Bonjour, Là, Bonjour

by Michel Tremblay, translated by John Van Burek & Bill Glassco

tagged: canadian

Description

Michel Tremblay considers Bonjour, Là, Bonjour to be the best of all his works. “In Bonjour, Là, Bonjour, I apprehended the most of what I wanted to do in the theatre—to take out everything that is not strictly necessary.“
This new substantially revised translation by John Van Burek and Bill Glassco updates their original English translation of Bonjour, Là, Bonjour which has been available from Talonbooks since 1975.
Cast of 6 women and 2 men.

About the Authors

Michel Tremblay

A major figure in Québec literature, Michel Tremblay has built an impressive body of work as a playwright, novelist, translator, and screenwriter. To date Tremblay’s complete works include twenty-nine plays, thirty-one novels, six collections of autobiographical stories, a collection of tales, seven screenplays, forty-six translations and adaptations of works by foreign writers, nine plays and twelve stories printed in diverse publications, an opera libretto, a song cycle, a Symphonic Christmas Tale, and two musicals. His work has won numerous awards and accolades; his plays have been published and translated into forty languages and have garnered critical acclaim in Canada, the United States, and more than fifty countries around the world.

John Van Burek

Born in Toronto, John Van Burek studied at St. Anselm College in the United States, at the University of New Brunswick, and at the University of Toronto. He has been a practising theatre artist for over twenty years, in both French and English, throughout Canada. He has also worked in the fields of opera, film and television. In 1971, he founded the Théâtre français de Toronto where, over the years, he directed some sixty productions. He stepped down as Artistic Director of the company in 1991. Mr. Van Burek has taught at Ryerson Theatre School, York University and at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal. He is also one of Canada’s leading translators for theatre, most notably of Michel Tremblay’s plays, including Les Belles-Soeurs (Talonbooks). Mr. Van Burek has received several awards and citations for his work, including the Toronto Drama Bench Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Canadian Theatre. In 1992, he was awarded a Canada Council “A” Grant for senior artists. This prestigious award allowed him to spend a year abroad, studying and working with major theatre artists in Nottingham, London and Paris. In addition, thanks to a special grant form the Minister of External Affairs and the Toronto Arts Council, he was able to undertake a program for the promotion of Canadian plays in both England and France.

Bill Glassco

Born in Quebec, William Grant (“Bill”) Glassco was a Canadian theatre director, producer and founder of Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre. From 1959 to 1964, Glassco taught English at the University of Toronto. He lived in New York City from 1967 to 1969, where he studied acting and directing. Glassco returned to Canada in 1969. He founded the Tarragon Theatre in 1970 with his wife Jane (née Gordon), and stayed there until 1982. Later, he became the artistic director of the CentreStage Theatre Company which merged, in 1988, with the Toronto Free Theatre to become CanStage. In 1982, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Contributor Notes

Michel Tremblay
One of the most produced and the most prominent playwrights in the history of Canadian theatre, Michel Tremblay has received countless prestigious honours and accolades. His dramatic, literary and autobiographical works have long enjoyed remarkable international popularity, including translations of his plays that have achieved huge success in Europe, the Americas and the Middle East.
Awards and Recognition*
Prix du Grand (2009) La Traversée de la ville (Leméac Editeur Inc.)
Blue Metropolis International Literary Grand Prix (2006)
Globe and Mail Top 100 Books (2003) Birth of a Bookworm
Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play (2000) For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again
Chalmers Awards (1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1986, 1989, 2000)
Governor General’s Performing Arts Award (1999)
Molson Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts (1994)
Louis-Hémon Prize (1994)
Montreal Book Fair Grand Public Prize (1994)
Banff Centre National Award (1992)
Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters of France (1991)
Chevalier of the Order of Quebec (1990)
San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Festival Long-Standing Public Service Award (1989)
CBC Anik Prize (1988)
Athanase-David Lifetime Achievement Prize (1988)
Quebec-Paris Prize (1985)
Chevalier of Arts and Letters of France (1984)
John Van Burek
John Van Burek has been a practising theatre artist for over twenty years, in both French and English, throughout Canada. He has also worked in the fields of opera, film and television. He is also one of Canada’s leading translators for theatre, most notably of Michel Tremblay’s plays, including Les Belles-Soeurs (Talonbooks). Mr. Van Burek has received several awards and citations for his work, including the Toronto Drama Bench Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Canadian Theatre.
Bill Glassco
Born in Quebec, William Grant (“Bill”) Glassco was a Canadian theatre director, producer and founder of Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre. He then became the artistic director of the CentreStage Theatre Company which merged, in 1988, with the Toronto Free Theatre to become CanStage. In 1982, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Editorial Review

“Dialogue functions like movements in a piece of music. It’s confusing at first, until the individual parts cohere into duets, trios, quartets, and octets. … At the heart of the play is a secret that each family member already knows or should suspect, but has never acknowledged. … Bonjour, là, Bonjour was first performed in Québécois French by the Compagnie des Deux Chaises at the National Art Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1974. Tremblay used his working-class background as source material.”
– Santa Fe New Mexican

About BC Books Online

Bonjour, Là, Bonjour

by Michel Tremblay, translated by John Van Burek & Bill Glassco

Michel Tremblay

John Van Burek

Bill Glassco

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