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Drama Canadian

Les Filles du Roi

by (author) Corey Payette & Julie McIsaac

Publisher
J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing
Initial publish date
Oct 2019
Category
Canadian
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781927922545
    Publish Date
    Oct 2019
    List Price
    $15.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781990737442
    Publish Date
    Jul 2022
    List Price
    $9.99

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Description

Les Filles du Roi (The King’s Daughters) is a gorgeous new trilingual musical written in English, French, and Kanien’kéha (Mohawk). The powerful story of Kateri, a young Kanien'kehá:ka girl, and her brother Jean-Baptiste whose lives are disrupted upon the arrival of les filles du roi in 1665. They forge an unlikely relationship with young fille Marie-Jeanne Lespérance, whose dreams of a new life are more complicated than she could have imagined. Over the course of a year, Kanien'kehá:ka, French and English journeys collide, setting the stage for the Canada we know today. Payette’s music connects the heartbeat of the drum and the soaring voices of our female ancestors in a thrilling contemporary score, weaving three languages and rivaling the beauty of Canada’s most stunning landscapes.

About the authors

Corey Payette is proud of his Oji-Cree heritage from Northern Ontario and has worked as a playwright, actor, composer, and director across Canada. He is the Artistic Director of Urban Ink (Vancouver), past Artist-in-Residence with National Arts Centre [NAC] English Theatre, and founder of Raven Theatre. He was the Artistic Associate for The Indigenous Cycle at the NAC which resulted in the creation of a new department of Indigenous Theatre to begin in 2019. Credits: Children of God (Urban Ink, NAC, The Cultch, Citadel Theatre, Western Canada Theatre), Moonlodge (Urban Ink/NAC), Our Town (Caravan Farm), Les Filles du Roi (Fugue/Raven/Urban Ink), and Sedna (Caravan Farm Theatre). His original musical Children of God (book/music/lyrics & direction) toured to the Segal Centre (Montreal), York Theatre (Vancouver), then to Vernon, Nelson, Cranbrook, and Surrey in Winter 2019. His next new musical has been commissioned by Bard on the Beach (Vancouver). Awards: John Hirsch Prize (Canada Council) and Best New Musical and Outstanding Direction (Ovation Awards).

Corey Payette's profile page

Of French, Scots/Irish and Norwegian ancestry, Julie grew up on the southern shores of Georgian Bay, on the traditional territories of the Odawa, Ouendat, Anishinabek, and Haudenosaunee Confederacy. A stage director, playwright/librettist and multi-instrumentalist, she earned her Master's in Theatre from the University of York (UK) and is also a graduate of Carleton University (Music) and the Canadian College of Performing Arts (Theatre Performance; Playwriting). A four-time Jessie award nominee, she has appeared on stages throughout Western Canada, including productions at the Arts Club, Bard on the Beach, the Belfry, the Citadel, Carousel Theatre, Pacific Theatre, Fugue Theatre, Théâtre la Seizième, Twenty Something Theatre, and the Chemainus Theatre Festival. She is an Associate Artist with Firepot Performance and a founding member of the Honest Fishmongers (Critics' Choice Innovation award nomination, 2012). She is a frequent collaborator with Urban Ink: Associate Director of Children of God, co-bookwriter & co-lyricist of Les Filles du Roi and Music Director of Sedna at Caravan Farm Theatre. Other credits include directing Le nozze di Figaro (Opera Studio), .Little Women, Pride & Prejudice and Harvey at the Chemainus Theatre Festival, the world premiere of My Rabbi (Sum Theatre), The Exquisite Hour (Playhouse Fringe award), and the multiple award-winning slam poetry musical Poly Queer Love Ballad. She is also the playwright, composer-arranger, music director and co-sound designer of The Out Vigil (Firepot Performance), 2016 Jessie award with Jason Clift.

Julie McIsaac's profile page

Editorial Reviews

"Les Filles du Roi's trilingual, feminist-Indigenous musical is a triumph…The level of ambition in Les Filles du Roi is off the charts; its overall success is a triumph…A work of monumental importance. Its reappraisal of some ugly history includes an abundance of beauty." (The Georgia Straight)

"A sumptuous reimagining of our history…Reinventing the story of Canada—in ways that respect First Nations and women. It’s thrilling." (colinthomas.ca)

"A true Canadian vision – fractured through European and Indigenous perspectives" (The Globe and Mail)

"Ambitious…absolutely breathtaking to watch." (Vancouver Presents)

"Lush, layered [...] gorgeous and highly evocative…More than a romance, it’s a tale of reconciliation that the play suggests is the direction Canada needs to take.” (joledingham.ca)

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