Call for applications Archives - Playwrights' Workshop Montréal

October 17, 2023October 25, 2023

INTRODUCTION TO THEATRE TRANSLATION

APPLICATION DEADLINE: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29TH 2023 11:59PM EST.

A one-on-one mentorship opportunity

For years Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal (PWM) and le Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD) have worked to forge links between the French and English language theatre communities and foster the art of theatre translation. To this end, the two organizations have partnered once again to offer two individualized mentorships meant to familiarize playwrights with the craft of theatre translation: Introduction to Theatre Translation (Traductions Croisées). One Mentorship, described below, is focused on French to English theatre translation. Vous trouverez sur le site du CEAD les détails du mentorat anglais – français.

How the mentorship works:

PWM will select 1 participant with an interest in French to English theatre translation;
Over a period of several months, the participant will translate excerpts (roughly 10-12 pages) of two contemporary Québécois plays selected by the CEAD;
The participant will receive a total of 12 hours of dramaturgical support from acclaimed playwright and theatre translator Alexis Diamond;
The participant will have the opportunity to discuss their translations with the original playwrights;
The mentorship will culminate in two workshops during which professional actors will read and discuss the newly-translated excerpts;
The participant will then have the chance to meet with the second participant and both mentors to present their work and discuss their experiences;
After the workshops, the participant will submit their final drafts of the translated excerpts to the CEAD.

Who can apply?

Montreal-based playwrights with a strong interest in French-to-English theatre translation;
The candidate must have excellent writing skills in English and have fluent comprehension of Québecois French;
Playwrights with little to no experience in theatre translation are encouraged to apply;

How to apply:

If you are interested in applying, please fill out this Google Form by Sunday, October 29th, 2023, 11:59 PM EST. You will be asked to provide the following information:

Your name, pronouns (optional), and contact information ;
Your bio;
A description of your interest in this mentorship and in French-to-English theatre translation more generally;
Confirmation that you are based in Montreal;
A CV

Video or audio responses are also accepted through the Google form.

Questions about this program can be sent to helena@playwrights.ca with the subject line: Introduction to Theatre Translation. Audio and video applications are also welcomed.

If you have any questions regarding accessibility, or require assistance with this application, please contact accessibility@playwrights.ca.

Click here for accessibility information and video tours of our location.

PWM is committed to creating an environment where all individuals are treated with dignity and respect. We are continuously working to make all of our programs accessible and inclusive. While recognizing that the identity of each person is fundamentally plural, and multidimensional, we strongly encourage applications from artists who are: Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit), Black, POC, racialized (including recent immigrants), 2SLGBTQQIPAA+, neurodivergent, disabled, living with chronic illness and/or chronic pain. PWM is strongly committed to supporting a wide range of cultural identities and lived experiences, therefore we encourage applicants to self-identify in their application if they are comfortable doing so.

Biography of Alexis Diamond

Based in Tiohtiá:ke / Mooniyang / Montreal, Alexis Diamond (she/her) is a theatre artist, opera and musical librettist, translator, dramaturg and theatre curator working in both English and French. She creates works for a wide range of audiences, from toddlers, to school-aged children, to all ages, to adults only, which have garnered awards, residencies, and attention at home and abroad. Playful, poetic and profound, her texts and performances break open the stories we inherit and the myths we perpetuate to spark some kind of collective epiphany.

Current and upcoming works include: NZINGA, co-written with Marie Louise Bibish Mumbu in collaboration with Tatiana Zinga Botao, premiering this November at Montreal’s acclaimed Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui; Mars: Signs of Life, an installation-opera about the “colonization” of Mars with composer Tim Brady; the translation of Tout inclus (All-inclusive) François Grisé’s probing and poetic documentary-theatre investigation into ageing; a large-scale installation-performance with Finnish contemporary-circus artist Marjukka Erälinna; and a couple of musicals.

Alexis has translated award-winning plays by Audrey-Anne Bouchard and Marc-André Lapointe, Pascal Brullemans, Alexia Bürger, Marie-Hélène Larose-Truchon, Érika Tremblay-Roy and Marie-Claude Verdier for companies such as Geordie Theatre, Le Petit Théâtre de Sherbrooke, DynamO Theatre, Talisman Theatre, Theatre Direct, Théâtre Incliné, Bouche Theatre Collective and Playwrights Canada Press. Alexis was a finalist for the 2020 Governor General’s Award for her translation of Pascal Brullemans’ plays for young audiences, Amaryllis and Little Witch (Playwrights Canada Press). Many of her works can be found at the Canadian Play Outlet.

Tentative Schedule

October 29th
Application deadline

November 9th
Communication of results

November – March
12 hours of translation mentorship and meetings with playwrights.

Before March 29th
2 workshops of translated excerpts and final meeting with other participant.

This mentorship is made possible by:

February 11, 2022March 25, 2022

2022 Glassco Translation Residency

Image of the outside of the cabin where the Glassco Translation Residency is held.

The Glassco Translation Residency is a Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal Residency, in partnership with the Cole Foundation, and the support of the friends and family of Bill Glassco.

After making the difficult decision to cancel the Glassco Translation Residency in Tadoussac for our 2020 and 2021 seasons, PWM is excited to launch the call for the 2022 The Glassco Translation Residency!

Applications for this residency are now closed.

HOW TO APPLY

Please send us the following to residency@playwrights.ca:

A description (PDF, video or audio) of the project which includes:
- The name of the translator and playwright;
- An indication of how the Residency will benefit the project including how being in physical proximity to the playwright might move the translation forward;
- Any details on production interest;
- A description of where you are in the translation process;
- And whether you are interested in dramaturgical conversations around translations, including with other artists at the residency;
Biographies of both the playwright and translator;
A copy of the play in its original language.

Residency dates: June 5th-15th, 2022

Submission deadline: March 11th, 2022

Please email submissions (PDF format, 1 file only) to residency@playwrights.ca with the subject line: 2022 Glassco Translation Residency application.

If you have any questions, or need assistance with this application, please contact Heather Eaton at heather@playwrights.ca.

Find more info about the Glassco Translation Residency here.

ABOUT THE GLASSCO TRANSLATION RESIDENCY

The Glassco Translation Residency invites playwrights and translators from across Canada and beyond to come together for ten days in Tadoussac, Quebec, to work in-depth on their translation projects.

The chosen participants are provided with a unique opportunity to focus on their projects and to share expertise in a retreat environment. Translations into all languages are welcomed. Over the past 16 years we have offered space, time, and dramaturgical expertise to over 63 translation projects into languages such as Cantonese, Catalan, Cree, English, French, Innu-aimun, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Tamil, Tagalog and Urdu.

We’re pleased to welcome award-winning translator Maryse Warda, who will serve as translation dramaturg and residency co-host with Briony Glassco.

We are now accepting submissions of plays that are slated for translation. Please note that we do not fund the commission of the translation. The play should ideally have had a production in its original language. At least one component of the project needs to be Canadian.

One of the selection criteria for translation projects will be the availability of both the playwright and the translator to attend the residency together.

A vaccination passport will be required. Please let us know if you have a medical exemption and PWM will accommodate.

An honorarium of $800 is offered to each participant. In addition, all costs for travel, meals and accommodation are covered.

PWM welcomes all applications to our programs. While recognizing that the identity of each person is fundamentally plural, multidimensional, changing and evolving, we strongly encourage applications from artists who are: Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit), Black, POC, racialized (including recent immigrants), 2SLGBTQQIPAA+, neurodivergent, disabled, living with chronic illness and/or chronic pain. PWM is strongly committed to supporting a wide range of cultural identities and lived experiences, therefore we encourage applicants to self-identify in their application if they are comfortable doing so.

ACCESSIBILITY DETAILS

The house: The residency is in Tadoussac, Québec in an 18th century log home. There are 8 steps down to the entrance of the house. Each guest will have their own room with a writing area and there are multiple locations to write throughout the home. The bathrooms are shared. The bathrooms are not wheelchair accessible. For detailed information or to ask specific questions about the bathrooms, accommodations, or workspaces please email accessibility@playwrights.ca.

Travel: In order to arrive in Tadoussac, transportation is provided typically by train or airplane to Quebec City. From Quebec City, a three-hour taxi ride or a bus ride via Orleans Express (that crosses a ferry at one point) brings the participants to the house in Tadoussac.

Meals: PWM hires a chef to make dinner each evening. Lunch and breakfast are on a self-serve basis. PWM asks all participants their food needs ahead of time so that we can accommodate them. The meals are communal and social distancing is not possible.

Internet: Internet access is inconsistent inside the house but PWM is working on upgrading it for the 2022 residency.

The Glassco Translation Residency in Tadoussac is made possible through our partnership with the Cole Foundation’s Intercultural Conversations Program, the dedication of Residency Producer Briony Glassco, and the support of the friends and family in memory of the great Canadian theatre artist, Bill Glassco. We are also grateful to Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Conseil des arts de Montréal for their ongoing support.

Supporters: The Cole Foundation, Friends and Family of Bill Glassco, The Canada Council for the Arts, Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec

October 7, 2020October 8, 2020

INTRODUCTION TO THEATRE TRANSLATION 2020

A one-on-one mentorship opportunity

For years Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal (PWM) and the Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD) have worked to forge links between French and English language theatre communities and foster the art of theatre translation. To this end, the two organizations have once again partnered together to offer two individualized mentorships meant to familiarize playwrights to the craft of theatre translation. The mentorship described below is focused on French to English theatre translation. Details on the English to French translation component of this mentorship can be found on the CEAD’s website.

How the mentorship works:

PWM will select 1 participant with an interest in French to English theatre translation;
Over a period of several months, the participant will translate excerpts (roughly 10-12 pages) of two contemporary Québécois plays selected by the CEAD;
Over several weeks, the participant will receive a total of 12 hours of dramaturgical support from acclaimed playwright and theatre translator Alexis Diamond;
The participant will have the opportunity to discuss their translations with the original playwrights;
The mentorship will culminate in two 4-hour workshops during which professional actors will read and discuss the newly-translated excerpts;
The participant will then have the chance to meet with the second participant as well as both mentors to present their work and discuss their experiences;
After the workshops, the participant will submit their final drafts of the translated excerpts to the CEAD.

Who can apply?

Montreal-based playwrights with a strong interest in French-to-English theatre translation;
The candidate must have excellent writing skills in English and have fluent comprehension of Québecois French;
Playwrights with little to no experience in theatre translation are encouraged to apply;
Applicants must have a minimum of two professionally produced pieces or Fringe productions.

Application Guidelines

Send your application, documents, as well as any questions you may have to Harris Frost at harris@playwrights.ca.

The deadline to apply is Monday, October 26th at noon.

Please include the following attachments (preferably as PDFs) in your application email:

Your artistic CV and/or bio;
A brief cover letter outlining your interest in this mentorship and in French-to-English theatre translation more generally.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

October 26th
Application deadline.

November 4th
Participant selected and provided with excerpts.

November – March
Several meetings with translation mentor, translation of excerpts and meetings with playwrights.

Before March 6th
2x 4-hour workshops of translated excerpts and final meeting with other participant.

Biography of Alexis Diamond

Alexis Diamond is a Montreal-based playwright, opera librettist, translator and theatre curator. Her award-winning plays, operas and translations for audiences of all ages have been presented across Canada, in the U.S. and in Europe. She also collaborates with several international artists on performance-installations involving text, movement and sound. In 2019, Alexis Diamond served as co-artistic director of the Jamais Lu festival, where she also presented a bilingual play, Faux-amis, with co-author Hubert Lemire, with support from the CALQ. In 2018, Alexis joined a multiyear project led by professor Erin Hurley (McGill University) on the history of Quebec’s English-language theatre.

This mentorship is made possible by:

September 21, 2020October 8, 2020

2020 COLE FOUNDATION MENTORSHIP FOR EMERGING TRANSLATORS

Deadline extended to October 18!

The translation of new work for the stage is a core part of Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal’s (PWM) programming. Since its inception in 2013, the Cole Foundation Mentorship for Emerging Translators (formerly Cole Competition for Emerging Translators) has been guiding the next generation of translators from French into English.

With the expert guidance of acclaimed translator Maureen Labonté and in partnership with the Cole Foundation, PWM has built a program that mentors emerging translators through every stage of the process. The successful applicant to this year’s mentorship program will receive a $1,000 honorarium and an eight-month mentorship with Maureen Labonté which includes a workshop with actors and a public reading.

WHO CAN APPLY?

To be eligible, emerging translators must have completed at least one translation which has received a public reading, publication or production. Because the focus is on developing translators, the applicant must not have done more than three translations.

WITH WHAT PLAY(S)?

Before applying for the Mentorship, emerging translators must choose the play they wish to translate and contact the playwright for permission: Establishing a connection to the play and the playwright in advance means that the applicant is already invested in the proposed work and would be in a position to begin work immediately following the announcement of the selected project.

Translations must be from French into English only.

Full-length scripts, one acts or theatre for young people are all welcome. Please note, our expertise does not extend to the translation of musicals.

SUPPORT PROVIDED

The recipient of the program will receive $1000 honorarium, dramaturgical support from renowned translator, Maureen Labonté, and a translation workshop with actors.

APPLICATION PROCESS

To apply, please send us:

A one-page letter of intent describing the project, its challenges and your reasons for wanting to translate the work;
Your biography (maximum 250 words);
A copy of your chosen play;
Written permission from the original playwright of the play;
A 3 to 5 page sample of your previous translation work, please include the corresponding original text.

Send all the documents in one email to emma@playwrights.ca with the subject line “2020 Cole Foundation Mentorship for Emerging Translators – Application”.

The deadline to submit applications is October 18, 2020 at 11:59PM. All applicants will be notified of the results.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

If you have any questions about the eligibility of your application or your project, do not hesitate to contact us. Please address questions to Emma Tibaldo, Executive and Artistic Director of Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal, at emma@playwrights.ca.

In partnership with

January 27, 2020June 25, 2020

2020 Glassco Translation Residency

THE 2020 GLASSCO TRANSLATION RESIDENCY is a Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal Residency, in partnership with the Cole Foundation, and the support of the friends and family of Bill Glassco.

COVID-19 UPDATE – June 16, 2020
After fourteen years of programming, we have made the difficult decision to suspend the residency for the 2020 season.

Following close analysis of the situation in Tadoussac, in Quebec, and across Canada, we know that this is the responsible path forward. We were unable to conceive of an in-person residency while respecting public health criteria for gathering in a home.

We felt it important to maintain the integrity of the Residency, centred on bringing playwrights and translators together in one place to deepen the practice of translation for the stage. We are looking forward to welcoming translators and creators back to Fletcher Cottage in June 2021.

In lieu of this year’s residency, we are beginning to plan a virtual retrospection of the Glassco Translation Residency, one that will welcome learning from past participants. We will be releasing more details in the coming months.

COVID-19 UPDATE – March 26, 2020
The level of uncertainty around the Coronavirus and travel restrictions, make it difficult for us to continue the selection process. We have therefore decided that the most responsible course of action is to delay selection until more reliable data is available.
We will be in touch late April with all updates.

The Glassco Translation Residency invites playwrights and translators from across Canada and beyond to come together for ten days in Tadoussac, Quebec, to work in-depth on their translation projects.

The chosen participants are provided with a unique opportunity to focus on their projects and to share expertise in a retreat environment. Translations into all languages are welcomed. Over the past 15 years we have offered space, time, and dramaturgical expertise to over 63 translation projects into languages such as Cantonese, Catalan, Cree, English, French, Innu-aimun, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Tamil, Tagalog and Urdu.

This season we welcome award-winning translator Maryse Warda, who will serve as residency host and translation dramaturg.

We are now accepting submissions of plays that are slated for translation. Please note that we do not fund the translation. The play should ideally have had a production in its original language. At least one component of the project needs to be Canadian. We strongly encourage Indigenous artists to apply.

To apply, please send us:

A description of the project which includes the name of the translator and playwright, an indication of how the Residency will benefit the project, and any details on production interest;
Biographies of both the playwright and translator;
A copy of the play in its original language.

One of the selection criteria for translation projects will be the availability of both the playwright and the translator to attend the residency together.

An honorarium of $750 is offered to each participant. In addition, all costs for travel, meals and accommodation are covered.

Submission deadline: March 2nd, 2020

Please email submissions (PDF format, 1 file only) to residency@playwrights.ca with the subject line: 2020 Glassco Translation Residency application.

Questions or queries? Please contact Emma Tibaldo at emma@playwrights.ca.

Find more info about the Glassco Translation Residency here.

Accessibility details:

The residency is in Tadoussac, Québec in an 18th century log home. There are 8 steps down to the entrance of the house. The bathrooms are not wheelchair accessible.