Montreal, November 15, 2018 – After the exceptional Sang des promesses cycle at FTA 2010, the fiery force of Wajdi Mouawad’s sweeping theatrical epics returns to Montreal. This highly acclaimed performance event will take place from May 22 to 27, 2019, as opening show of the 13th edition of the Festival TransAmériques.
The fiery force of Wajdi Mouawad’s sweeping theatrical epics is back with a vengeance! The impossible destiny of two lovers, she an Arab, he an Israeli, caught in the vortex of endless war. Incredibly powerful, a tragedy unleashed in the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Secrets reverberate, the truth explodes, intimacy is shattered by world events.
Do our past and our origins define our identity? From New York to Jerusalem by way of Berlin, from love at first sight to a terrorist attack, from screams to bursts of laughter, the writer has created a gripping gaze that is embedded in the inextricable chaos of the Middle East. With its jumble of languages, it features an international, high-calibre cast, performers who have the blood of the characters in their bones. With Tous des oiseaux, Mouawad brings to light the frontiers of the inexpressible, the painful impossibility or reconciling sworn enemies, leaving us inconsolable.
Wajdi Mouawad / La Colline – théâtre national
Ever since his début, Wajdi Mouawad has been soberly presenting human and historical truths. In works devoid of didacticism, life prevails despite wars, despite men and women carried off by military conflicts. Human, all too human. His first plays were presented in Montreal, the city where he developed as an artist, and featured characters and stories inspired by his childhood in Lebanon. His saga play Littoral dealt with the quest for origins and established his reputation as an outstanding playwright and director. His first collaboration with the FTA in 1997 led to Incendies, which was turned into a film by Denis Villeneuve. The FTA then presented his play Rêves, followed by the quadrilogy Le sang des promesses in 2010, which included Littoral, Incendies, Forêts and Ciels, an unforgettable event that deeply moved festivalgoers.
He was artistic director of the Théâtre français at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa from 2007 to 2012, and in 2009 became the associate artist of the 63rd edition of the Avignon Festival. His most recent cycle, Domestique, focuses on the theme of family. It began with Seuls in 2008, Sœurs in 2014 (presented at the Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui in 2015) and will be followed in the years to come with Frères with Robert Lepage, and Père and Mère. Since 2016 he has been the director of the La Colline-théâtre national in Paris. After Tous des oiseaux in 2017, which received the Grand prix bestowed by the Association professionnelle de la critique de théâtre, de musique et de danse, he created Notre innocence and in 2018 a solo piece entitled Inflammation du verbe vivre. Fauves and Mort prématurée d’un chanteur dans la force de l’âge, created in collaboration with Arthur H, will be presented in 2019. His plays and novels have been translated and published in some twenty languages.
