Olivier Choinière (born July 10, 1973) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

playwright from Granby,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

.Gaëtan Charlebois
"Choinière, Olivier"
''Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia'', April 24, 2020. He is most noted as a three-time nominee for the

Governor General's Award for French-language drama This is a list of recipients of the Governor General's Award for French-language drama. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for French language poetry or drama was divided. Because the award is presented for plays publ ...

, receiving nominations at the 1998 Governor General's Awards for ''Le Bain des raines'', at the

2006 Governor General's Awards The 2006 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit: Finalists in 14 categories (68 books) were announced October 16, winners announced November 21 and awards presented December 13. The prize for writers and illustrators was $15,000 and "a speci ...

for ''Venise-en-Québec'', and at the

2013 Governor General's Awards The shortlisted nominees for the 2013 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 2,"Governor General Literary Award finalists announced". ''Vancouver Sun'', October 2, 2013. and the winners were announced on November 13. ...

for ''Nom de domaine''. A 1996 graduate of the

National Theatre School of Canada The National Theatre School of Canada (NTS, ) is a private institution of professional theatre studies in Montreal, Quebec. Established in 1960, the NTS receives its principal funding from grants awarded by the Government of Canada and cultural ...

, he wrote and staged his first theatrical play, ''Autodafé'', in 1997. His subsequent plays have included ''La légende du Manuel Sacré'' (1998), ''Les trains'' (1999), ''Soldats de bois'' (1999), ''Tsé-Tsé'' (2000), ''Agromorphobia'' (2001), ''Jocelyne est en dépression'' (2002), ''Beauté intérieure'' (2003), ''Félicité'' (2004), ''Chante avec moi'' (2010), ''Ennemi public'' (2015) and ''Zoé'' (2020). ''Félicité'' has been translated into English by

Caryl Churchill Caryl Lesley Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is a British playwright known for dramatising the abuses of power, for her use of non- naturalistic techniques, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes.

as ''Bliss'', and ''Jocelyne est en dépression'' has been translated by Paula Wing as ''Jocelyne Is Under a Cloud Today''. Choinière has also translated a number of English language plays into French, including

Darrell Dennis Darrell Dennis is an Indigenous Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter and radio personality from the Secwepemc Nation in the interior of British Columbia. Career Dennis’s acting career began at the age of 17 when he walked into his first pr ...

's ''Tales of an Urban Indian'',

Joan MacLeod Joan MacLeod (born 1954) is a Canadian playwright.Joan MacLeod
Canadian Theatre Encyclo ...

's ''The Shape of a Girl'', and

Mark O'Rowe Mark O'Rowe is an Irish playwright and screenwriter. Life Mark O'Rowe was born in 1970 in Dublin, Ireland, to parents Hugh and Patricia O'Rowe (to whom he dedicated his 1999 play, ''Howie the Rookie''). He grew up in Tallaght, a working-class ...

's ''Howie the Rookie''. Sometimes described as a "theatre

hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who achieves goals and solves problems by non-standard means. The term has become associated in popular culture with a security hackersomeone with knowledge of bug (computing), bugs or exp ...

",J. Kelly Nestruck
"‘Theatre hacker’ Olivier Choinière wins Siminovitch Prize"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', October 20, 2014. his conventional plays have been interspersed with experiments in "gonzo theatre", theatrical

flash mob A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people that assembles suddenly in a public place, performs for a brief time, then quickly disperses, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and/or artistic expression. Flash mobs may be organize ...

s, and podcasted "déambulatoire" plays. In 2014, he was awarded both the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to ...

Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award The Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award is a monetary award given since 1971 by the Canada Council for the Arts to Canadian artists judged to be outstanding in their mid-careers. Since 2005, the award is given to one recipient in each of the follow ...

"Les prix Victor-Martyn-Lynch-Staunton révélés"
''

Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...

'', May 8, 2014. and the

Siminovitch Prize in Theatre The Siminovitch Prize is Canada's largest theatre award recognizing excellence in mid-career directors, playwrights and designers. $100,000 is awarded annually to recipients. Anyone may nominate a qualified candidate for the Prize, and winners ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choiniere, Olivier 1973 births 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian dramatists and playwrights in French National Theatre School of Canada alumni People from Granby, Quebec Writers from Quebec Living people