New Translation Commission – Arts Across Canada
New Translation Canada | Nouvelle Traduction Canada
NEW TRANSLATION COMMISSION
carried away on the crest of a wave
By David Yee
French Translator: Maryse Warda
From the shores of Thailand to the Utah suburbs to a Kafkaesque hole in the ground, this play peaks 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 shock jock and a man who finds things. Each connected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. carried away illustrates the ripple effect of one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history and asks what happens when the events that bind us together are the same events that tear us apart.
Recipient of the 2015 Governor General’s Literary Award.
MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT
David Yee
David Yee’s work crosses forms – digital theatre, new media/performance hybrids, site-specific forms, opera – and ranges in scale from mainstage epics to intimate one-on-one performances. David exemplifies and supports the best of the Toronto community and inspires Asian Canadian and other BIPOC artists nationwide. His artistic influence stretches across this country, and his excellent, inventive, moving and often hilarious work deserves to be seen by a wider audience.
“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
MEET THE TRANSLATOR
Maryse Warda (elle)
Born and raised in Egypt, Maryse landed in Montreal at age 9 ½ where she learned English watching Happy Days. In 1991, Pierre Bernard, artistic director of the Théâtre de Quat’Sous, hired her as his assistant, and gave her a first shot at translation – Cindy Lou Johnson’s Brilliant Traces – thus changing the course of her life.
Since then she has translated over 75 plays. She was instrumental in bringing the works of writers such as Daniel Brooks, Brad Fraser, John Mighton, Morris Panych, Erin Shields and George F. Walker to francophone audiences. She has also translated works from American, English, Scottish & Irish authors including Christopher Durang, Margaret Edson, David Greig, David Hare, David Mamet, Douglas Maxwell, Harold Pinter, Philip Ridley et Simon Stephens.
Her translation of George F. Walker’s Suburban Motel series earned her an award in 2000 from the Académie québécoise du théâtre, and was shortlisted for the 2001 Governor General’s Literary Award. But it’s her translation of Greg MacArthur’s The Toxic Bus Incident which garnered the GG in 2011.
ABOUT NTC
“Our production would not have been possible without the passion and dedication of the New Translation Canada team in partnering playwrights and translators, commissioning the new
translations, and developing the texts to make to them rehearsal ready.”
– Karine Ricard, Théâtre français de Toronto
Every three years, four or five Canadian playwrights in both official languages (French & English) are nominated for the Siminovitch Prize, Canada’s top theatre award. Each of these playwrights represents a leading voice in Canadian playwriting as nominated by their peers.
This independent project was born from a discovery that the works of the playwrights nominated for the 2020 Siminovitch Prize and their contributions to Canadian culture were not available in both official languages. We imagine a truly national theatre community where the works of anglophone and francophone artists are available and promoted to audiences in both official languages.
ABOUT CREATIVE TRANSLATION
Professionally as “Creative Translation.”, Translation in theatre, rather than a word-for-word substitution, the source text is a point of reference to create an equally compelling work in the new language.
With many choices beyond words, the creative translator draws on a wide knowledge of the performing arts and a deep understanding of the target culture. In addition to new rhythms, poetic structures, and metaphors, it’s not uncommon for new scenes, scenarios, and text to be created. It is a uniquely collaborative art; one where the collaborators are the cultures and languages of the original and target population as embodied by the artists involved.
Our Creative Translation team is gathered from leading theatre makers in both official languages from across the nation.
CREATIVE & PRODUCTION TEAM
Co-founders & Creative Producers: Johanna Nutter & Jack Paterson | Co-founder: Yolanda Ferrato
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.
For more information on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada click here. www.nctr.ca
We gratefully ackowledge the support of:
