Meet GG Award winning playwright Mishka Lavigne

Meet GG Award winning playwright Mishka Lavigne

A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE IS A DIFFERENT VISION OF LIFE

Haven Digital / Live Talk Back & Q&A

Sun, Feb 6, 2022 | 3:45 pm PT / 6:45 pm ET

Join us for a Digital / Live post show chat with multiple GG Award winning playwright Mishka Lavigne and translator Neil Blackadder | Moderated by Jack Paterson

About the playwright

Mishka Lavigne

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.

About the translator

Neil Blackadder

Neil Blackadder (he, him) is a translator of drama and prose from German and French, specializing in contemporary theatre, and recently retired from a 25-year career teaching theater at Knox College and Duke University. Neil’s translations have been staged in New York, London, Chicago, and elsewhere, and widely published. Playwrights Neil has translated include Lukas Bärfuss, Rebekka Kricheldorf, Ewald Palmetshofer, Ferdinand Schmalz, Mishka Lavigne, and Thomas Arzt. He is also the author of Performing Opposition: Modern Theater and the Scandalized Audience. (www.neilblackadder.com)

January 28 – February 13, 2022
(Thurs-Sat at 8pm, Sun at 2pm)
Talkback: Feb. 3 & 6
Matinées: All Sundays (January 30, February 6, 13)

Viewing available both in-person and on-line

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

United Players of Vancouver – Theatre Company

United Players

English Language Premiere of GG Award winning play (French Language Drama, 2019)

HAVEN

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

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.

Viewing is available both in-person and on-line

Assistant Directed by Hannah Siden | Stage Managed by Glee Devereaux | Technical Direction by Karen Chiang | Associate Technical Director Kaeden Atkinson Hill | Set & Projections Design by Joel Grinke | Lighting Design by Vanka Chaitra Salim | Associate Lighting Designer @Kai Wong | Set Decoration & Props by Alis B | Sound Design & Composition by Georgia Zell Couver | Costume Design by Shasta Lily Barkman | Produced by Fran Burnside

** Mask and vaccine mandates are in effect in all venues in British Columbia.**
** 50 % capacity limits are enforced.**

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.

INTERNATIONAL NEW TRANSLATION WORKSHOP: ANTIGONE IN THE SPRING

INTERNATIONAL NEW TRANSLATION WORKSHOP: 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.

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.

International New Translation Workshop: Facelift

International New Translation Workshop: Facelift

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 & translator

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.

International New Translation Workshop: Mall

International New Translation Workshop: Mall

A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE IS A DIFFERENT VISION OF LIFE

Reaching across Distance, Language and Culture

Over the course of the pandemic, Bouche Theatre Collective has maintained our outreach to international theatre makers and engaging them in the development process of new Canadian work.  And if one night wih London’s Presence Theatre is our 7th International new translation workshop.

In Association with Presence Theatre
(London, UK)

THE MALL

By Emmanuelle Jimenez | Translated by Johanna Nutter
Translated from CENTRE D’ACHATS (Quebec, Canada)

“This is one of the best texts of the new season…hard-hitting and funny…”
– Mario Cloutier, La Presse +

Sandrine – Sakuntala Ramanee
Léa – Julia Winwood
Simone – Marie Collett
Yvette – Fiz Marcus
Josiane – Susan Raasay
Suzanne – Mufrida Hayes
Julie-Josie – Helen Budge
Chorus 1 – Hemi Yeroham
Chorus 2 – Helen Budge
Stage Directions / Narrator / Chorus 3 – David Whitworth

Searching, finding, buying, again and again: the t-shirt, the earrings, the dog, the rabbit, the snake, the flying carpet… In search of comfort, seven women of divers background and ages dive desperately into a whirlwind of outrageous consumption. Seven prisoners of the shopping mall, each of them encounters her destiny.

Emmanuelle Jimenez examines shopping malls as both symbols of our collective alienation but also of our need for community. The need to share, to communicate, to feel surrounded, then confronts the need to consume more and more of the same things, at the risk of finding our souls bruised and our dreams shattered.

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

Meet our Playwright & Translator

About the playwright

Emmanuelle Jimenez

Emmanuelle Jimenez (she, her, hers) trained in performance at the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Montréal. While continuing working as an actor, she devoted herself to writing. Her plays include Du vent entre les dents (Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui), Rêvez, montagnes! (Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental), Le dénominateur commun co-written with François Archambault (Théâtre Debout), Cendres (Des pieds des mains), and Bébés co-written with Alexis Martin (Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental). She’s led numerous cultural projects, including with La Maison Bleue in Côte-des-Neiges and the Montreal North Cultural and Community House. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Festival du jamais Lu from 2003 to 2010 and has been a member of the AQAD Board of Directors since 2014.

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.

About our Partners

About Presence Theatre (London, UK)

In 2005 a group of actors and directors began to meet to read plays, aiming simply to rediscover and enjoy great works of dramatic literature. By 2007 Presence Theatre was formed. The company has since presented a number of performances and staged readings and continues to hold workshops approaching different genres of drama from the actor’s and director’s perspective.  We embrace the classical and modern repertoire as well as new plays, with a particular interest in the avant-garde.  www.presencetheatre.com

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.

International New Translation Workshop: And if one night

International New Translation Workshop: And if one night

A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE IS A DIFFERENT VISION OF LIFE

Reaching across Distance, Language and Culture

Over the course of the pandemic, Bouche Theatre Collective has maintained our outreach to international theatre makers and engaging them in the development process of new Canadian work.  And if one night wih London’s Presence Theatre is our 7th International new translation workshop.

In Association with Presence Theatre
(London, UK)

AND IF ONE NIGHT

By Lisa L’Heureux | Translated by Mishka Lavigne
Translated from ET SI UN SOIR (Quebec, Canada)

CAST
Rachel Bavidge: ANITA
Sophie Juge: DANIELLE
Ami Sayers: MIA
Hemi Yeroham: JOSEPH

Produced  and Moderated by:
Colin Ellwood (Joint Artistic Director, Presence Theatre) 

“Mia, Danielle, Anita and Joseph emerge from the shadows with courage and clumsiness as believable as it is moving. Her pen rich with accuracy and affection, Lisa L’Heureux portrays a generation in search of self and real, concrete meaning to give to its intimacy. “ – ici.radio-canada.ca

In a grey apartment building, four characters live in a dreamlike space in which time moves forward without moving, sometimes in an offbeat and unsettling way. Written as a fragmented dream, this choral piece draws its inspiration from the night to dive into zones of human intimacy that are often hidden.

This play was a shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award French Language Drama 2019, the Prix du livre d’Ottawa (2019) and the Emerging Author Award Prix littéraire Émergence de l’AAOF (2019).  It was the recipient of the Prix littéraire Trillium (2019).

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

Meet our Playwright & Translator

About the playwright

LISA L’HEUREUX

LISA L’HEUREUX (she, her, hers) is an Ottawa-based playwright, director, and dramaturg. She is a graduate of University of Ottawa (B.A. in Theatre and History) and of University of British Columbia (M.A. in Theatre Research). With her company, Théâtre Rouge Écarlate, she has created Ciseaux, Pour l’hiver (Prix Jacques-Poirier 2017), and Et si un soir, cocreated Proximité and directed Projet D. She has had playwright residencies in Belgium (Mariemont, CED-WB), France (La Chartreuse de Villeneuve les Avignon) and with Théâtre du Trillium (Ottawa). She has contributed to many collaborative pieces, such as À quoi ça sert d’être brillant si t’éclaires personne (NAC French Theatre). As a dramaturg, Lisa worked with Satellite Théâtre (Moncton) and with Sudbury playwright Antoine Côté Legault. She recently completed a podcast version of Et si un soir

About the translator

Mishka Lavigne

Mishka Lavigne (she, her, hers) is a playwright and literary translator based in Ottawa/Gatineau. Her translation work for theatre has been seen in Ottawa, Montreal, and France. Héritage, her translation of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun opened the 2019-2020 season at Duceppe in Montreal. She is currently working on a French translation of Karen Hines’ All The Little Animals I Have Eaten. Her translations of poetry were published in Ontario and Québec, included the recently published Cette blessure est un territoire, a French translation of Billy-Ray Belcourt’s Griffin Poetry Prize winning collection This Wound is a World. Her own works include Cinéma (Théâtre la Catapulte and Théâtre Belvédère.), Vigile (Théâtre Rouge Écarlate). Her play Havre recently won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama (French) and was shortlisted for the Prix Michel-Tremblay.

About our Partners

About Presence Theatre (London, UK)

In 2005 a group of actors and directors began to meet to read plays, aiming simply to rediscover and enjoy great works of dramatic literature. By 2007 Presence Theatre was formed. The company has since presented a number of performances and staged readings and continues to hold workshops approaching different genres of drama from the actor’s and director’s perspective.  We embrace the classical and modern repertoire as well as new plays, with a particular interest in the avant-garde.  www.presencetheatre.com

About le Théâtre Rouge Écarlate

Founded in Ottawa in December 2012, le Théâtre Rouge Écarlate is dedicated to the exploration, creation, production and dissemination of new theatrical works. We are interested in challenging ourselves, bringing the texts of authors to the stage and delving into the creative process in order to stage daring projects that bear witness to our time and our humanity. www.theatrerougeecarlate.com

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.