About the Plays:

War Cantata / Child Object is a set of two plays in one book by Larry Tremblay.

The first play, War Cantata (English-language version of Cantate de guerre) is a full-length drama by Larry Tremblay translated by Keith Turnbull. How far will humanity go in its quest for power? Why do we desire to eliminate each other through war? War Cantata revolves around the nature of war and more specifically around how the impulse to violence is transmitted one generation to the next. A father teaches his son hate to transform him into a soldier impervious to pity. Without focussing on a particular war or soldier this harsh, intense, choral text exposes war’s spiral of hatred. It builds the rhythmic power of words to give characters their weight in flesh and blood.

Cantate de guerre premiered in 2011 at Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui in Montréal. In 2012, SACD (Société des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques), in partnership France Culture, awarded it the Prix SADC for best world play written in French, and CEAD (Centre des auteurs dramatiques) awarded War Cantata the Prix Michel-Tremblay for the best play written in Quebec in 2012.

Cast: 2 male and a chorus

Child Object (English-language version of L'enfant matière) is a full-length drama by Larry Tremblay translated by Chantal Bilodeau. With child as a blank page, a man sets about constructing his ideal companion manipulating personality, gender, and body. The child becomes the ultimate consumer good.

L'enfant matière premiered in 2012 at Théâtre Carte Blanche in Québec City. The English-language premiere of Child Object was in 2014 at Vancouver East Cultural Centre (affectionately known as "The Cultch").

Cast: 1 female, 2 male

What people say:

"A great theatrical text that speaks to the mechanics of hatred: hard, visceral, and uncompromising." — LeQuatrième.com

"With a vocabulary that does not fear ugliness and vulgarity, Larry Tremblay... digs into pain while providing relevant reflection [and] traces the contours between commitment and poetry... [between] the weight of savagery and the hardness of a crippled civilization." — Montheatre.qc.ca

About the Playwright:

Larry Tremblay is a Quebec writer, director, actor and specialist in Kathakali, an elaborate dance theatre form which he has studied on numerous trips to India. He has published twenty books as a playwright, poet, novelist and essayist, and he is one of Quebec's most-produced and translated playwrights (his plays have been translated into twelve languages). In 2006 he was awarded the Canada Council Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award for his contribution to the theatre. He was a finalist in 2008 and 2011 for the Siminovitch Prize. One of Quebec's most versatile writers, Tremblay currently teaches acting at l'École supérieure de théâtre de l'Université du Québec à Montréal.

About the Translators:

Keith Turnbull has directed over seventy play at various theatres throughout the world. Turnbull also founded a First Nations theatre company from which emerged many of Canada's most noted Native performers.

Chantal Bilodeau is a New York-based playwright and translator originally from Montreal.