Olivier Choinière (born July 10, 1973) is a Canadian playwright from Granby, Quebec.[1] He is most noted as a three-time nominee for the Governor General's Award for French-language drama, receiving nominations at the 1998 Governor General's Awards for Le Bain des raines,[2] at the 2006 Governor General's Awards for Venise-en-Québec,[3] and at the 2013 Governor General's Awards for Nom de domaine.[4]
A 1996 graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, he wrote and staged his first theatrical play, Autodafé, in 1997.[1] His subsequent plays have included La légende du Manuel Sacré (1998), Les trains (1999), Soldats de bois (1999), Tsé-Tsé (2000), Agromorphobia (2001), Jocelyne est en dépression (2002), Beauté intérieure (2003), Félicité (2004), Chante avec moi (2010), Ennemi public (2015) and Zoé (2020).[1]
Félicité has been translated into English by Caryl Churchill as Bliss,[5] and Jocelyne est en dépression has been translated by Paula Wing as Jocelyne Is Under a Cloud Today.[6] Choinière has also translated a number of English language plays into French, including Darrell Dennis's Tales of an Urban Indian,[7] Joan MacLeod's The Shape of a Girl,[8] and Mark O'Rowe's Howie the Rookie.[9]
Sometimes described as a "theatre hacker",[10] his conventional plays have been interspersed with experiments in "gonzo theatre",[11] theatrical flash mobs, and podcasted "déambulatoire" plays.[10]
In 2014, he was awarded both the Canada Council's Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award[12] and the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b c Gaëtan Charlebois, "Choinière, Olivier". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, April 24, 2020.
- ^ "Montrealers deluge list of nominees". Montreal Gazette, October 21, 1998.
- ^ "First-timers dominate book-award short list". The Globe and Mail, October 16, 2006.
- ^ "Les finalistes aux Prix litteraires du Gouverneur general sont annonces". Canadian Press, October 2, 2013.
- ^ Elizabeth Renzetti, "Quebec to the Royal Court". The Globe and Mail, April 9, 2008.
- ^ Matt Radz, "Francophones flock to comedic couple". Montreal Gazette, November 26, 2003.
- ^ Matt Radz, "Challenging the stereotypes". Montreal Gazette, May 11, 2006.
- ^ Kathryn Greenaway, "A look at when girl power gets grisly". Montreal Gazette, March 14, 2008.
- ^ Melissa Poll, "Bruisers' lives made poetry". Vancouver Sun, February 2, 2007.
- ^ a b c J. Kelly Nestruck, "‘Theatre hacker’ Olivier Choinière wins Siminovitch Prize". The Globe and Mail, October 20, 2014.
- ^ Gaëtan Charlebois, "Two faces better than one: Olivier Choiniere has distinguished himself in both serious and gonzo theatre". Montreal Gazette, August 11, 2002.
- ^ "Les prix Victor-Martyn-Lynch-Staunton révélés". Le Devoir, May 8, 2014.