Wajdi Mouawad

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Wajdi Mouawad, OC, (born 1968) is a Lebanese-Canadian writer, actor and director best known for his work in the Canadian and French theatre. Born in Lebanon, Mouawad's family left when he was eight due to the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War. He moved to Quebec in 1983 after living in France for five years. Mouawad is known for his politically engaged, moralistic theatre, which often revolves around family trauma, war and the betrayal of youth, and for recurring stylistic tropes, such as having his actors shout all their lines.

Biography

He obtained his diploma from the National Theatre School of Canada in 1991.

In 1998, his creation Willy Protagoras enfermé dans les toilettes (Willy Protagoras locked up in the toilets) was voted best Montreal-based production by l'Association québécoise des critiques de théâtre.

From 2000 to 2004, he led the Théâtre de Quat'sous in Montreal. He has adapted different works for the theatre, from Don Quixote to Trainspotting.

He was awarded the Governor General's Award in Literature for drama in 2000. In 2002, the French Government bestowed upon him the title of Knight of the Ordre National des Arts et des Lettres for the collection of his works. In 2009, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his contributions as a writer, actor, stage director and playwright known internationally for the quality and scope of his theatrical creations".[1]

He made his first attempt onto the big screen in 2004 by directing and producing the film Littoral, based on the play of the same name.

On September 1, 2007, he became the artistic director of the National Arts Centre's French Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

His play Incendies (Scorched) has been produced all over the world, including the United States, Austria, Germany, Mexico and Australia, and the 2007 production at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto won several awards. The famed Vienna "Burgtheater", the biggest theatre in Europe, assigned Stefan Bachmann with the stage production. It subsequently received much praise from critics, winning the "Nestroy Award" in 2007.

Incendies, the film version of the play (directed by Denis Villeneuve) is Canada's official selection for the 2011 Academy Awards. Incendies opened in Canada on January 21, 2011.

In early 2011, Mouawad cast French rock musician Bertrand Cantat in Chœurs, his production of a trilogy of Greek plays by Sophocles. This sparked widespread public criticism in Canada, as Cantat had recently been released after serving four years for the murder of his girlfriend, French actress Marie Trintignant. Canadian politicians suggested barring Cantat's entry into the country, as he failed to meet certain legal requirements for the entry of ex convicts. In April 2011 the artistic director of Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, Lorraine Pintal, announced that Cantat would not be performing in Chœurs in Canada, though he did tour with the production in France, Belgium and Switzerland.[2] Mouawad responded to the controversy by publishing an open letter to his three-year-old daughter Aimee in the newspaper Le Devoir, arguing for Cantat's right to complete reintegration into society.[3]

Author

Theatre

Published
  • 1996: Alphonse (Leméac)
  • 1999: Les mains d'Edwige au moment de la naissance (Leméac)
  • 1999, 2009: Littoral (coedition Leméac/Actes Sud-Papiers)
  • 2000: Pacamambo (Actes Sud-Papiers Junior)
  • 2002: Rêves (coedition Leméac/Actes Sud-Papiers)
  • 2003, 2009: Incendies (coedition Leméac/Actes Sud-Papiers)
  • 2004: Willy Protagoras enfermé dans les toilettes (Leméac)
  • 2006: Forêts (coedition Leméac/Actes Sud-Papiers)
  • 2007: Assoiffés (coédition Leméac/Actes Sud-Papiers)
  • 2008: Le soleil ni la mort ne peuvent se regarder en face (coedition Leméac/Actes Sud)
  • 2008: Seuls - Chemin, texte et peintures (Actes Sud - Léméac)
  • 2009: Ciels (Actes Sud)
  • 2011: Journée de noces chez les Cromagnons (coedition Leméac/Actes Sud-Papiers)
Not published
  • 1992: Partie de cache-cache entre 2 tchécoslovaques au début du siècle

Radio works

  • Loin des chaises
  • Wilfrid
  • William M.
  • Le chevalier
  • Dans la cathédrale
  • Les trains hurlent quand on tue
  • Les étrangers du bord du monde

Novels

  • 2002: Visage retrouvé (coedition Leméac/Actes Sud)
  • 2007: Un obus dans le cœur (Actes Sud Junior - Léméac)
  • 2012: Anima

Films

Theatre

Directing

(authors in parenthesis, unless authored by Wajdi Moawad)

  • 1992: Al Malja et L’Exil (Naji Mouawad)
  • 1992: Macbeth (Shakespeare)
  • 1994: Le tour du monde of Joe Maquillon (Gislain Bouchard)
  • 1995: Tu ne violeras pas (Edna Mazia)
  • 1995: Don Quichotte (Cervantès)
  • 1997: Littoral
  • 1998: Willy Protagoras enfermé dans les toilettes
  • 1998: Trainspotting (Irvine Welsh)
  • 1998: Œdipe roi, in English Oedipus the King (Sophocles)
  • 1999: Disco Pigs (Enda Walsh)
  • 1999: Les Troyennes, in English The Trojan Women (Euripides)
  • 1999: Littoral - Festival d'Avignon
  • 2000: Rêves
  • 2000: Ce n'est pas la manière dont on se l'imagine que Claude et Jacqueline se sont rencontrés (Mouawad co-authoring with Estelle Clareton)
  • 2000: Lulu le chant souterrain (Frank Wedekind)
  • 2000: Reading Hebron (Jason Sherman)
  • 2001: Le mouton et la baleine (Ahmed Ghazali)
  • 2001: Six personnages en quête d'auteur in English Six Characters in Search of an Author (Luigi Pirandello)
  • 2001: Manuscrit retrouvé à Saragosse (opera, Alexis Nouss)
  • 2002: Les Trois Sœurs in English Three Sisters (Anton Anton Chekhov)
  • 2003: Incendies
  • 2005: Ma mère chien (Louise Bombardier)
  • 2006: Forêts
  • 2007: Incendies in Russian, at Théâtre Et Cetera Moscou)
  • 2008: Seuls at Festival d'Avignon
  • 2009: Littoral, Incendies, Forêts (trilogy) at Festival d'Avignon
  • 2009: Ciels at Festival d'Avignon
  • 2010: Ciels at Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe Ateliers Berthier
  • 2010: Littoral / Incendies / Forêts (trilogy) at Théâtre national de Chaillot
  • 2010: Seuls at Festival d'Avignon
  • 2011: Seuls at Le Quartz
  • 2011: Temps at Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui
  • 2011: Le Cycle des Femmes: trois histoires de Sophocle at Festival d'Avignon (music by Bertrand Cantat and Pascal Humbert)

Adaptations

Interpretations

Others

  • 2004: Je suis le méchant!, interviews with André Brassard (Leméac)
  • 2004: Littoral, cinematic projection of the theater work of the same name TVA Films
  • 2005: Architecture d'un marcheur, interviews given to Jean-François Côté (Leméac)
  • 2009: Le Sang des Promesses: Puzzle, racines, et rhizomes, travel notes, directing, regarding the process of writing and directing of the de la tetralogy (Léméac/Actes Sud)
  • 2011: Traduire Sophocle (Actes Sud)

Awards and distinctions

  • 1998: Prize of best production in Montréal, awarded by "Association québécoise des critiques de théâtre" for Willy Protagoras enfermé dans les toilettes
  • 2000: Literary prize of the Governor General of Canada in the Theater category for Littoral
  • 2002: Chevalier (knight) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres awarded by France
  • 2004: Prix Jacqueline-Déry-Mochon
  • 2004: Prize "SACD de la francophonie" for totality of his works
  • 2005: Molière of best francophone author (he refused to receive the Molières 2005 prize)
  • 2009: Officer Order of Canada
  • 2013: Phoenix Award for his novel Anima (as part of the Beirut Spring Festival organized by the Samir Kassir Foundation)

Sources

  • Charlotte Farcet, Les Tigres de Wajdi Mouawad (Joca Seria, 2009)

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Convicted killer Bertrand Cantat will not perform in Canada: theatre[dead link]
  3. ↑ Aimee, my little darling/ Aimée, ma petite chérie

External links

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