New ebooks From Canadian Indies
Description
If We Were Birds is a shocking, uncompromising examination of the horrors of war, giving voice to a woman long ago forced into silence, and placing a spotlight on millions of female victims who have been silenced through violence. A deeply affecting and thought-provoking re-imagining of Ovid's masterpiece "Tereus, Procne, and Philomela," Erin Shields's award-winning play is an unflinching commentary on contemporary war and its aftermath delivered through the lens of Greek tragedy.
About the Author
Erin Shields is a Canadian playwright best known for radical adaptations of classical texts that bring neglected female characters centre stage. Her additional text for Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing at the Stratford Festival gives a voice to silenced Hero at the climax of the play. Queen Goneril, which premiered at Soulpepper Theatre in rep with King Lear, centres Lear’s stifled daughters as they contend for power in a world that insists they remain powerless. Erin’s illuminating and hilarious adaptation of Paradise Lost (Stratford Festival) won the Quebec Writers' Federation Prize for Playwriting. And her harrowing tragedy about sexual violence, If We Were Birds, won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama. You can read more about past and upcoming projects on her website, www.erinshields.ca.
Awards
- Winner, Governor General's Literary Award for Drama
Editorial Reviews
The writing is both poetic and muscular, the images are vivid, breathtaking, and heart-squeezing… pulsing with life and emotions.
— Here and Now, CBC Radio
Anyone doubting the relevance and primal pull of myth needs to see If We Were Birds. Scratch that. Anyone interested in powerful theatre should see it.
— NOW Magazine
