Michel Marc Bouchard

The Divine: A Play for Sarah Bernhardt Michel Marc Bouchard

Marc Notes: Translation of: La divine illusion: une piece pour Sarah Bernhardt.; A play.; Issued also in electronic format."Biographical Note: Quebec playwright Michel Marc Bouchard emerged on the professional theatre scene in 1985. Since then he has written twenty-five plays and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including, in June 2012, the prestigious National Order of Quebec for his contribution to Quebec culture, and, in 2005, the Order of Canada. He has also received le Prix Litteraire du Journal de Montreal, Prix du Cercle des critiques de l Outaouais, the Governor General s Performing Arts Award, the Dora Mavor Moore Award, and the Chalmers Award for Outstanding New Play. Translated into nine languages, Bouchard s bold, visionary works have represented Canada at major festivals around the world. _____________________________ Linda Gaboriau is an award-winning literary translator based in Montreal. Her translations of plays by Quebec s most prominent playwrights have been published and produced across Canada and abroad. In her work as a literary manager and dramaturge, she has directed numerous translation residencies and international exchange projects. She was the founding director of the Banff International Literary Translation Centre. Gaboriau has twice won the Governor General s Award for Translation. "Publisher Marketing: Quebec City, 1908. Two priests-to-be are ordered to deliver a letter to a controversial visitor to their city: the legendary French actress, Sarah Bernhardt.'] As part of her long career, Bernhardt known to her loyal fans as The Divine visited Canada several times between 1880 and 1917, most often visiting Montreal, but once just once alighting in Quebec City. It is this singular historic visit, about which little is known, that Bouchard takes as the backdrop for his play, exploring conservative and progressive veins in competition through turn-of-the-century North America, with a focus on Quebec, that province on the verge of great change. Michaud, the son of the province s minister of finance, is a theatre lover. Talbot, on the other hand has arrived at the seminary on the very day of Bernhardt s arrival in town, he comes from a family struggling with poverty and clearly has more pressing concerns. The two are ordered to deliver a letter from the Archbishop forbidding Bernhardt to appear on stage at any point during her one and only visit to Quebec City, on the grounds that she has decided to perform a play in which Adrienne Lecovreur sings the praises of adulterous love and ridicules a man of the cloth portrayed as a plotting habitue of Parisian salons. And so the stage is set for a battle for the hearts and minds of Quebeckers through these two seminarians: the powerful Catholic Church on one side, and the power of the divine Sarah Bernhardt and the world of the theatre on the other. "The Divine" was commissioned for the 2015 Shaw Festival in honour of George Bernard Shaw and everyone who loves the theatre, and in memory of Sarah Bernhardt, the woman who dares to say everything that should be left unsaid. Cast of five women and eight men." Contributor Bio:  Bouchard, Michel Marc Michel Marc Bouchard holds a BA in Theatre from the University of Ottawa and has worked as an actor, director, and teacher. His plays have been translated into English, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, and Bulgarian and have been performed extensively in Europe. He has won both Dora Mavor Moore and Chalmers Awards for his play "Lilies" and has been a three time finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award. Contributor Bio:  Gaboriau, Linda Linda Gaboriau has translated more than forty plays, including the works of some of Quebec's most prominent playwrights, including Michel Marc Bouchard, Rene-Daniel Dubois, Normand Chaurette, and Gratien Gelinas. Her translation of Bouchard's "Les Feluettes (Lilies)" was nominated for the Governor General's Award for Literary Translation and won the Dora Mavor Moore, Chalmers, and Jesse Richardson Awards.