FREE BILINGUAL EVENT
DATE & TIME
Thursday, November 17, 2022
5 PM
LOCATION
Salle Jean-Claude-Germain
du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui
3900 Saint-Denis,
Montreal, H2W 2M2 Canada
Le Centre des auteurs dramatique & New Translation Canada
LA SALLE DES MACHINES:
FROM THE SOURCE TO THE TARGET
Shinning a light on new translation
A dialogue between artists, translation is also a path between cultures. Through New Translation Canada / Nouvelle Traduction Canada, Yolanda Ferrato, Johanna Nutter and Jack Paterson are working to promote circulation of Canadian playwrights from one official language to another. Using excerpts in French and English from works by Carmen Aguirre, Tara Beagan, Martin Bellemare, Karen Hines and Annick Lefebvre – all hailed with a nomination for the prestigious Siminovitch Prize in 2020 – the team hopes to shed light on the infinite variety of exchanges and questions that punctuate the translation process. This will be a great opportunity to discuss current trends aimed at making the process of translation public in order to increase accessibility to the exhilarating puzzle that is the passage of a dramatic text from one language to the other.
With translators Charles Bender, Emmanuelle Jimenez, Mishka Lavigne, Johanna Nutter and Jack Paterson, accompanied by fellow playwrights and performers Nahka Bertrand, Soleil Launiere, Karine Ricard & Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon.
Gallery
Playwrights & Translators
Carmen Aguirre
Anywhere but here
Carmen Aguirre (she, her) is an award-winning theatre artist and author who has written and co-written more than 25 plays, including Chile Con Carne, The Refugee Hotel, The Trigger, Blue Box, Broken Tailbone, and Anywhere But Here, as well as the international bestseller and #1 in Canada, Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter (winner of CBC Canada Reads 2012), and its bestselling sequel, Mexican Hooker #1 and My Other Roles Since the Revolution. Carmen is currently writing an adaptation of Euripides’ Medea for Vancouver’s Rumble Theatre, and Moliere’s The Learned Ladies for Toronto’s Factory Theatre. She is a Core Artist at Electric Company Theatre and a co-founding member of the Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition (CALTAC). She has more than 80 film, TV, and stage acting credits, including her award-winning lead role in the Canadian premiere of Stephen Adley Guirgis’ The Motherfucker with the Hat, and her Leo-nominated lead performance in the independent feature film Bella Ciao!. She is a graduate of Studio 58.
Tara Beagan
free as injuns
2020 Laureate – Siminovitach Prize
Tara Beagan (she, her) is proud to be Ntlaka’pamux and, through her late father’s side, of Irish ancestry. She is cofounder/director of ARTICLE 11 with Andy Moro. Beagan served as Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts from February 2011 to December 2013. During her time, NEPA continued with traditional values for guidance, had an Elder in Residence, and named and moved into the Aki Studio. Beagan has been in residence at Cahoots Theatre (Toronto), NEPA (Toronto), the National Arts Centre (Ottawa) and Berton House (Dawson City, Yukon). She is now Playwright In Residence at Prairie Theatre Exchange (Winnipeg). Seven of her 28 plays are published. Two plays have received Dora Award nominations (one win). In 2018, Beagan was a finalist in the Alberta Playwrights’ Network competition. In 2020, Honour Beat won the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama. Recent premieres include Deer Woman in Aotearoa (New Zealand), Honour Beat opening the 2018/19 season at Theatre Calgary, The Ministry of Grace at Belfry Theatre in Victoria, and Super in Plays2Perform@Home with Boca Del Lupo (Vancouver).
Martin Bellemare
Moule Robert
A graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada’s writing program, Martin Bellemare (il) was awarded the 2009 Gratien Gélinas Prize for Le Chant de Georges Boivin. La Liberté was presented at La Rubrique (Jonquière) in 2013 and in Montreal in 2015, and was scheduled to be staged in Ottawa in 2020. Maître Karim la perdrix (2018 Prix SACD de la dramaturgie francophone, awarded by the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques) will premiere at the Théâtre des Capucins in Luxembourg in 2021. Moule Robert (CNL Scholarship, shortlisted for the 2017 Prix SACD de la dramaturgie francophone and the 2018 Michel Tremblay Prize) was produced simultaneously at La Rubrique and at the POCHE/ GVE in Geneva, then at the Théâtre de Belleville in Paris. Martin is a four-time recipient of the Aide à la création grant from the Centre national du Théâtre/ARTCENA in Paris, and two of his plays are included in the repertoire of the Comédie-Française. Two of his plays for young audiences, Un château sur le dosand Des pieds et des mains, which was first produced at the NAC, have toured in Canada and internationally. In 2019, Extraordinaire et mystérieux and Charlie et le djingpouite were produced, and Cœur minéral (Governor General’s Literary Awards, Winner 2020) premiered at the Francophonies in Limoges.
Karen Hines
Crawlspace
Karen Hines’ (she, her) multi-prize-winning plays offer keen musings on modern life, combining such disparate elements as magical realism, pink-brand feminism and environmental disarray. Her solo performances and ‘little’ films featuring her darkly comic character ‘Pochsy’ have traveled the globe. Hines has collaborated as a director and dramaturg with many fellow artists, and her productions, plays and performances have seen venues like One Yellow Rabbit, Joe’s Pub (Public Theatre), Astor Place Off-Broadway, Tarragon, Videofag, Canadian Stage, Soulpepper, NAC. For Festival du Jamais Lu 2022, Hines’ ‘Tous les petits animaux que j’ai dévouré’ was translated and staged (Mishka Lavigne; Lisa L’Heureux) and Hines’ real estate horror Crawlspace continues to micro-theatres across Canada in French and English. Crawlspace is being adapted as screenplay, and is now a CBC podcast (PlayMe; Radio One). Upcoming, Pochsy IV premieres January 2023.
Annick Lefebvre
ColoniséEs
Annick Lefebvre (elle) holds a degree in playwriting and theatre critique from UQAM (2004). She is the founder of Le Crachoir, a company dedicated to placing the author, female or not, at the centre of the creation-production-performance process. She has written several plays, including Ce samedi il pleuvait (shortlisted for the 2013 Michel-Tremblay Award); La machine à révolte (shortlisted for the 2015 Louise-LaHaie Award); J’accuse (shortlisted for the 2015 Michel-Tremblay Award, the 2015 Critics’ Choice Award from the Association québécoise des critiques de théâtre [AQCT] and the 2015 Governor General’s Literary Award); Les barbelés (shortlisted for the 2019 Critics’ Choice Award from the AQCT); ColoniséEs (winner of the 2019 Michel-Tremblay Award and shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award); and several short scripts for collective events. She adapted J’accuse twice, once for a production in Belgium, and once for a French production. Annick Lefebvre was chosen as protégée by playwright Olivier Choinière, laureate of the 2014 Siminovitch Prize. Her plays are published by Dramaturges Éditeurs.
Charles Bender
French Language Translator – free as injuns
Since his Gémeaux nomination for hosting the young adult show, C’est parti mon tipi, Charles (he, him) has become a regular presence on Aboriginal People’s Television Network. He is the lead of Sioui-Bacon and the host of Sans reserve a new talk show on APTN french. On screen, he has appeared in a variety of productions, both in English and in French, such as Eaux Turbulentes (Blik TV and KO TV) and Being Human (Muse Productions). On stage, he has worked with many companies with social justice as part of their mandate such as Teesri Duniya, Ondinnok and Tableau d’Hôte. He was also the host of the four-part documentary series, Le 8e feu (8th Fire), a series tackling a variety of contemporary First-Nation issues, produced and aired by Radio-Canada. He is co artistic director of Productions Menuentakuan and signed both the translation and direction of the 2018 production of Where The Blood Mixes, one of the most celebrated play in contemporary indigenous dramaturgy. He sits on the board of directors of a variety of organisations that promote and defend first nation issues in Canada.
Emmanuelle Jimenez
Fench Language Translator – Anywhere but here
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.
Mishka Lavigne
French Language Translator – Crawlspace
Mishka Lavigne (she, her) is a playwright and literary translator based in Ottawa/Gatineau. Her plays have been produced, read and developed in Canada, Switzerland, France, Germany and the United States. Her plays Havre and Copeau were awarded the Governor General’s Literary Prize for Drama (French). Her recent play Copeaux, a movement-based poetic creation piece with director É Perron premiered in Ottawa in March 2020. She is currently working on her new play Shorelines and her first opera libretto with composer Tim Brady. Mishka is a National New Play Network (USA) alumni playwright as well as a member of the PGC and CEAD.
Johanna Nutter
English Language Translator – ColoniséEs
Johanna Nutter (she, euro-settler, multidisciplinary artist) developed her passion for translation through acting: being one of few bilingual theatre artists, she played leading roles at Centaur and La Licorne. Johanna is known for her solo play 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.
Jack Paterson
English Language Translator – Moule Robert
Jack Paterson (he, him) is a Vancouver launched translator, devisor, director, dramaturg and creative producer whose practice has taken him across Canada, UK, EU and around the world. His work ranges from contemporary devised creation, multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural and multi-lingual projects to new works, new texts, and contemporary approaches to classical theatre. He is a recipient of The Ray Michal Body of Work Award, The Cole Foundation Award for Emerging Translators, and The John Moffat & Larry Lillo West Coast Artist Award.
His translations include The Ballad of Georges Boivin by Martin Bellemare, The Naughty Children’s Bedtime Stories by Etienne Lepage, Kiwi by Daniel Danis, and Horses from Horses from Heaven Fall in a Reign of Ash by Naghmeh Samini (Iran).
Cast & Crew
Nahka Bertrand
Nahka Bertrand is a multidisciplinary artist, born to a Dene father and a Quebecois mother, who grew up in the Northwest Territories. She studied English literature, creative writing and journalism at Concordia University.
Charles Bender (il, lui)
For 15 years now, Charles has been a fixture of the Aboriginal People’s Television Network. He was host of the award nominated youth show C’est parti mon tipi, he played lead roles in Sioui-Bacon and Mohawk Girls, he’s a regular presence as host of the Aboriginal Day Live event and hosts a brand new show called Sans reserve. In 2015, Charles co founded productions Menuentakuan, an aboriginal theatre company invested in creating new paths of dialogue amongst aboriginals and non-aboriginals in Canada. He has translated various plays by indigenous authors such as Where The Blood Mixes by Kevin Loring, Reckoning by Tara Beagan and Andy Moro and alterNatives by Drew Hayden Taylor. He has just finished translating Maria Campbell’s Halfbreed and is currently finishing up the translation of Kenneth T. Williams’ play Thunderstick.
Soleil Launiere
Pekuakamilnu originally from Mashteuiatsh, Soleil Launière lives and works in Tiöhtià:ke – Mooniyang (Montreal). Multidisciplinary artist and director combining performance art, movement, theater and singing, she intertwines the presence of the two-spirit body and experimental audiovisual while drawing inspiration from the cosmogony and sacred spirit of the animals of the Innu world. It expresses in action a thought on silences and universal languages. www.soleil-launiere.com
KARINE RICARD (She/Her/Elle)
Artistic Director of the Théâtre français de Toronto since 2021, Karine Ricard (she, her) is an actor, director, director and author. Recently she directed her first feature film Les Liaisons dangereuses : correspondances inédites. At TfT she performed in Molière’s Le Misanthrope, Marivaux’s La seconde surprise de l’amour and in English in The Numbers Games. Her play Les sept péchés capitaux was presented at the Des Feuilles Vives festival in Ottawa. She is currently directing Yassama et la calebasse aux cauris at the WEE Festival in Toronto.
Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon
Born in Peru, arrived in Quebec and grew up in Ontario for Victor, the diversity of language and culture has always been present and important. He returned to Quebec to train as an interpreter at the ENTC. Since leaving school he has had the privilege of putting himself in the shoes of several characters of various origins and learning from all these experiences.