DES VOIX … FOUND IN TRANSLATION Biennial 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: David Hyry (415) 864-3547 daldenh@aol.com
AN INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL EXCHANGE INITIATIVE
PLAYWRIGHTS FOUNDATION, TIDES THEATRE & CUTTING BALL THEATER PRESENT
DES VOIX... FOUND IN TRANSLATION Biennial 2014
A Festival of New French Plays and Cinema
In San Francisco May 1-25, 2014
NEW TRANSLATIONS OF PROVOCATIVE PLAYS BY CHRISTOPHE HONORÉ,
LEONORE CONFINO, RIAD GAHMI AND SAMUEL GALLET May 8-11, 2014
New French Cinema May 4, 11, 18 & 25 2014
A Rare US “Bal Littéraire” On Friday, May 9, 7 PM
With Nathalie Fillion member of La Coopérative d'Ecriture
In Partnership with The Consul General Of France In San Francisco
and Maison Antoine Vitez, Paris, France
American Playwrights’ Work Presented In Paris May 25, 2014
SAN FRANCISCO, CA U.S.A. – Playwrights Foundation (PF) Cutting Ball Theater and Tides
Theatre announced the Des Voix…Found In Translation Biennial 2014, a Festival of New
French Plays and Cinema in San Francisco May 1-25, 2014. Des Voix…Found In Translation is
an international exchange project that initiates the translation of vanguard French and
American playwrights, supporting the presentation of their work to audiences on both sides
of the Atlantic. Des Voix…Found In Translation features new play readings-May 8-11 at Tides
Theatre and also includes: A Festival of New French Cinema May 4, 11, 18 & 25 featuring some of
the most dynamic French screenwriters in this generation, concurrently at Tides Theatre; A rare “Bal
Littéraire” A New Play Nightclub on Friday May 9 at 7 PM , Hosted with Nathalie Fillion of La
Coopérative d'Ecriture (Cooperative Writing) at The French American International School. Go to
www.desvioxfestival.com for the full schedule.
This San Francisco festival features new translations of provocative plays by four of the most
innovative playwrights working in France today - Christophe Honoré, Leonore Confino and
Riad Gahmi will be showcased with new play readings-May 8-11 at Tides Theatre. Samuel
Gallet’s play COMMUNIQUÉ N°10 translated by Rob Melrose in the 2012 Des Voix Festival is
receiving its American Premiere (May 1-25) as part of Cutting Ball Theater’s 15th Anniversary season
for this Des Voix… festival. The four plays will be performed in English during the month-long Festival
at Tides Theatre with COMMUNIQUÉ N°10 at Cutting Ball in San Francisco.
The fabled "auteur" Christophe Honoré, (an heir apparent of the French New Wave) Christophe
Honoré's first play, 'Les Débutantes,' was performed at Avignon in 1998. Christophe, a
filmmaker and screenwriter, has had many outings at Cannes, closing the fest in 2011 with
'The Beloved,' featuring both Catherine Deneuve and daughter Chiara Mastroianni. He
returned to Avignon with his play 'Dionysos Impuissant' (in 2005), with Joana Preiss and
Louis Garrel playing the leads. .
Leonore Confino is known for her recently completed trilogy of plays about lifes obsessions,
Her play 'Building,' was one of the highlights of the last Festival Off d’Avign. The second play
'Ring' is 17 rounds of boxing between couples, in which the actors play ten characters dealing
with life as a couple. This past January, the third part of Léonore’s trilogy 'Les Uns sur Les
Autres,' a play about a French suburban family, played at the Théâtre de la Madeleine in
Paris, starring Agnès Jaoui as the exhausted mother.
Riad Gahmi is a passionate raconteur, who in a long-term collaboration with Philippe Vincent,
co-writer of the spectacle/play 'Un arabe dans mon miroir' (An Arab in My Mirror), which is a
spectacle of scenes combining theater, film, and music. The play was workshopped in Cairo
and performed at various theaters in Germany, France, and New York In each country a local
actor and cast speaks in her native language, rebuilding every time, becoming a simple
witness of the war in Algeria in the Egyptian revolution through the September 11 attacks.
Samuel Gallet is an emerging writer who has made his mark as one of the most prominent
young playwrights of his generation, with plays staged by top Parisian directors. His play
'Encore Un Jour Sans' was a finalist for the Grand Prix de Littérature Dramatique. Inspired by
the 2005 Paris riots, his play 'Communique N°10,' was translated by Rob Melrose for the
inaugural 2012 Des Voix Festival.
Playwrights Foundation’s Artistic Director Amy Mueller comments on the collaboration: “It
takes a village to build a bridge across cultures, and we are thrilled to be working with two of
San Francisco’s most globally minded Artistic Directors – Rob Melrose of Cutting Ball Theater
and Jenifer Welch of Tides Theatre – and one of the foremost translators in the world, Laurent
Muhleisen, to build this project that connects the Left Bank with the Left Coast.” Collaborator
Rob Melrose, an acclaimed translator and director observes that “These four works are simply
extraordinary plays, theatrically brilliant and singular in the ways each story tackles the
culture-quake of the 21st century – using a quintessentially French lens to express the
universality of the current cultural zeitgeist in the West.”
The Plays
The Festival will feature Cutting Ball Theater’s American Premiere of Samuel Gallet’s
'Communique No. 10.' Exploring the tensions of the underclass in a city that is bursting at
the seams, 'Communique N°10' was inspired by the 2005 Paris riots led by North African
youth. Performances begin April 25 (Press Opening May 1), and the production will run
through May 25. At the heart of the Festival in mid-May will be the Des Voix Festival itself,
a non-stop weekend showcasing three brand new translations: Leonore Confino’s newest
work 'Les Uns Sur Les Autres,' a fast talking, fast sleeping, fast eating, non-sensical family
satire driven by an over abundance of electronic devices – the world of a proper family
connected to everything but itself; Christophe Honoré’s 'Un Jeune Se Tue,' a disturbing and
tragic nocturnal ghost story about love, death, and unearthly beings. Riad Gahmi’s darkly
comedic work 'Où Et Quand Nous Sommes Morts,' which satirically confronts European
xenophobia, anti-Arab racism and media’s sensationalist conjuring of empathy, which results
in social division rather than social unity.
Film
A series of new French cinema will run concurrently every Sunday evening (May 4, 11, 18. 25)
at Tides Theatre . Featured films are ; (Partial List) Antonin Pertjallo, La Fille du 14 Juillet (The
girl of the 14 July);and Mila Hanson , la Pere des Mes Enfants, Love (father of my children)*.
Jennifer Welch of Tides, who curates the films remarks, “Expanding the scope of the Des Voix
Festival, and deepening the cultural exchange. We are curating a series of contemporary French
films that speak to American audiences, bring these voices to a community eager for new and
provocative foreign cinema.” At Tides Theatre, (*programing subject to change)
Bal Littéraire
The festival features a rare Bal Littéraire (A New Play Nightclub) on Friday, May 9th at 7
PM. This tradition is wildly popular throughout France, typically created in 48 hours by
multiple writers, and performed for one evening only, is a unique hybrid of flash performance,
club dancing and play reading – and includes audience participation. The Bal will will tap the
talents of six writers – three French and three American – in collaboration. Hosted with
Nathalie Fillion member of La Coopérative d'Ecriture, the originators of “Bal Littéraire” in
France.
Festival events are scheduled throughout the month of May at three venues between
Union Square and the vibrant Market Street corridor, the hub of the city’s artistic and
cultural action.
Go to www.desvioxfestival.com for the full schedule.
The goal of the translation project is to exchange ideas and perspectives of today’s world,
and to increase and deepen cultural exchanges between France and the U.S. that began began
with Des Voix…Found In Translation 2012. This project is a collaboration between Playwrights
Foundation, a legendary (for over 3 decades) new play development center in San Francisco, Cutting
Ball Theater, named SF’s “Best Experimental Theater Company” , and The Tides Theatre, an
innovative new theater making its mark in SF Culture, and the Maison Antoine Vitez], an International
Centre for Drama Translation in Paris.
The French playwrights will be in residence in San Francisco for the duration of the festival in
May, and will participate in the rehearsal and performance process of their newly translated
plays. Translators include Kimberley Jannarone and Erik Butler (Un Jeune Se Tue), Michelle
Haner (Les Uns Sure Les Autres), and Rob Melrose ('Communique N10' & Où Et Quand
Nous Sommes Morts), who also directs his translations. Each of the three new plays will be
performed as staged readings during the festival by many of the Bay Area’s finest actors and
directors. For the erudite scholarly theater-goer, the festival will also include a colloquium
entitled “The Left Bank Meets The Left Coast: Transmigration of Theater and Culture”
The Paris festival is being produced by the Maison Antoine Vitez, and will be presented
May 25, 2014 at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, founded by Peter Brook, and known
worldwide as the place to see groundbreaking work. The Paris festival will feature translations
of exceptionally gifted, early career American playwrights Rajiv Joseph, 'Bengal Tiger At The
Baghdad Zoo,' Marcus Gardley, 'Every Tongue Confess' (as a radio play) and Liz Duffy
Adams, 'The Reckless Ruthless Brutal Charge Of It or The Train Play' all performed in French.
Commissioned to translate these three works are Dominique Hollier (Gardley), Laurent
Muhleisen (Joseph) and Isabelle Famchon (Adams).
The producers are working closely with the Cultural Services of the French Consul General in
San Francisco on the presentation of the American festival.
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CALENDAR EDITORS PLEASE NOTE
Playwrights Foundation and The Tides Theatre Present
DES VOIX... FOUND IN TRANSLATION Biennial 2014
A Festival of Contemporary French Playwrights and Cinema
The Left Bank Meets the Left Coast
In San Francisco May 1-25, 2014
In partnership with The Cutting Ball Theater, the French International School
and the French Consulate of San Francisco
Des Voix…Found In Translation features new translations of provocative plays by four of the
most innovative playwrights working in France today - Christophe Honoré, Leonore Confino
and Riad Gahmi will be showcased with new play readings-May 8-11 at Tides Theatre.
Des Voix…Found In Translation features new play readings-May 8-11 at Tides Theatre and also
includes: A Festival of New French Cinema May 4, 11, 18 & 25 featuring some of the most dynamic
French screenwriters in this generation, concurrently at Tides Theatre; A rare “Bal Littéraire” A New
Play Nightclub on Friday May 9 at 7 PM , Hosted with Nathalie Fillion of La Coopérative d'Ecriture
(Cooperative Writing) at The French American International School.
Go to www.desvioxfestival.com for the full schedule.
Featuring:
(Each play in a new translation will be presented as a staged reading twice over the Festival Weekend, the full
production of Gallet’s play will be presented four times during the festival weekend.)
The Plays May 8-11, 2014 at The Tides Theatre
Un Jeune Se Tu by Christophe Honoré, Translated by Erik Butler and Kimberly Jannarone
Les Uns Sur Les Autres by Lénore Confino, Translated by Michelle Haner
Où et Quand Nous Sommes Morts by Riad Gahmi, Translated by Rob Melrose
at
The Tides Theatre, 533 Sutter Street, 2nd Floor @ Powell St., San Francisco 94102
and
Communique No. 10 May 1-25 EXIT on Taylor Street, 277 Taylor St., San Francisco, CA 94102
Samuel Gallet’s play COMMUNIQUÉ N°10 in its U.S. premiere, translated by Rob Melrose in the
2012 Des Voix Festival is receiving its American Premiere (May 1-25) as part of Cutting Ball
Theater’s 15th Anniversary season for this Des Voix… festival.
Bal Litteraire Friday, May 9th at 7 PM. The French American International School
150 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
A rare Bal Littéraire (A New Play Nightclub) Wildly popular throughout France, typically
created in 48 hours by multiple writers, and performed for one evening only, is a unique
hybrid of flash performance, club dancing and play reading – and includes audience
participation. The Bal will will tap the talents of six writers – three French and three American
– in collaboration. Hosted with Nathalie Fillion member of La Coopérative d'Ecriture, the
originators of “Bal Littéraire” in France.
Film May 4, 11, 18. 25 at Tides Theatre
A series of new French cinema will run concurrently every Sunday evening (May 4, 11, 18. 25)
at Tides Theatre . Featured films are ; (Partial List) Antonin Pertjallo, La Fille du 14 Juillet (The
girl of the 14 July);and Mila Hanson , la Pere des Mes Enfants, Love (father of my children)*.
(*programing subject to change)
Go to www.desvioxfestival.com for the full schedule.
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