About Communications

 

Media Releases

In the News

Media Services

Images

 

Contact

Media Release

---

For immediate release
May 5, 2005

Contemporary French playwrights Rouabhi, Serres
to read in Banff and Calgary

Reading (in French): May 18, 7 p.m.
Alliance Francaise 2^nd Floor, Memorial Park Library
 1221 – 2 Street S.W., Calgary

Reading (in English): May 21, 8 p.m.
Bentley Chamber Music Studio
The Banff Centre

The Banff playRites Colony and the Alliance Française de Calgary will host an imaginative journey through the original French and the new English translations of two entrancing plays for young audiences, in Calgary on May 18 and at The Banff Centre on May 21. Both evenings will feature Karin Serres’s Colza, translated by Paula Wing of Toronto, and Mohamed Rouabhi’s Jérémy Fisher, translated by Mieko Ouchi of Edmonton.

Karin Serres, acclaimed French playwright, and Mohamed Rouabhi, one of France’s up-and-coming young playwrights and directors, will read excerpts from their plays on Wednesday May 18, at 7 p.m. at the Alliance Française de Calgary, on the 2nd level of the Memorial Park Library at 1221 - 2nd Street. An open conversation will follow, hosted by Michel Charron of Radio Canada. The event is free, and will be followed by wine and cheese.

On Saturday May 21, the actors of the Banff playRites Colony will read the new English translations of both plays, by award-winning Canadian translators Paula Wing and Mieko Ouchi, at 8 p.m., in the Bentley Chamber Music Hall at The Banff Centre. This event is also free, and will be followed by wine and cheese.

While the plays were both originally written for young audiences, their nuanced portrayals of the wonder of ordinary life and the adventure of growing up will appeal to all ages. Colza is a lyrical celebration of the call of the horizon and the comfort of home, in which a close family is thrown off balance when one son sets off on a private adventure. Jérémy Fisher is a charming contemporary fable about being different, in which a loving family learns to let go when their only son is born half-fish.

The Banff playRites Colony has a 25- year history as one of the pre-eminent development centres for playwrights in the English-speaking world. For the past eight years, the Colony has hosted the English Canadian translation of a play from France. This year, as part of the annual Banff Summer Arts Festival, audiences in Calgary and the Bow Valley will be able to share in the work of the Colony’s international guests.

The Alliance Française is a worldwide network aimed at promoting French language and culture. Since its creation in 1947, the Alliance Française de Calgary has been actively involved in Calgary's cultural life, and has established many partnerships with the community. This new collaboration with the Banff playRites Colony marks the beginning of an exciting foray into theatre across the two cultures.

The Colony and the Alliance would like to thank the Societe des Auteurs et des Compositeurs dramatiques in France, and the Consulat de France in Vancouver for making this project and presentation possible.