About the Play:

In the programme notes for the Vancouver Playhouse's production of The Coronation Voyage (English-language version of Le Voyage du Couronnement), Michel Marc Bouchard writes:

"I wrote this play during a transatlantic crossing in 1990. I met these characters while dozing on a beach in Normandy. In the middle of the Atlantic, our country's quarrels seemed ever so small to me, but the means of solving them, so complex. The Coronation Voyage is my Canadian play."

It's May 1953 and the Empress of France sets sail from Montréal.

On the pretext of attending the celebrations marking the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, an important mafioso leaves for England where he secretly plans to live in exile with his two sons.

Aboard this floating palace in the middle of the ocean, the petty lord of the Montréal underworld must face the most important decision of his dubious career — will he sacrifice his youngest son for a safe-conduct?

Le Voyage du couronnement / The Coronation Voyage, co-produced by Theatre du Nouveau Monde in Montréal and Théatre du Trident in Québec City, was nominated in the Best New Play category at the 1996 'Soirée des Masques' presented by the Académie québécoise du théatre.

Cast: 4 female, 8 male

What people say:

"Bouchard's script is aloft with poetic dialogue and ripe, provocative ideas that strike at the soul of nationalism, art and love." — The Ottawa Sun

"A play worthy of the finest bottle of champagne smashed against a ship's bow… It's not only Canadian, it's superb." — Vancouver Courier

"The Coronation Voyage is an epic theatrical journey… the script is so thrillingly ambitious that the trip is well worth taking." — The Georgia Straight (Vancouver)

"This is an ambitious undertaking… that tackles the themes of sacrifice and forgiveness, the interpretation of history, the lost (i.e. sacrificed) generation, innocence, family and love." — La Presse (Montréal)

About the Playwright:

Michel Marc Bouchard is one of Québec's most prominent playwrights. Three of his plays have also been adapted for cinema. He has received numerous grants and awards including "Le Prix du Journal de Montréal", "Le Prix des critiques de l'Outaouais", the Dora Mavor Moore Award, the Chalmers Award for Outstanding New Play, and nine Jessie Richardson Awards.