Wajdi Mouawad spent his childhood in Lebanon, his adolescence in France, his young adult years in Québec, and he lives in France today. Since graduating from the National Theatre School of Canada in 1991, he has directed productions of contemporary and classical plays and of his own acclaimed plays and adaptations, including the quartet Le Sang des Promesses—Tideline, Scorched, Forests, and Heavens—and the cycle Domestique of Soeurs/Sisters, Mère/Mother, and Seuls. From 2000 to 2004, he was the artistic director of Théâtre de Quat’Sous in Montreal, then of the Théâtre français at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, from 2007 to 2012. In 2016 he directed Mozart’s Il Seraglio for the Opéra de Lyon, and Oedipus for the Opéra de Paris in 2021. He was named Artistic Director of La Colline—théâtre national in Paris in 2016, a position he will hold until 2027. He is also the author of the novel Anima, published to great acclaim in 2012.

Linda Gaboriau is an award-winning literary translator and dramaturg based in Montreal. She has translated over 150 plays and novels from the French. Her translations of works by Quebec’s most prominent playwrights have been published and produced across Canada and abroad. She has directed numerous translation residencies, and from 2002 to 2007 she was the founding director of the Banff International Literary Translation Centre. Her drama translations have garnered many awards, including three Governor General’s Literary Awards for Translation. In 2015 she was named a member of the Order of Canada, and in 2023 an Officer of l’Ordre national du Québec.