A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE IS A DIFFERENT VISION OF LIFE.
A glimpse into new translation
Join Bouche Theatre Collective our online for our English language new translation workshops. Discover the leading new works of francophone Canadian theatre, and meet the playwrights and their translators.
DATE
Sunday Feb. 28 2021
TIME
PT: 12PM
MT: 1PM
CT: 2PM
ET: 3PM
AT: 4PM
GMT/ WET: 8PM
CET: 9PM
RUNNING TIME
2 HRS
Bouche Theatre Collective
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
PHT CREATIVEE HUB CO-OPERATIVE & THE CANADIAN PLAY THING
RIVER BED
By Eric Noel | Translated by Jordan Arseneault
Translated from FAIRE DES ENFANTS (Quebec, Canada)
“…a dark and luminous text…With a talent and urgency to speak that gripes us from the very first lines and touches us right to the heart… Pure and sublime.” – Luc Boulanger, Le Devoir
Philippe, 24, burns for the dark light: drugs, sex, alcohol, prostitution. One Sunday, very early in the morning, he and his mother wake at the same time. He’s in the middle of a bad trip, in a strange bed, between two strangers; she has nightmares, alone in her house. He senses she’s trying to warn him; she senses something terrible has happened.
A visceral and poetic text combining naturalism, surrealism in a blend of lush and gritty language, Faire des enfants received the 2010 Prix Gratien-Gélinas. It was followed by a successful run at Montreal’s prestigious Quat’sous Theatre, receiving critical acclaim for its uncanny depiction of grief and strong dialogue.
Featuring Scott Button, Rhiannon Collett, Rick Dobran, Brian Postalian, Christine Quintana, Lisa C. Ravensbergen, Deneh’Cho Thompson, Anais West & Nelson Wong
This translation was made possible thanks to the generous support of The Cole Mentorship for Emerging Translators and Playwright’s Workshop Montréal with translation Mentorship and dramaturgy by Maureen Labonté.
This workshop is made possible by a grant from Canada Council for the Arts. This project is produced with the co-operation of the UBCP/ACTRA.
FAIR DES ENFANTS (2011) at Montreal’s reknown Theatre Quat’ Sous
PHOTO: YANICK MACDONALD,
Meet the Playwrights & Translator
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Eric Noel
(They, Them, Theirs)
Eric Noel is a Quebecois playwright and 2009 graduated of Canada’s National Theatre School French language writing program. They are the author of Faire des enfants (2009), Tirade pour Henri (2010), Ces regards amoureux de garçons altérés (2015) and L’Amoure Looks Something Like You (2020). They are also the author of a libretto for an opera by Vincent-Olivier Gagnon, Sans électricité, les oiseaux disparaissent (2009), and the children’s theatre piece La Mère, le Père, le Petit et le Grand (2012). They also adapted Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince for Theatre La Roulotte with “Asteroid B 612” (2018).
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Jordan Arseneault
(He, Him, His)
Jordan Arseneault (b. New Brunswick, 1980) is a critic, drag performer, social artist, meeting facilitator and translator. His staged work and participative workshops address issues of criminalization, stigma, mental health, HIV/AIDS, addiction, biculturalism, queerness and community. Former editor of Quebec’s only English language monthly for the LGBT community, 2Bmag (2010-2013), his reviews and articles have been published in Maisonneuve, Nightlife.ca, Forget the Box. He currently lives in Montreal.
Meet the Workshop
Team
SCOTT BUTTON (HE, HIM, HIS)
Scott is a Jessie-nominated actor and writer residing on unceded Coast Salish territory. Look out for his upcoming queer-historical-fiction podcast NIGHT PASSING, presented by the Arts Club Theatre Company. www.scottbutton.ca
RHIANNON COLLETT (THEY, THEM)
Rhiannon Collett is a non-binary playwright, performer and translator working in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Selected playwriting credits include Miranda & Dave Begin Again (awarded the Playwrights Guild of Canada RBC Emerging Playwright Award); Wasp (Nightswimming/Rhubarb Festival); The Kissing Game (Youtheatre/Young People’s Theatre/Banff Playwrights Lab); Tragic Queens (Cabal Theatre/Wildside Festival). www.rhiannoncollett.com
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.
BRIAN POSTALIAN (ANY)
Brian Postalian (Բրայն Փոսթալյան) is a theatre director, producer, and performance creator born and raised in Toronto/Tkaronto by way of Armenia, Ireland, Wales, and the Czech Republic. He is the founding Artistic Director of Re:Current Theatre, a Toronto/Vancouver based company creating performances that reimagine gathering. www.brianpostalian.com
CHRISTINE QUINTANA (SHE, HER, HERS)
Christine is an actor, playwright, and co-artistic director of Delinquent Theatre, based on unceded Coast Salish Territory. www.christinequintana.ca
LISA C. RAVENSBERGEN (SHE, HER, HERS)
A tawny mix of Ojibwe/Swampy Cree and English/Irish, Lisa is an award-winning, multi-hyphenate theatre artist and emerging scholar. Her work is rooted in Indigenous protocol, ontologies, and decolonial methodologies and is recognized nationally and internationally for its rigour and artistic excellence. Lisa resides on unceded Coast Salish territory. lisacr.com
DENEH'CHO THOMPSON (HE, HIM, HIS)
Deneh’Cho Thompson, Assistant Professor, University of Saskatchewan is an actor, director, and educator of mixed Indigenous decent. His research interests include Indigenous pedagogies for theatre training, Indigenous dramaturgies, and destabilizing the mainstream theatre forms.
ANAIS WEST (SHE, HER, HERS)
Anais is a queer writer, actor and producer, as well as a Polish settler on the occupied lands of the Coast Salish people. Her plays have been presented across North America, and have been nominated for two Jessie Awards (for Poly Queer Love Ballad). She has performed with Théâtre La Seizième, The Only Animal, Rumble Theatre, and more. www.anaiswest.com
NELSON WONG (HE, HIM, HIS)
Nelson Wong has been acting in Vancouver for over 20 years and boasts over 100 IMDb credits, including 20 plus appearances in Hallmark movies, and recurring roles on Lucifer (FOX), Riverdale (CW), and The Good Doctor (ABC). On stage Nelson has worked closely with playwright C.E. Gatchalian, originating the characterizations of Jeff and Chang Hyun for his world premieres of Broken (2006 Meta4Theatre), and Falling In Time (2012-Screaming Weenie). Nelson Wong Actor IMBD
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.
Learn more about gender affirming language here
About Bouche & our Partners
About Bouche Theatre Collective
Founded in 2012, Bouche has been bringing artists and audiences together separated by language, distance, and culture locally, nationally, and internationally. With a specific focus on the cross pollination between Canadian francophone and anglophone artists and the international community, Bouche reaches out through translation, multi-lingual work, and devised creation. www.bouchewhacked.com
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 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
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