November 18th to December 4th, 2010
Monument-National

Written by Pierre-Michel Tremblay
Translation by Paula Wing
Directed by Micheline Chevrier

Back from Kandahar, a young soldier is suffering from severe post-traumatic shock disorder, and is wrestling with survivor guilt. He seeks help from a psychiatrist, who attempts to ease his pain, while dealing with her own suffering: compassion fatigue syndrome. She seeks solace in her clarinet and signs up for klezmer music lessons. Her young, naive music teacher happens to be a pacifist working for a collective named War against War: he too is looking for peace in his own heart. A burned out action film director dreams of making another Apocalypse Now and looks for inspiration in our young soldier’s story. Au champ de Mars is a satirical comedy about personal battles and survival, connection and reality, and about the search for meaning in a confused and confusing world.

For the past decade the ‘war against terror’ has occupied our thoughts, besieged our media and invaded dinner conversations around the world. To shed light on the matter, Imago Theatre has joined forces with the creative duo that brought us the critically acclaimed Coma Unplugged, to produce the English world premiere of Au Champs de Mars.

Penned by celebrated Québécois comedic writer Pierre-Michel Tremblay, the play invites us to reflect upon the solemn theme of war with humour, intelligence and humanity. Originally produced in French by Théâtre de la Manufacture, the text will be translated by award-wining playwright Paula Wing through the support of a translation grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.

“Our present society is indeed a training ground for battle – a champ de mars - where personal ideas, convictions and needs collide, where conflict rules our behaviour and relationships.” Long fascinated by the impact of war, acclaimed director Micheline Chevrier feels the play “allows for a deeper reflection on humanity’s great paradox: our propensity for conflict and our need for peace”.