MAÎTRE KARIM LA PERDRIX
By Martin Bellemare | Translated by Jack Paterson
65 Min. | Multiple Voices
Translated from MAÎTRE KARIM LA PERDRIX (Quebec, Canada)
Karim is gaming the system as best he can to avoid deportation. A fluid man in an imperfect world who wants at all costs to avoid a return to the uncertainty he escaped from. MAÎTRE KARIM is a meditation on the challenges faced by refugees regardless of origin.
MAÎTRE KARIM was supported by ARTCENA and the recipient of the Prix SACD de la dramaturgie francophone 2018.
“…a singular text with unique rhythms resulting from a multi-voiced construction, this is a fierce work on a topical subject, exile.” – SACD Jury
“…it forces us to consider the very real situations facing immigrants, official or not, asylum seekers or not. Of those who welcome them and those who working to deport them. And the humanity of both.” – Mario Cloutier, La Presse
People leave their homes for many reasons – to escape war, natural disaster, political or religious persecution, or to seek a better life for their family. With the rapid population growth of the last 40 years events such as war affect far larger populations. Currently, there are more forcibly displaced people worldwide than the highest level of WWII.
The innovation and poetic approach of the Quebecois “Langue d’auteur”, the choral work of Martin Bellmare’s text, Maître Karim la perdrix, provides the creation of roles for underrepresented, or even, recently arrived artists, more importantly provides a metaphor for the journeys of many of our audiences and a catalyst for community conversation.
Martin Bellemare is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada French Language Playwrighting department. He is the recipient of the Prix Gratien-Gélinas for Le Chant de Georges Boivin (Dramaturges Publishers, 2011). Chant was produced in Quebec, across Canada and France. He received the NTC’s Creation Award for La Liberté (2012) and Moule Robert (2017). La Liberté was selected Le Bureau des Lecteurs de la Comédie-Française (Dramaturges Publishers, 2013). In 2018, he received the Prix SACD de la dramaturgie francophone for Maître Karim la perdrix and the Prix Michel-Tremblay for Moule Robert.
His work for young audiences is published by Lansman. He is one of the writers of Théâtre Ébouriffé’s Cabaret au Bazaar, for whom he wrote Un Château sur le dos. Other works for youth include La Chute de l’escargot and Tuer le moustique. These have been presented in Montréal, Paris and Poznan (Poland). Des pieds et des mains was created at Centre National des Arts (Ottawa) in 2016, and presented at Tarmac (Paris) in 2017.
He has been writer in residence at Théâtre de l’Aquarium (Cartoucherie/Paris), La Chartreuse, Centre National des Écritures du Spectacle (Villeneuve-lès Avignon), La Maison des Auteurs (Limoges), the Domaine de Mariemont (CED-WB/Wallonie), Théâtre du Bic (Québec). He participated in an international residency for theatre for young audiences (CEAD, Consulate General of France in Quebec City, CNT, La Belle Saison) where he put the final touches on Le Cri de la giraffe and L’oreille de mer (Lansman, 2017).
His work has been produced in Quebec, France, and Switzerland and translated into German, Italian and Lithuanian.
This translation is made possible by a commission by The Presentation House Theatre and a grant from Canada Council for the Arts.
