Olivier Choinière (born July 10, 1973) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

playwright from Granby,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

.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 The winners of the 1998 Governor General's Literary Awards were announced by Jean-Louis Roux, Chairman, and Shirley L. Thomson, Director of the Canada Council for the Arts on November 17 in Ottawa. Each winner received a cheque for $10,000. Eng ...

for ''Le Bain des raines'', at the 2006 Governor General's Awards for ''Venise-en-Québec'', and at the 2013 Governor General's Awards for ''Nom de domaine''. A 1996 graduate of the

National Theatre School of Canada The National Theatre School of Canada (NTS, french: École nationale de théâtre du Canada) is a private institution of professional theatre studies in Montreal, Quebec. Established in 1960, the NTS receives its principal funding from grants ...

, 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 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. Darrell’s acting career began at the age of 17 when he walked into his first profes ...

's ''Tales of an Urban Indian'', Joan MacLeod'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 ...

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

hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...

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

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', 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 who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mobs may be organized via t ...

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

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), 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 acts as the fede ...

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

Le Devoir ''Le Devoir'' (, "Duty") 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. ''Le Devoir'' is one of few independent large-c ...

'', 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, and for recipients, who are given the public recognition and financial resources, it i ...

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 French Quebecers National Theatre School of Canada alumni People from Granby, Quebec Writers from Quebec Living people