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Larry Tremblay

Larry Tremblay is a 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. The recent publication of Talking Bodies (Talonbooks, 2001) brought together four of his plays in English translation. He played the role of Léo in his own play Le Déclic du destin in many festivals in Brazil and Argentina. The play received a new production in Paris in 1999 and was highly successful at the Festival Off in Avignon in 2000. Thanks to an uninterrupted succession of new plays (Anatomy Lesson, Ogre, The Dragonfly of Chicoutimi, Les Mains bleues, Téléroman, among others) in production during the ‘90s, Tremblay’s work continues to achieve international recognition. His plays, premiered for the most part in Montreal, have also been produced, often in translation, in Italy, France, Belgium, Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina and Scotland. In 2001, Le Ventriloque had three separate productions in Paris, Brussels and Montreal; it has since been translated into numerous languages. More recently, Tremblay collaborated with Welsh Canadian composer John Metcalf on a new opera: A Chair in Love, a concert version of which premiered in Montreal in April 2005. One of Quebec’s most versatile writers, Tremblay currently teaches acting at l’École supérieure de théâtre de l’Université du Québec à Montréal.

November 2011 : Joan MacLeod wins the 2011 Siminovitch Prize!

October 2011 : The Dragonfly of Chicoutimi at NAC Studio

October 2011 : Siminovitch Prize Short List Announced!

December 2010 : From Memory Trip to Tramp Stamp

November 2010 : Congrats on the GG, Linda Gaboriau!

October 2010 : Music, Paranoia, Montreal, and Meta-play

September 2010 : Abraham Lincoln va au théâtre - Teaser

September 2010 : Translator to the Stars

September 2010 : Abraham Lincoln va au théâtre - extraits

August 2010 : Dear Betty,

BOOK AWARDS

Finalist for the 2006 Governor General’s Literary Award for Translation

QUOTES OF NOTE

“… explores the wellsprings of psychic and social violence.”
—Canadian Encyclopedia

QUOTES OF NOTE

"What lingers is a degree of delight at Tremblay’s ability not so much to weave a storyline as to unravel one with such finesse …"
— Toronto Sun

QUOTES OF NOTE

“This is the best new Quebec play in many years.” —Robert Lévesque, C’est bien meilleur le matin (Radio-Canada) “A brilliantly constructed play that breaks through theatrical convention.” — Le Soleil “Without a doubt the most recent play by the author of The Dragonfly of Chicoutimi is a fascinating thing.” — La Presse

“Eschewing a traditional narrative structure, Larry Tremblay’s The Ventriloquist creates level upon level of dramatic tension; the result is a riveting play excitingly free of any pretense towards kitchen-sink realism ? Tremblay’s play, like a deeply thoughtful gift, is stunning.”

— Rain Taxi Review of Books

“This translation [is] skilfully wrought by director Keith Turnbull … This is, from the get-go, a foray into the absurd, but you are soon so busy trying to keep track of the many layers of Tremblay’s twisted scenario that the absurdity becomes secondary. What lingers is a degree of delight at Tremblay’s ability not so much to weave a storyline as to unravel one with such finesse and beauty.”

— Toronto Sun

QUOTES OF NOTE

"Larry Tremblay’s broad experience as a playwright is evident in The Bicycle Eater, a novel which breathes theatricality. Things and people are never quite what they seem in this gender-bending ride through the topsy-turvy tunnels of 27-year-old photographer Christophe Langelier’s obsession with Anna … This is also a good book for anyone who appreciates the surreal. There is something poetic about the way the narrative slips back and forth as easily as a dream, transcending the limits of linear thinking. Some of the monologues delivered by Tremblay’s quirky cast of characters have words flooding the page in a sparkling stream of consciousness, gushing with metaphysical musings. And what gorgeous images are rendered."
— Montreal Review of Books

"The most memorable novel I’ve read lately … I found it an eerily seductive tale of desire and transformation. Tremblay’s magical language leads us through consumptive anguish, into surreal burlesque, onward to a fierce reality."
— Christopher Willard, novelist and art critic (quoted in the Calgary Herald and Ottawa Citizen)

"Extravagance drives this book, and by sheer tenacity finally vaults it beyond the range of critical harping … Tremblay’s story unfolds in paroxysms of the improbable, straddling dreamland and reality."
— Globe and Mail

"A superb translation of Larry Tremblay’s wonderfully surreal 2002 novel."
— Hour

"Sheila Fischman demonstrates her skill and creativity in rendering this intense work, full of wordplay and inventiveness. Her translation consistently maintains the author’s distinctive humour and intellectual detachment."

— 2006 Governor General’s Literary Awards Jury