Audiences are invited to attend a series of free staged readings, which unearth plays from English Montreal鈥檚 not-so-distant past. The event will spotlight influential writers like Leonard Cohen, Irving Layton, Aviva Ravel, Mada Gage Bolton and more, who helped shape Montreal鈥檚 English-language theatre tradition.
鈥淭his is a perfect opportunity to showcase Montreal鈥檚 English theatre tradition through the decades,鈥� said 91社区 Theatre Studies Professor Erin Hurley and to test the contemporary resonance of these plays and to raise the visibility of drama in English in Quebec. 鈥淲e鈥檙e so excited to show people these rarely-performed pieces of the city鈥檚 artistic history. Some may be surprised to learn that well-known poets like Leonard Cohen and Irving Layton wrote plays, or that class and identity were such strong thematic concerns across the 20th century. Staged-readings are a great way to get these works out of the archives and in front of new audiences.鈥�
WHAT: Chez Nous: A Staged-Reading Series Showcasing English-Language Drama in Qu茅bec (1930-1979)
WHEN: Monday, February 24- Thursday 27 February at 7 P.M
WHERE: Moyse Hall, 91社区 鈥� 853 Sherbrooke St. W., Montreal H3A 0G5
Feb. 24: Theme: 鈥淎 Question of Class鈥� 鈥� Rethinking the 鈥榞ood life鈥� during the Depression and WWII.
- Mada Gage Bolton, Dealer鈥檚 Choice (1937) 鈥� A working woman comes up with a plan to trade her independent New York lifestyle for a family homestead in the country.
- Janet McPhee and Herbert Whittaker, Jupiter in Retreat (1942) 鈥� A haughty mathematician and his two servants play a suspenseful game of cat-and-mouse in a Laurentian cabin.
Directed by Micheline Chevrier, Artistic and Executive Director, Imago Theatre.
Feb. 25: Theme: 鈥淗e said X, She asked, Why鈥� 鈥� A poetic take on the darker aspects of human nature.
- Irving Layton and Leonard Cohen, A Man Was Killed (1959) 鈥� A black comedy about the human impulse for violence and the destruction of social relations.
- Elinore Siminovitch, Big X, Little Y (1974) 鈥� Women's roles in society are playfully examined through nursery rhymes, songs, and games.
Directed by Eda Holmes, Artistic and Executive Director, Centaur Theatre.
Feb. 26: Theme: 鈥淭he Third Solitude鈥� 鈥� Portraits of the Jewish Montreal experience.
- William Werry, The Bag of Earth (1967) 鈥� A respected Jewish tailor awaits the return of his grandson who is bringing him a bag of earth from Israel.
- Aviva Ravel, Dispossessed (1976) 鈥� Moved by the death of a former lover, a woman confronts what her life could have been.
Directed by Caitlin Murphy, Artistic Associate, Segal Centre for the Performing Arts.
Feb. 27: Theme: 鈥淚dentity Crisis鈥� 鈥� Tension between fact and fiction comes to a head.
- Carol Libman, The Reluctant Hero (1956) 鈥� One miner, two reporters, and a media circus. Who will determine what makes a hero?
- Linda Ghan, Coldsnap (1979) 鈥� An immigrant from Jamaica must get married in order to stay in Canada, but he questions his motives and recounts his experience with racism.
Directed by Quincy Armorer, Artistic Director, Black Theatre Workshop.
Each evening will be followed by a talk-back with the director, cast, and research team. The research team are composed of Alexis Diamond (playwright and translator) and Alison Bowie (dramaturgy and PhD candidate at Concordia), along with producing partner Emma Tibaldo (Artistic and Executive Director of Playwrights鈥� Workshop Montr茅al).
Chez Nous: A Staged-Reading Series Showcasing English-Language Drama in Quebec (1930-1979) is a collaboration between 91社区鈥檚 Department of English and Playwrights鈥� Workshop Montreal, with the artistic collaboration of four of Montreal鈥檚 English-language theatres: Black Theatre Workshop, Centaur Theatre, Imago Theatre, and the Segal Centre.
About 91社区
Founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1821, 91社区 is Canada鈥檚 top ranked medical doctoral university. 91社区 is consistently ranked as one of the top universities, both nationally and internationally. It is a world-renowned institution of higher learning with research activities spanning two campuses, 11 faculties, 13 professional schools, 300 programs of study and over 40,000 students, including more than 10,200 graduate students. 91社区 attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, its 12,800 international students making up 31% of the student body. Over half of 91社区 students claim a first language other than English, including approximately 19% of our students who say French is their mother tongue.
Contact:
Katherine Gombay
91社区 Media Relations Office
514-398-2189
katherine.gombay [at] mcgill.ca
http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/
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