Monique has driven out from the city with her new fiancé, and a special dinner is being prepared to celebrate their upcoming wedding. But nothing is what it seems, and despite lazy, rambling conversations on the verandah and the comings and goings of a large household, cracks begin to appear and tensions mount, leading to a startling, explosive end to the afternoon. A taut family drama that chronicles the end of a way of life.

Playwright, novelist, poet, screenwriter and actor Jean Marc Dalpé is a three-time recipient of the Governor General’s Literary Award: for his play Le Chien in 1988, for his anthology of plays Il n’y a que l’amour in 1999, and for his debut novel Un vent se lève qui éparpille (published in English as Scattered in a Rising Wind) in 2000. Over the years, he has translated works by several contemporary authors as well as classics by Shakespeare and Bertolt Brecht. He has also written stage adaptations of such works as the last chapter of James Joyce’s novel Ulysses (Molly Bloom) and Marta Hillers’ memoir A Woman in Berlin. He recently appeared in Mansel Robinson’s play Deux (Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario) and Gilles Poulin-Denis’s Dehors (Hôtel-Motel), and over the winter he toured western Canada with Gabriel Dumont’s Wild West Show, which he co-wrote with nine other writers (French, English, and Indigenous) and co-artistic directed. He holds two honorary doctorates for his body of work, from Laurentian University and the University of Ottawa. His latest play, La Queens’, premiered in January 2019 at Montreal’s Théâtre La Licorne, directed by Fernand Rainville.

Jean Marc Dalpé's profile page

Maureen Labonté is a dramaturge, translator, and teacher. She has also coordinated a number of play development programs in theatres and playwrights” centres across the country. In 2006, she was named head of program for the Banff Playwrights Colony at the Banff Centre. She was dramaturge at the Colony from 2003–2005. She was also Literary Manager in charge of play development at the Shaw Festival from 2002–2004. Previous to that, she worked at the National Theatre School of Canada, first developing and running a pilot directing program and then coordinating the playwrighting programme and playwrights” residency. She still teaches at NTS.

Mauren has translated more than thirty Quebec plays into English. Recent translations include: The Bookshop by Marie-Josée Bastien, Everybody's WELLES pour tous by Patrice Dubois and Martin Labreque, and The Tailor's Will by Michel Ouellette. She will soon be starting work on: Wigwam by Jean-Frédéric Messier and Bienvenue à (une ville dont vous êtes le touriste) by Olivier Choinière.

Maureen Labonté's profile page

"Août turns the heat way up and stirs that roiling cauldron of caustic bitterness only the most interesting families can muster. …Like Chekhov's unfortunates, Dalpé's characters owe their dysfunctions to the cultural shock of rapidly changing times." —The Montreal Gazette "Moving… disturbing. Dalpé's play is full of rhythm and finesse. Nothing escapes the mounting tensions, not even the humour that is present throughout."—Radio-Canada "Brilliantly constructed… a bold, audacious play which eschews plot in favour of a solid, dramatic situation which carries us through to the final catastrophe. Août stays with you long after you've left the theatre."—La Presse