Ottawa -- The constant search for authenticity underlying all theatre survives through the exchange of knowledge and experience between theatre artists. Such exchanges are often fragmentary, taking place in random encounters or during the play development process. However, they can also be encouraged by designing activities specifically for the purpose. That’s why, each year, the National Arts Centre (NAC) French Theatre offers the Laboratoire du Théâtre français, a workshop on the “master class” model where an internationally-recognized theatre artist is invited to share his or her knowledge and practice with professional colleagues from our community.

Our first guest, in spring 2002, was translator André Markowicz, who with Denis Marleau co-hosted a session on adapting the works of Dostoyevsky into French. The 2003 workshop featured American-born French director Stuart Seide, whose practice emphasizes the physical and vocal foundations of performance, in an exploration of the work of the Roman playwright Seneca.

The 2004 Laboratoire will be directed by playwright and director Wajdi Mouawad, a unique, powerful and original voice in contemporary Quebec theatre, whose vigorous and pertinent discourse and strikingly original artistic vision are evident both in his plays and in his staging. His subject for this third session of the Laboratoires du Théâtre français is The Archictecture and Geometry of Narrative.

Note: The workshop will be conducted in French.

Wajdi Mouawad describes the project

Time and fiction. There is a certain reticence these days to tell stories, a tendency to position the story as a trap for intelligence, so that the latter can only be expressed through formalism pushed to the limit. History tells us that the story has often been the cradle of dictators – as such it must be rejected, banished. What, then, are our stories today – or, to put it another way, what stories can we trust to provide a gathering place for our individual and collective souls? How does one tell a story? What role do time and space play in a story, in this age where concepts of time, place and action bear no relation to the sense of disconnectedness –dissipation, even – that informs our era, mutilating happiness, God, desire…?

A voice that speaks for memory In the past dozen years, Wajdi Mouawad has established himself as a powerful and uniquely original player on the contemporary theatre scene. Born in Lebanon in 1968, he fled the war-torn country with his family; they settled in Montreal after spending a few years in Paris. He obtained his acting diploma in 1991 from the National Theatre School, where he also studied stage writing and directing. After graduating he embarked on a quadruple career as an actor, writer, director and producer, occasionally filling all four roles in one production, as in Willy Protagoras enfermé dans les toilettes, which won the 1998 Masque (award) for Best Production (Montreal) presented by the Association québécoise des critiques de théâtre.

On February 12, 13, 14, 20 and 21, the NAC French Theatre presents Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters, directed by Wajdi Mouawad.

Hailed at the Festival de Limoges and throughout a recent European tour, this production also received the 2003 Masque (award) for Best Quebec Production, the Masque for Best Set Design, and the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Quebec Production presented by the Association québécoise des critiques de théâtre.

Note: Wajdi Mouawad will replace actor Steve Laplante, who was originally cast as Tousenbach, for the duration of the run.

Tickets available through Ticketmaster, (613) 755-1111, or in person at the NAC Box Office (53 Elgin Street, Ottawa)