Wajdi Mouawad

Wajdi Mouawad, OC, (born 1968) is a Lebanese-Canadian writer, actor, and director. He is known in Canadian and French theatre for politically engaged works such as the acclaimed[1] play Incendies (2003). His works often revolve around family trauma, war, the betrayal of youth. Since April 2016, Mouawad has been the director of the Théâtre national de la Colline in Paris.[2]

Wajdi Mouawad
Wajdi Mouawad, drawing
Wajdi Mouawad, drawing
Born (1968-10-16) 16 October 1968
Deir al-Qamar, Lebanon
OccupationActor, playwright, writer, director, screenwriter, guitarist, drummer, director
NationalityLebanese
Notable awardsKnight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Officer of the Order of Canada Governor General's Literary Award (2000) Grand Prize for Theater (French Academy) (2009)

Knight of the National Order of Quebec (2010)
Website
www.wajdimouawad.fr

Early life and education

Born in Lebanon, Mouawad's family left the country when he was eight due to the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War. He moved to Montreal in 1983 after living in France for five years. He obtained his diploma in interprétation (acting) from the National Theatre School of Canada in 1991.[3]

Career

In 1998, his creation Willy Protagoras enfermé dans les toilettes (Willy Protagoras locked up in the toilets) was voted best Montreal-based production by l'Association québécoise des critiques de théâtre.

From 2000 to 2004, he led the Théâtre de Quat'sous in Montreal.[4]

In 2004 he directed and produced his first film, Littoral, based on the play of the same name.[5]

In September 2007, he became the artistic director of the National Arts Centre's French Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.[6][7]

In early 2011, Mouawad cast French rock musician Bertrand Cantat in Chœurs, his production of a trilogy of Greek plays by Sophocles. This sparked widespread public criticism in Canada, as Cantat had recently been released after serving four years for the murder of his girlfriend, French actress Marie Trintignant. Canadian politicians suggested barring Cantat's entry into the country, as he failed to meet legal requirements for the entry of ex convicts. In April 2011 the artistic director of Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, Lorraine Pintal, announced that Cantat would not be performing in Chœurs in Canada, though he did tour with the production in France, Belgium and Switzerland.[8] Mouawad responded to the controversy by publishing an open letter to his three-year-old daughter Aimee in the newspaper Le Devoir, arguing for Cantat's right to complete reintegration into society.[9]

Since April 2016, Mouawad has been the director of the Théâtre national de la Colline in Paris.[2]

Work

His play Incendies (Scorched) has been produced all over the world, including the United States, Brazil, Austria, Germany, Mexico, Spain and Australia, and the 2007 production at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto won several awards. The Vienna Burgtheater assigned Stefan Bachmann with the stage production. It subsequently received much praise from critics, winning the "Nestroy Award" in 2007. In 2011 Incendies, the film version of the play directed by Denis Villeneuve was Canada's official selection for the Academy Awards.

Playwright
Published
  • 1996: Alphonse (Leméac)
  • 1999: Les mains d'Edwige au moment de la naissance (Leméac)
  • 1999, 2009: Littoral (coedition Leméac/Actes Sud-Papiers)
  • 2000: Pacamambo (Actes Sud-Papiers Junior)
  • 2002: Rêves (coedition Leméac/Actes Sud-Papiers)
  • 2003: Incendies; English translation: Scorched (2009)
  • 2004: Willy Protagoras enfermé dans les toilettes (Leméac)
  • 2006: Forêts; English translation: Forests (2010)
  • 2007: Assoiffés (coédition Leméac/Actes Sud-Papiers)
  • 2008: Le soleil ni la mort ne peuvent se regarder en face (coedition Leméac/Actes Sud)
  • 2008: Seuls – Chemin, texte et peintures (Actes Sud – Leméac)
  • 2009: Ciels; English translation: Heavens (2014)
  • 2011: Journée de noces chez les Cromagnons (coedition Leméac/Actes Sud-Papiers)
  • 2015: Sœurs
  • 2017: Victoires
  • 2018: L'œil
  • 2018: Tous des oiseaux; English translation: Birds of a kind (2019)
  • 2019: Alphonse ou Les aventures extraordinaires de Pierre-Paul-René, un enfant doux, monocorde et qui ne s'étonne jamais de rien
Not published
  • 1992: Partie de cache-cache entre 2 tchécoslovaques au début du siècle

Radio works
  • Loin des chaises
  • Wilfrid
  • William M.
  • Le chevalier
  • Dans la cathédrale
  • Les trains hurlent quand on tue
  • Les étrangers du bord du monde

Novels
  • 2002: Visage retrouvé (coedition Leméac/Actes Sud)
  • 2007: Un obus dans le cœur (Actes Sud Junior – Léméac)
  • 2012: Anima

Films

Theatre Directing

(authors in parentheses, unless authored by Wajdi Moawad)

  • 1992: Al Malja et L'Exil (Naji Mouawad)
  • 1992: Macbeth (Shakespeare)
  • 1994: Le tour du monde of Joe Maquillon (Gislain Bouchard)
  • 1995: Tu ne violeras pas (Edna Mazia)
  • 1995: Don Quichotte (Miguel de Cervantes)
  • 1997: Littoral
  • 1998: Willy Protagoras enfermé dans les toilettes
  • 1998: Trainspotting (Irvine Welsh)
  • 1998: Œdipe roi, in English Oedipus Rex (Sophocles)
  • 1999: Disco Pigs (Enda Walsh)
  • 1999: Les Troyennes, in English The Trojan Women (Euripides)
  • 1999: Littoral – Festival d'Avignon
  • 2000: Rêves
  • 2000: Ce n'est pas la manière dont on se l'imagine que Claude et Jacqueline se sont rencontrés (Mouawad co-authoring with Estelle Clareton)
  • 2000: Lulu le chant souterrain (Frank Wedekind)
  • 2000: Reading Hebron (Jason Sherman)
  • 2001: Le mouton et la baleine (Ahmed Ghazali)
  • 2001: Six personnages en quête d'auteur in English Six Characters in Search of an Author (Luigi Pirandello)
  • 2001: Manuscrit retrouvé à Saragosse (opera, Alexis Nouss)
  • 2002: Les Trois Sœurs in English Three Sisters (Anton Chekhov)
  • 2003: Incendies
  • 2005: Ma mère chien (Louise Bombardier)
  • 2006: Forêts
  • 2007: Incendies in Russian, at Théâtre Et Cetera Moscou)
  • 2008: Seuls at Festival d'Avignon
  • 2009: Littoral, Incendies, Forêts (trilogy) at Festival d'Avignon
  • 2009: Ciels at Festival d'Avignon
  • 2010: Ciels at Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe Ateliers Berthier
  • 2010: Littoral / Incendies / Forêts (trilogy) at Théâtre national de Chaillot
  • 2010: Seuls at Festival d'Avignon
  • 2011: Seuls at Le Quartz
  • 2011: Temps at Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui
  • 2011: Le Cycle des Femmes: trois histoires de Sophocle at Festival d'Avignon (music by Bertrand Cantat and Pascal Humbert)

Adaptations

He has adapted different works for the theatre, from Don Quixote to Trainspotting.

Interpretations

Others
  • 2004: Je suis le méchant!, interviews with André Brassard (Leméac)
  • 2004: Littoral, cinematic projection of the theater work of the same name TVA Films
  • 2005: Architecture d'un marcheur, interviews given to Jean-François Côté (Leméac)
  • 2009: Le Sang des Promesses: Puzzle, racines, et rhizomes, travel notes, directing, regarding the process of writing and directing of the de la tetralogy (Léméac/Actes Sud)
  • 2011: Traduire Sophocle (Actes Sud)

Awards and distinctions

Sources
  • Charlotte Farcet, Les Tigres de Wajdi Mouawad (Joca Seria, 2009)

References
  1. Nasrallah, Dimitri (2019-08-27). "A Controversial Playwright Takes on the Arab-Israeli Conflict". The Walrus. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  2. "Wajdi Mouawad's career". La Colline Théâtre National. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  3. "Graduates and recent cohorts". National Theatre School of Canada. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  4. "À propos du théâtre | Découvrez le Quat'Sous". www.quatsous.com. Théâtre de Quat'Sous. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  5. Dumais, Manon. "Littoral : Au nom du père". Voir.ca (in Canadian French). Voir. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  6. "Wajdi Mouawad to guide French theatre at Ottawa's NAC | CBC News". CBC. CBC Arts. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  7. "WAJDI MOUAWAD UNVEILS FINAL SEASON AS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR FOR THE NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE FRENCH THEATREWE ARE NOT DANGEROUS". nac-cna.ca. National Arts Center. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  8. Convicted killer Bertrand Cantat will not perform in Canada: theatre Archived July 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  9. Aimee, my little darling/ Aimée, ma petite chérie
  10. "Governor General announces 60 new appointments to the Order of Canada". July 1, 2009.
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