Just this once, I’m going to write a press release as a collage of quotations. Don’t worry, I’ve chosen them carefully; and with the same attention to detail, I’ve taken the liberty of offering a few guidelines I hope you won’t find too intrusive.

And so, without further delay, let’s dive into the universe of Les Zurbains 2010! And what do we find there? A new edition, a new group of aspiring playwrights with astonishing imaginations, a new batch of original stories, and finally, another lively and irreverent show.

But don’t take my word for it—read what Benoît  Vermeulen (the NAC French Theatre’s Associate Artist, Youth Program) has to say:
“Year after year, it’s always a pleasure to immerse myself in the strange and varied landscapes imagined by our young writers. For 13 years now, with my colleagues from Théâtre Le Clou, I’ve been participating in this exploration of contemporary narrative, a creative dialogue between professional playwrights and their teenage counterparts in Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, and (for the last two years) right here in Ottawa-Gatineau. The performance you will see tonight presents works by teenage playwrights from those cities, selected through an extended process of dramaturgical development.

“That process is the result of a unique collaboration between professional playwrights and aspiring teenage writers. Following a classroom visit by a professional playwright, students are invited to write their own original stories and submit them to a jury of theatre professionals. The jury chooses 12 scripts from each of the 4 participating communities, and the young playwrights are invited to an intensive weekend writing workshop with professional writers and actors. After the workshops, which are held in all four cities, five scripts are selected for presentation at the next edition of Les Zurbains. The young playwrights then work individually with professional writers to polish their scripts... and we will see the final results tonight!

“The project promotes an intergenerational dialogue about writing that is not academic, but rather focuses on the artistic aspect, the intimate gesture, the search for an independent and original voice and vision. We encourage writing that is contemporary and oral; a living language that reflects the myriad colours of life on the street or the social and cultural landscape of its community; a free and authentic way of seeing and saying the world—and demonstrating the infinite power of the written word.” Only a master could express it so well.

“But what about the performance?” I hear you ask.
This thirteenth edition, we are told, is all about the pull between misfortune and providence. It’s a call to action, amplified by the stage, that urges us to go beyond the limits of destiny! Bravo, you’re amazing: the common denominator of these tales is indeed “Characters burning with a passionate desire to live.”

Here are brief summaries of the five stories in the show:

Préparez-vous pour l’atterrissage (“Prepare for Landing”) by Caleb Guthrie, performed by Philippe Robert
Lost in abstract thought, a man finds himself in freefall amid the fragments of his aeroplane. And when you’re about to die, you look at life differently. His transformation suddenly gives him wings. From high above, he contemplates the crash... the final act in an otherwise dull and boring life...

Scout un jour, scout toujours (“Once a Scout, Always a Scout”) by Alex Carignan, performed by Julien Lemire
Sitting around the campfire with their leader nowhere in sight, a troop of Scouts starts picking on Bourrelets, the short fat guy. But their teasing gets outof hand, and their target flees into the woods. Overcome with guilt, the initiator of the joke takes off after him and starts beating the bushes—with unexpected results. Once a Scout, always a Scout... are you prepared?

Level 18
by David Le Quéré, performed by Kevin Houle
Bob is hooked on video games. After 24 intense hours on the planet Fatkkat, he’s brutally yanked out of his virtual universe by his mother: it’s time to walk Fluffy, their real-life fat cat. Lost between reality and fantasy, he wanders into a strangely ominous world where humans like him give themselves names like Killerkins and Gorillagoonz. It will take more than a well-placed punch in the head to get him out of this paranoid nightmare!

Pourrie sale (“Dirty Rotten”) by Alex Viens, performed by Marie-Ève Trudel
Convinced that she has a degenerative disease caused by her mother’s mental illness, our heroine suffers in silence, with rage in her heart. One day, it’s love at first sight! Terrified of rejection yet longing for love, she takes the plunge. Faced with the heartbreak of destiny, will she choose life or death?

Would you rather by Cleo Beland, performed by Milène Leclerc
Would you rather sit through a boring English class or just take off? To Alice, who just got her licence, the answer is obvious! For two girls on the open road, the rush of adrenalin, the sweet taste of freedom, and a meeting with couple of reckless dudes add up to a wild adventure that takes them to Exit 68 and beyond!

And finally, because I know how you love testimonials, a few words from Michel Ouellette, writing coach of David Le Quéré (Ottawa-Gatineau regional winner):
“We met last March at a Tim Hortons. We shook hands, then I opened my bag and took out a pile of annotated pages. On those pages I had underlined, circled, scribbled on different sections of the first draft of David’s script, the version from the weekend writing workshop. I’m sure David was a little worried to see his script treated that way! Then we started talking. I asked him questions, I showed him all kinds of little doors in his script, I invited him to open them wider and take a good look at what lay inside. The lightbulb went on! Things started to fall into place, a narrative thread started to emerge from our discussions. Then it was time for David to get back to writing, reimmerse himself in that world and explore the creative possibilities of what we had stirred up and brought to the surface. A couple of weeks later, David sent me a new draft. We continued our discussion by telephone and by e-mail, working to tighten the text around his central idea, striving for coherence and a certain dramatic effect. Bit by bit the script found its shape, found its voice. Throughout the process David had to deal with some challenging issues, with the limitations of writing, with the requirements of production. When you set a world in motion, you have to keep things moving.”

POST-SHOW TALKBACK HOSTED BY BENOÎT VERMEULEN
The audience is invited to stay in the Studio after the performance for a Q&A with the performers and playwright David Le Quéré, Ottawa-Gatineau regional winner.

PRE-SHOW ACTIVITIES
Join us 45 minutes before the show for special activities about teens and their voice in society.

RESERVATIONS:
www.nac-cna.ca

TICKETMASTER:
613-755-1111

NAC BOX OFFICE:
53 Elgin Street, Ottawa
Monday–Friday
10 a.m.–9 p.m.

TICKETS:
Adults $18.79
Students $18.79

GROUPS OF 10 OR MORE:
Save 15 to 20% off regular ticket prices
613-947-7000, ext. 384
grp@nac-cna.ca

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Aude RAHMANI
Communications Officer - French Theatre
National Arts Centre
613-947-7000, ext. 396 / 1-866-850-2787, ext. 396
Cell : 613-979-2636
arahmani@nac-cna.ca
www.cna-nac.ca