October 2 - 28, 2012
Quebec English-language Premiere
August, An Afternoon in the Country
BY JEAN MARC DALPÉ
TRANSLATED BY MAUREEN LABONTÉ
DIRECTED BY HARRY STANDJOFSKI
SYNOPSIS
Nothing is what it seems.
On a lazy August afternoon in the middle of a heat wave, Monique and her fiancé show up at the family farm to celebrate their engagement with a bottle of champagne. Her relatives, four generations of women, are preparing a special dinner in their honour. At first, pleasantries are shared on the family verandah, but as the afternoon progresses, cracks behind the easy-going facade begin to surface, revealing painful truths and admissions that provoke a startling end to the reunion.
A three-time recipient of the Governor General's Literary Award, playwright Jean Marc Dalpé is one of the most celebrated figures in French Canadian literature.
VIDEO: OPENING NIGHT
SNEAK PEEK
Photos ©lucetg.com
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Playwright, novelist, poet, actor and director, born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1957, who has been very active in Franco-Ontarian theatre.
He studied at the Conservatoire d'Art Dramatique de Québec before he co-founded the Théâtre de la Vieille 17 in Sudbury as well as working closely with the Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario .
He worked in many Collective Creation s before writing his first play, Le Chien (1987), which won the Governor General's Award . This, and his subsequent plays, have been produced in French and English across the country. He has won two more Governor General's Awards, the second for Il n'y a que l'amour (1999), a collection of eight plays, three stories, and poetry; and the third in French fiction for Un vent se lève qui éparpille (2000).
His other plays include: Hawkesbury Blues (1982), Nickel (1984) (both with Brigitte Haentjens ), Eddy , Lucky Lady (1995), Trick or Treat (1999).
August, An Afternoon in the Country, received its English-language premiere at the playRites Festival in Calgary (2008), in a translation by Dalpé's wife, Maureen Labonté.
In 1997, Dalpé was made a member of L’Ordre des Francophones d’Amérique. He currently lives in Montreal with his family.
Source: Canadian Theatre Encyclpedia