In The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs Grace finds herself irresistibly drawn to the mystery of the room her husband has forbidden her to enter. Will she let her curiosity get the best of her and encounter the secret life of the man she loves? A thought-provoking journey, Thinking of Yu is the story of a woman who discovers herself when she becomes increasingly curious about the creative rebellion of three Chinese students who altered a portrait of Mao in Tiananmen Square. Two new plays from one of the guiding forces in Quebec theatre for the past twenty-five years.

Carole Fréchette has been a force in Québec theatre for more than twenty-five years. Her plays, translated in several languages, are performed all over the world. She won the 1995 Governor General’s Award for her play Les Quatre morts de Marie (The Four Lives of Marie) and the 1998 Chalmers Award for the same play translated into English. She then received Governor General’s Literary Award nominations for La Peau d’Élisa (Elisa’s Skin) in 1998, for Les Sept jours de Simon Labrosse (Seven Days in the Life of Simon Labrosse) in 1999, and for Jean et Béatrice (John and Beatrice) in 2002. Her play Le Collier d’Hélène (Helen’s Necklace) recently earned her the Sony Labou Tansi Award in France. In 2002, the French association SACD (Société des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques) awarded her, in Avignon, the Prix de la Francophonie to underline her success in the French-speaking world; the same year, she received in Toronto the Siminovitch Prize, Canada’s most prestigious theatre award. Three English translations of her plays by John Murrell, were published under the title Three Plays by Playwrights Canada Press in Toronto: The Four Lives of Marie, Seven Days in the Life of Simon Labrosse and Élisa’s Skin. She has also translated Colleen Wagner’s The Monument into French.

Carole Frechette's profile page

John Murrell is one of the most frequently produced Canadian playwrights. His plays have been translated into fifteen different languages and performed internationally. His work for the stage includes Waiting for the Parade, a Canadian classic; Memoir, which has been produced world-wide; Chalmers Best Canadian Play Award winners Farther West and The Faraway Nearby; and the libretto for the acclaimed opera Filumena. As a translator, he has created frequently revived versions of Chekhovâ??s Uncle Vanya, The Seagull, and The Cherry Orchard; Ibsenâ??s The Doll House; Rostandâ??s Cyrano de Bergerac; and The Four Lives of Marie, Elisaâ??s Skin, and Seven Days in the Life of Simon Labrosse, all by Carole Fréchette.

John Murrell's profile page

• Short-listed, Governor General's Literary Award for Translation (English)