New Translation Canada – Celebrating great Canadian theatre in both official languages and beyond!
carried away on the crest of a wave, National Arts Centre of Canada (2018) | Photo: David Hou
New Translation Canada | Nouvelle Traduction Canada
in association with Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD)
& Théâtre de Quat’Sous
emportés sur la crête d’une vague
Translated from carried away on the crest of a wave
By David Yee
Translated to French by Maryse Warda
Staged Reading
October 2026
Coming Soon
Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD)
406 – 5445 avenue de Gaspé
Montréal QU H2T 3B2
Pay What You Can Admission
More info at:
www.newtranslationcanada.com
Synopsis
“…a boundary-pushing piece of Canadian theatre that dispenses with tradition.”
– Lynn Saxberg, Ottawa Citizen
From the shore of Ko Phi Phi in Thailand to a suburb in Utah to a mysterious Kafkaesque hole in the ground, carried away on the crest of a wave gives us brief glimpses into the lives of a sphinx-like escort, a grieving father, a conflicted priest, brothers of legend, a felonious housewife, an accountant of time, an orphaned boy, a radio shock jock and a man who finds things.
Each are connected, primarily, by the cataclysmic 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that claimed the lives of over a quarter million people. In a series of vignettes, carried away on the crest of a wave illustrates the ripple effect of one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history and ponders what happens when the events that bind us together are the same events that tear us apart.
Creative & Production Team
Playwright: David Yee | Translator: Maryse Warda | Director (Staged Reading): Catherine Vidal | Creative Producers: Johanna Nutter & Jack Paterson
Gallery
carried away on the crest of a wave, National Arts Centre of Canada (2018) | Photo: David Hou
MEET THE ARTISTS
David Yee | Playwright
David Yee is a mixed race (half Chinese, half Scottish) playwright and actor, born and raised in Toronto. He is the co-founding Artistic Director of fu-GEN Theatre Company, Canada’s premiere professional Asian Canadian theatre company. A Dora Mavor Moore Award nominated actor and playwright, his work has been produced internationally and at home. He is a two-time Governor General’s Literary Award nominee for his plays lady in the red dress and carried away on the crest of a wave, which won the award in 2015 along with the Carol Bolt Award in 2013. Yee has been in residence at Tarragon Theatre, Factory Theatre, the Stratford Festival, Cahoots Theatre and often works with theatre training institutions (NTS, U of T, TMU) to create new works for graduating cohorts using his unique Bespoke method of play creation. He currently teaches playwriting at the University of Toronto, and has worked extensively in the Asian Canadian community as an artist and an advocate.
“The art I have always pursued offers no simple answers. Rather, it compels us to ask better questions. It chases what is essential about our experience, what is urgent, what is honest.” – David Yee
Maryse Warda | Translator
Born in Egypt, where she spent her childhood, Maryse arrived in Montreal at the age of 9½, where she learned English by watching “Happy Days”. In 1991, Pierre Bernard, the director of Quat’Sous, not content with simply making her his assistant, also offered her the opportunity to undertake her first translation, Traces d’étoiles (Brilliant Traces) by Cindy Lou Johnson. The play was such a success that it marked the beginning of an unexpected career. Since then, she has completed over 75 translations. Her work has helped introduce the French-speaking Quebec public to numerous Canadian authors, such as Daniel Brooks, Kate Hennig, Daniel MacIvor, John Mighton, Morris Panych, Erin Shields, and George F. Walker. She has also translated American, British, Scottish, and Irish authors: Christopher Durang, Margaret Edson, David Greig, David Hare, David Mamet, Douglas Maxwell, Harold Pinter, Philip Ridley, and Simon Stephens.
Her work on George F. Walker’s Motel de passage (Suburban Motel) series received the Masque Award for Translation in 2000 and was shortlisted for a Governor General’s Award, but it was her translation of Greg MacArthur’s Toxique ou L’incident dans l’autobus (The Toxic Bus Incident) that earned her this honor in 2011.
Her translations have been published—L’Homme laid (Boréal), the Motel de passage series (vlb éditeur), Bye Bye Baby (L’instant scène), Traces d’étoiles (Lux), Toxique (Dramaturges éditeurs)—or adapted for the screen by noted directors such as Claude Desrosiers (Traces d’étoiles) and Louis Bélanger (Le Génie du crime).
In 2026, audiences will be able to see her translations of Joan Yago’s “À partir de là” at La Licorne and David Lindsay-Abaire’s Parachute libre at the Rideau Vert.
New Translation Canada / Nouvelle Traduction Canada
NTC is an independent, nation-wide theatrical initiative co-founded by theatre makers Yolanda Ferrato, Johanna Nutter, and Jack Paterson to bridge linguistic divides by celebrating Canadian theater in both official languages and beyond . Born from the realization that landmark works by the country’s top playwrights—including Siminovitch Prize nominees—were often unavailable across different language communities, the project commissions collaborative “creative translations” in partnership with major regional theater companies . By adapting diverse plays between English, French, and other languages, the NTC strives to build a truly interconnected national theatre community, ensuring that unique regional voices and cultural heritages are accessible to audiences from coast to coast
Centre des auteurs dramatique (CEAD)
Founded in 1965, the Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD) now comprises more than 290 Francophone playwrights in Quebec and across Canada. As an association of writers serving writers, the CEAD is a center dedicated to artistic support, development, and the promotion of local Francophone playwriting. The organization occupies a unique place in the Canadian theater landscape by pursuing goals of innovation, research, and excellence.
Théâtre de Quat’Sous (4’SOUS)
Théâtre de Quat’Sous is an indispensable landmark in Quebec’s cultural landscape, celebrating seven decades of history. Founded in 1955 through the vision of Paul Buissonneau and a collective of passionate artists, it forged its reputation as a creative laboratory free from convention. Throughout its history, the 4’SOUS has served as a historic springboard for local playwriting, hosting seminal works such as *L’Osstidcho* and Michel Tremblay’s landmark plays. Led successively by major figures in the theater world—from Louise Latraverse to Eric Jean, and then Olivier Kemeid—the theater continues to provide an essential showcase for emerging artists and the most impactful contemporary plays. Bolstered by its modern renovation in 2009, the 4’SOUS remains true to its original promise: a place of total artistic freedom where creativity flourishes on a human scale.
The Siminovitch Theatre Foundation
The Siminovitch Theatre Foundation (STF) is a Canadian registered charity dedicated to uplifting groundbreaking theatre artists who foster human connection and understanding through their craft. Formally established in 2012 to sustain the legacy of the prestigious Siminovitch Prize—originally launched in 2000 to honor scientist Lou Siminovitch and his playwright wife Elinore—the foundation manages Canada’s most valuable theatre award. The foundation rotates the prize annually among directors, playwrights, and designers, awarding a mid-career laureate $100,000 alongside a $25,000 grant for an emerging artist protégé. Beyond funding the primary prize, the Siminovitch Theatre Foundation actively champions the national theatre ecosystem by providing a diverse portfolio of programs, including emerging artist grants, artist-in-residence programs, and peer mentorship initiatives.
Land Acknowledgment
Activities related to this project take place on the traditional unceded territories of several First Nations and Indigenous groups in the territory now known as Canada. These include: the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations (Vancouver, British Columbia), Kanien’kehá:ka Nation (Montreal, Quebec), Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), Tsuut’ina Nation, Nakoda Island First Nations and Métis Nation (Region 3) (Treaty 7 Territory, Calgary, Alberta), Anishinaabe-Algonquin Nation (Ottawa, Ontario) and Mi’kmaq Nation (Nova Scotia). We recognize and honour the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation commission and acknowledge the importance of Indigenous sovereignty on this unceded territory.
*A territorial or land acknowledgement is an act of reconciliation that involves making a statement recognizing the traditional territory of the Indigenous people who called the land home before the arrival of settlers, and in many cases still do call it home.
For more information on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada click here.
We Gratefully Acknowledge the Support of:
