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, The Sordid Story of Conrad B., was performed at the Festival ide 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 a finalist for the 2018 Governor General’s Award French Language Drama and received the Prix Émile-Augier.

About the translator

Hugh Hazelton

Hugh Hazelton 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.

Translation Showcase

A Glimpse into New Translation: Facelift

A Glimpse into New Translation: Facelift

By Nathalie Boisvert | Translated by Johanna Nutter

Featuring Nimet Kanji, Lisa C. Ravensbergen and Gwynyth Walsh
Q&A moderated by Catherine Ballachey

SUNDAY JULY 18, 2021
12 PM PACIFIC / 3 PM EASTERN / 8 PM GMT

IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE CANADIAN PLAY THING, PRESENTATION HOUSE THEATRE, RUBY SLIPPERS THEATRE & THÉÂTRE LA SEIZIÈME

read more
Antigone in the Spring

Antigone in the Spring

By Nathalie Boisvert
Translated by Hugh Hazelton

In this contemporary reimagining – in a city of now and myth – Antigone and her brothers, are swept up in the popular revolution sweeping the city.

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

read more