Bobby Theodore is a screenwriter, playwright, and translator. Bobby’s worked on several TV series, including Murdoch Mysteries, Flashpoint, and Knuckleheads (an adaptation of the hit Québecois cartoon, Têtes à claques). He’s also written episodes for the acclaimed CBC radio drama, Afghanada. Nominated for a Governor General Award in 1999 for his translation of 15 Seconds by François Archambault, Bobby has now translated over 20 plays from French to English. For the stage, Bobby co-created 300 Tapes (with Ame Henderson), a devised performance that premiered at the Theatre Centre in Toronto and at ATP in Calgary, and he’s currently working on Swallow, a play set in the drama-filled world of minor hockey. His translation of François Archambault’s You Will Remember Me, which premiered at ATP and won a Betty Mitchell Award for Outstanding New Play, will be staged at Tarragon Theatre this spring. Bobby is the resident dramaturg and host of the Glassco Translation Residency in Tadoussac.
Étienne Lepage is a playwright, screenwriter, translator and transdisciplinary creator. His work has been presented throughout North America and Europe. Among his many noted creations are Rouge Gueule, L’Enclos de l’éléphant, Ainsi parlait… and Histoires pour faire des cauchemars. This amazing richness and diversity of genre has lead to multiple awards and nominations. He collaborated several times director Catherine Vidal, notably for Robin and Marion, an adaptation of a pastoral, presented in 2012 at the Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui.
In 2008, Guillaume Corbeil published a collection of short stories entitled L’art de la fugue (éditions L’Instant Même) that was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award and recipient of the prix Adrienne-Choquette. In 2009, he published his first novel, Pleurer comme dans les films published by Leméac then in 2010 for Libre Expression, he wrote Brassard, a biography of the famous Director André Brassard. In 2011, he completed his training in playwriting at the National Theatre School of Canada. Since then, he has written for the stage Le Mécanicien, Tu iras la chercher, Unité modèle – which will be presented in 2016 Centre du théâtre d’aujourd’hui. Nous voir nous produced in 2013 by Pap theatre under the title Cinq visages pour Camille Brunelle and presented at Espace Go in Montréal, at the Théâtre de la Manufacture in Avignon and at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The play has been awarded le prix de la critique for Outstanding New Text, le prix Michel-Tremblay and the audience award at the Primeurs Festival in Saarbrücken, Germany. In September 2014, it was produced in German, at the Theater der Jungen Welt, Leipzig.
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. In 2001 his play The Ventriloquist had three separate productions, in Paris, Brussels and Montreal. The Montreal production, under the direction of Claude Poissant, garnered six “Gala des Masques” nominations, including Best New Play, and won the Masque for Best Production. The Ventriloquist, already translated into eight languages, has had recent productions in Turino, Mexico, Toronto, Ottawa, Bucarest and London (U.K.). Thanks to an uninterrupted succession of new plays (Anatomy Lesson, Ogre, The Dragonfly of Chicoutimi, The Genie of Drolet Street, Blue Hands, Soap, Bagpipes, Panda Panda…) Tremblay’s work continues to achieve international recognition. A Chair in love created with composer John Metcalf was the fourth of his works presented on stage in Montreal in 2006, following Three Seconds when the Seine Stopped Flowing, The Story of a Heart, and The Axe which he also directed. In 2007 he shared the stage with Carl Béchard performing in two of his shorter plays The Decline of Destiny and The Trouble with Me. 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. Gallimard Paris published Piercing, a collection of three of his short stories. In 2008, Abraham Lincoln Goes to the Theatre premiered at Espace Go in Montreal, directed by Claude Poissant (Théâtre Pàp), and was nominated for Best Production 2007-2008 (Montreal) by the Quebec Critics Association. Larry Tremblay was finalist in 2008 and in 2011 for the Siminovitch Prize. In 2010, Alberta Theatre Project produced at Calgary AbrahamLincoln Goes the Theatre, translated by Chantal Bilodeau, under the direction of Bob White. The same year, his play The Dragonfly ofChicoutimi was directed by Claude Poissant at the Festival TransAmériques (FTA), in Montreal. In 2012, SACD (Société des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques), in partnership with France Culture, awarded his play, WarCantata, the Prix SADC for best world play written in French and CEAD (Centre des auteurs dramatiques) awarded it the Le Prix Michel- Tremblay for the best play written in Quebec in 2012. Still in 2012, his play Child Object was staged in Quebec City by Christian Lapointe. Apart from his plays, Larry Tremblay published recently two novels highly acclaimed, The Obese Christ and The Orange Grove.
David Paquet won a Governor General Award with his first play, Porc-épic. After productions in Mexico and Europe, it made an acclaimed appearance at L’Espace Go in Montreal in 2010. The same year, Paquet’s play for adolescents, 2 h 14 AM/FM, winner of the Le théâtre jeune publique et la relève competition, was presented at Maison Théâtre, in a production directed by Claude Poissant. David Paquet is interested in stories, whether they are told through slam, storytelling or poetry. He is a graduate in playwriting from the National Theatre School and lives in Montreal.
