EARS OF THE SEA
By Martin Bellemare | Translated by Jack Paterson
Translated from L’OREILLE DE MER (Quebec, Canada)
For ages 5 and up
A doctor looks after 4 children terrified of the noises they hear. What do they hear? Are the sounds only in their dreams? Or are they advertising? Human made? Natural? Do the others hear them? And how do they impact their growing identities?
Cast size: 6 characters
Running Time: 25 minutes
With his work described as “dazzling formal mastery” and “virtuoso inventiveness” by the Prix Michel-Tremblay jury, Martin Bellemare is a leading new voice in Quebecois theatre.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: MARTIN BELLEMARE
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.