Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Stage Play
Based on the graphic novel by Chester Brown
Adapted by Zach Fraser
Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Stage Play is Chester Brown's critically acclaimed and award-winning graphic novel adapted for the stage by Zach Fraser with dynamic and playful two-dimensional puppetry. This gripping historical drama follows Riel, known as "The Father of Manitoba" from the famous Red River Resistance through to the Battle of Batoche and his subsequent trial.
Louis Riel is available for touring in both English and French.
For inquiries, get in touch at zach@infinitheatre.com!
“A dazzling pageant of two-dimensional puppetry.”
— Montreal Gazette
Creative Team
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Stage Adaptation, Direction, Puppet Design
Zach is a Montreal-based director, producer, actor, puppeteer, puppet maker, teacher, and Artistic Director of Infinithéâtre. Directing credits with Infinithéâtre include Dominoes at the Crossroads, The Sighlence of Sky, Omi Mouna, King of Canada, and Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Stage Play. Other directing highlights include Indra’s Web (NTS) and The Weight of Ants, Fifteen Dogs and Blindness (John Abbott College). The Water Chronicles, which he directed for Geordie Theatre, won the 2020 META for Outstanding PACT Production. Puppet designs include Stars: Together (Crow’s Theatre), L'Asteroïde B-612 (La Roulotte), MacBeth – Walking Shadows (Shakespeare in the Ruff), The Nisei & the Narnauks(Persephone Productions), The Aeneid (Talisman Theatre), Vertip and The Heretics of Bohemia (Scapegoat Carnivale). Zach teaches in the Theatre Department at John Abbott College, the National Theatre School of Canada, and UQÀM, and is the president of the board for the Association québecoise des marionnettistes.
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Graphic Novelist
Chester Brown was born in Montreal and grew up in the nearby suburb of Châteauguay. Brown has gone through several periods in his comics work. In the 1980s, he gained notice in alternative comics circles for the improvised, surreal, scatological Ed the Happy Clown. He followed this with revealing, confessional autobiographical comics in the early 1990s. In 1991, he signed on with Drawn & Quarterly, which has since come to be recognized as an internationally renowned publishing house of literary graphic novels and art books from around the globe. Brown's historical- biographical graphic novel of rebel Métis leader Louis Riel was a surprise mainstream success in the early 2000s. In 2011, he released his controversial pro-prostitution polemic Paying For It, and in 2016, Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus, the retelling in comics form of nine biblical stories that present Chester Brown’s fascinating and startling thesis about biblical representations of prostitution.
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Performer
Grateful to have grown up in Quw’utsun (Cowichan) unceded territory on what is currently known as Vancouver Island, Maddison now calls Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) home. They are a 2-spirit Red River Métis citizen and interdisciplinary performing artist/theatre creator. Maddison has completed a 3-year Diploma in Musical Theatre as well as a BPA in Interdisciplinary Collaborative Performance Production at Capilano University. They are currently completing a BFA in Performance Creation at Concordia University and as a mature student are blessed to be able to learn from their younger peers. Favourite performance credits include Man #1 in Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Presentation House); Ralph in Reefer Madness: the Musical! (Point B); Aaron in Legally Blonde (TUTS); Ensemble in Hello, Dolly!, Will Rogers’ Follies, Oklahoma! (RCMT); Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (bard@brentwood); Angerbird in Ashgirl (Exit 22).
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Performer
A graduate of the Dawson College Professional Theatre Program, Anne-Marie works in both English and French in theatre, film and television. She is French-Canadian Egyptian and learned Spanish while living in Honduras. She has performed in over 60 productions, was part of Black Theatre Workshop’s Artist Mentorship Program, and is returning for a 2nd year as mentor with Artista. Anne-Marie was most recently seen in Imago Theatre's Foxfinder by Dawn King, directed by Cristina Cugliandro; Hudson Village Theatre's Strawberries In January by Evelyne de la Chenelière, translated by Morwyn Brebner and directed by Dean Fleming; Repercussion Theatre's Shakespeare-In-The-Park production of Measure for Measure, directed by Amanda Kellock; and The Last Wife by Kate Hennig, directed by Eda Holmes, for which Anne-Marie received a 2019 META nomination for Outstanding Supporting Performance.
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Performer
Henry is a multidisciplinary artist hailing from New Westminster, BC. A recent graduate of the Acting Program at the National Theatre School of Canada, he is also a graduate of Capilano University's Musical Theatre Program. Favourite recent credits include Jacob Mercer in Salt-Water Moon (Rising Tide), Cliff Bradshaw in Cabaret (NTS), and Syd in There's Nothing You Can Do (NTS). Cooking is Henry's one true love, but theatre is cool too. This performance is dedicated to Tony.
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Touring Set Designer
Attila is an Outaouais-based actor, teacher and cabinetmaker. As co-founder of RustWerk ReFinery, Attila wrote their first production ... and Stockings for the Ladies. Attila also wrote Whispers in the Air (Geordie Productions). He has performed with Repercussion, SaBooge Theatre, Odyssey Theatre and others, and teaches part time at Ottawa University. Outside of the theatre, Attila is a professional cabinetmaker and father of two. Attila Clemann is a graduate of École Lecoq and Studio 58.
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Original Production Design
Graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, Romain works as a set and costume designer. He designed Masked, by Itan Hatsor, directed by Anthony Blake, at the Neptune Theatre, Halifax; sets and costumes for Rose, by Martin Sherman, directed by Diana Leblanc, at the Sadie Bronfman Theatre; sets for Truth and Treason, by Rahul Varma, directed by Arianna Bardesono, at the Monument National. In the fall of 2016, he designed costumes for Five Kings at Espace GO, and he designed the set and costumes for 4:48 psychose, by Sara Kane, directed by Florent Said, at La Chapelle.
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Touring Lighting Design
Jon Cleveland is a Montreal-based, New Brunswick-born farmer, lighting designer and visual artist. Alongside his own visual work, he designs for dance and theatre companies like RustWerk ReFinery, Kaleidoscope Theatre, Cabal, Parts and Labour, Segal Centre for the Arts, Tangente and others.
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Original Lighting Design
Since 1974, Luc has been lighting up stages for theatres and operas across the country. He has worked for the Centaur Theatre, Mirvish Productions, Soul Pepper Theatre, Compagnie Jean-Duceppe, Segal Centre, Canadian Stage, Théâtre Quat’Sous, Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, Calgary Opera, Opéra de Montréal, Pacific Opera Victoria, Belfry Theatre, Theatre New Brunswick, Manitoba Theatre Centre, NAC, Opera McGill, Opera Lyra, Edmonton Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Théâtre le Clou, Théâtre Bouches Décousues and Dynamo Théâtre.
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Sound Design
Tristan’s music has been heard at film festivals all over Canada and the world, including the Atlantic Film Festival (Halifax), Dok Leipzig (Germany), Monstra Animation Festival (Portugal), the Animpact Animation Festival (South Korea), WorldFest Houston (U.S.A.), and more. His piece Distant Lands was the competition winner for the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra’s 2010/11 season and premiered in April 2011. It has since been performed at FACE Symphony Orchestra in Montreal, under his own baton. Tristan holds a Masters of Music from the University of Montreal in composition. Tristan extends a special thank you to the musicians who contributed, respectively Violin and Voice : Kate Bevan-Baker, Cello : Jean-Christophe Lizotte.