The Coronation Voyage

by Michel Marc Bouchard, Linda Gaboriau (Translator)

May 1953. The Empress of France sets sail from Montreal. On the pretext of attending the celebrations marking the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, an important mafioso leaves for England where he secretly plans to live in exile with his two sons. Aboard this floating palace in the middle of the ocean, the petty lord of the Montreal underworld must face the most important decision of his dubious career: will he sacrifice his youngest son for a safe-conduct?

Le Voyage du couronnement, co-produced by Theatre du Nouveau Monde in Montreal and Théatre du Trident in Québec City, was nominated in the Best New Play category at the 1996 ‘Soirée des Masques’ presented by the Académie québécoise du théatre.

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Michel Marc Bouchard (Quebec, Canadá, 1958) é bacharel em Teatro pela Universidade de Ottawa. Teve sua primeira peça de teatro produzida profissionalmente em 1983, La Contre-nature de Chrysippe Tanguay, écologist. Desde então, escreveu mais de 25 peças, traduzidas para diversos idiomas e apresentadas em diferentes países. Sua obra mais conhecida é Les Feluettes, foi roteirizada e dirigida por John Greyson em filme homônimo. Sucesso no teatro, Les Muses Orphelines e Tom à la ferme também foram adaptadas para o cinema pelos diretores Robert Favreau e Xavier Dolan, respectivamente. Ao longo de sua carreira, Bouchard recebeu importantes prêmios de artes cênicas no Canadá: Prix Journal de Montreal, Prix du Cercle des Critiques de L’outaouais, Moore Award Dora Mavor for Outstanding New Play, Floyd S. Chalmers Award Canadian Play. Recebeu nove prêmios Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards para as peças Lillies e Les Muses Orphelines. Atualmente é membro da Academia de Letras de Quebec.

Reviews

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of Bouchard's best works: a piquant moral tale that considers the nature of history and the clash between morality and self-interest. A Quebecois gangster is traveling to England with passengers on the way to celebrate Elizabeth II's coronation. Having turned in his colleagues, he is now seeking a new life for himself and his two sons, but the diplomat procuring new passports for them will not hand them over until the gangster hands over his 13-year-old younger son for a night of sex. The other characters -- a government minister and the wife haunted by the loss of her son in World War II, a biographer writing the gangster's life story, a harried protocol officer -- provide moments of humor and pathos that deepen the play's thematic texture.