In association with Quebecois theatre company BoucheWHACKED, two public explorations/readings of plays by Nathalie Boisvert, as part of our INTERNATIONAL THEATRE TEXTS IN TRANSLATION season:
FACELIFT and ANTIGONE IN THE SPRING
Some attendee responses to the reading/exploration of FACELIFT:
'Wonderful!'
'language amazing, so well translated, great acting'
'Brilliant. Thank you. An extraordinary thought provoking play. A funny, sad, painful reminder of the female journey through the literal and metaphorical use of make-up. Wonderful actors.'
'As the play went on I began to feel very very sorry for this woman but then Simone deB saved her and us..and the finally comic relief....laughter as the eyebrow plucker comes on'
'a solo performance on stage would be very effective and would highlight the very personal and solo journey faced by each women often unaware of the fact that their journey is in fact not totally unique'
'Beautiful writing....An absolute joyful pleasure'
'It has similarities to Shakespeare's seven stages of man. A women's journey through life through to motherhood and the fading of youth and the strong desire to maintain the mask, until the balance swings to the realisation that aging is akin to the tide that king Canute couldn't hold back'
'The actors brought out every nuance, connotation and ambiguity of feeling'
'Thank you for a very absorbing evening...Immaculate performances and lucid presentation... I was captivated by the dancing imagery of mood and narrative and intensely affecting expression of a woman’s struggle to integrate appearance with truth - appearance as truth, appearance as deception - and the inner truths of a woman’s body. Takeaway pic is of Simone De Beauvoir still talking nonstop while having her eyebrows plucked - vividly evoked in just a few witty lines....wonderfully subversive. Amid the current obsessions of the theatrical market place with action driven narrative and sensory titillation, here was a company asserting classical theatrical values of thought and language and gentle wit and tender feeling, honoured through minimal means with exemplary artistry...'
FACELIFT and ANTIGONE IN THE SPRING
Some attendee responses to the reading/exploration of FACELIFT:
'Wonderful!'
'language amazing, so well translated, great acting'
'Brilliant. Thank you. An extraordinary thought provoking play. A funny, sad, painful reminder of the female journey through the literal and metaphorical use of make-up. Wonderful actors.'
'As the play went on I began to feel very very sorry for this woman but then Simone deB saved her and us..and the finally comic relief....laughter as the eyebrow plucker comes on'
'a solo performance on stage would be very effective and would highlight the very personal and solo journey faced by each women often unaware of the fact that their journey is in fact not totally unique'
'Beautiful writing....An absolute joyful pleasure'
'It has similarities to Shakespeare's seven stages of man. A women's journey through life through to motherhood and the fading of youth and the strong desire to maintain the mask, until the balance swings to the realisation that aging is akin to the tide that king Canute couldn't hold back'
'The actors brought out every nuance, connotation and ambiguity of feeling'
'Thank you for a very absorbing evening...Immaculate performances and lucid presentation... I was captivated by the dancing imagery of mood and narrative and intensely affecting expression of a woman’s struggle to integrate appearance with truth - appearance as truth, appearance as deception - and the inner truths of a woman’s body. Takeaway pic is of Simone De Beauvoir still talking nonstop while having her eyebrows plucked - vividly evoked in just a few witty lines....wonderfully subversive. Amid the current obsessions of the theatrical market place with action driven narrative and sensory titillation, here was a company asserting classical theatrical values of thought and language and gentle wit and tender feeling, honoured through minimal means with exemplary artistry...'
All of these events are presented on the zoom 'webinar' platform, so you can attend 'invisibly', commenting and asking questions via the chat facility
These events are free but any donations towards sustaining our work such as this are very gratefully received. Presence is a registered charity
These events are free but any donations towards sustaining our work such as this are very gratefully received. Presence is a registered charity
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 are swept up in the popular revolution rumbling through the city. Each must choses 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?
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
All of these are presented on the zoom 'webinar' platform, so you can attend 'invisibly', commenting and asking questions via the chat facility as/if the inclination takes you (as of course we very much hope it would).
These events are free (although any donations however small very gratefully received: Presence is a registered charity.
The professional performers/readers include: Lewis Bruniges; Rebecca Lee and Joseph Reed The reading itself should last around 80 minutes, with a subsequent 10 minute break and then a 30 minute or so Q&A/discussion
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
All of these are presented on the zoom 'webinar' platform, so you can attend 'invisibly', commenting and asking questions via the chat facility as/if the inclination takes you (as of course we very much hope it would).
These events are free (although any donations however small very gratefully received: Presence is a registered charity.
The professional performers/readers include: Lewis Bruniges; Rebecca Lee and Joseph Reed The reading itself should last around 80 minutes, with a subsequent 10 minute break and then a 30 minute or so Q&A/discussion
Antigone was first produced in 2017 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 (Munich, Germany).
About 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.
About Hugh Hazelton (he, him, his)
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 Yearaward 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.
This translation was commissioned by Bouche Theatre Collective (www.bouchewhacked.com) and made possible by a grant from Canada Council for the Arts.
About 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.
About Hugh Hazelton (he, him, his)
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 Yearaward 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.
This translation was commissioned by Bouche Theatre Collective (www.bouchewhacked.com) and made possible by a grant from Canada Council for the Arts.
Previous Event:
...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 17th January at 7pm via Zoom, followed by a discussion/Q&A with the writer and also the translator Johanna Nutter. (further details below of the play, writer and translator)
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
Last year in this series we presented, from Quebec, MIDNIGHT by Marie-Hélène Larose-Truchon and (A DAY AT THE) MALL by Emmanuelle Jimenez. Forthcoming readings in the series will include another Natalie Boisvert text ANTIGONE IN THE SPRING (Monday 31st January at 7pm - booking details to follow) and subsequently - we hope - some amazing recent work from South America
All of these are presented on the zoom 'webinar' platform, so you can attend 'invisibly', as it were, commenting and asking questions via the chat facility as/if the inclination takes you (as of course we very much hope it would). These events are free (although any donations however small will be very gratefully received - method for donating will be outlined in the session. Presence is a registered charity)
The professional performers/readers for FACELIFT are: Rachel Bavidge, Mufrida Hayes and Fiz Marcus The reading itself should last around 70 minutes, with a subsequent 10 minute break and then a 30 minute or so Q&A/discussion
FACELIFT By Nathalie Boisvert Translated by Johanna Nutter Translated from FACELIFT (Quebec, Canada)Facelift was featured at TEAMTHEATER TANKSTELLE e.V (Munich) and TeamTheatreGlobal:Quebec 2019
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.
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.
A live reading of a new work FACELIFT by Quebecois playwright Nathalie Boisvert, Monday 17th January at 7pm via Zoom, followed by a discussion/Q&A with the writer and also the translator Johanna Nutter. (further details below of the play, writer and translator)
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
Last year in this series we presented, from Quebec, MIDNIGHT by Marie-Hélène Larose-Truchon and (A DAY AT THE) MALL by Emmanuelle Jimenez. Forthcoming readings in the series will include another Natalie Boisvert text ANTIGONE IN THE SPRING (Monday 31st January at 7pm - booking details to follow) and subsequently - we hope - some amazing recent work from South America
All of these are presented on the zoom 'webinar' platform, so you can attend 'invisibly', as it were, commenting and asking questions via the chat facility as/if the inclination takes you (as of course we very much hope it would). These events are free (although any donations however small will be very gratefully received - method for donating will be outlined in the session. Presence is a registered charity)
The professional performers/readers for FACELIFT are: Rachel Bavidge, Mufrida Hayes and Fiz Marcus The reading itself should last around 70 minutes, with a subsequent 10 minute break and then a 30 minute or so Q&A/discussion
FACELIFT By Nathalie Boisvert Translated by Johanna Nutter Translated from FACELIFT (Quebec, Canada)Facelift was featured at TEAMTHEATER TANKSTELLE e.V (Munich) and TeamTheatreGlobal:Quebec 2019
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.
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.
Presence Theatre is a Company Limited by Guarantee
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Registered Charity no. 1132900
Registered in England & Wales no. 6315043
Registered Charity no. 1132900
