Olivier Choinière (born July 10, 1973) is a Canadian playwright from Granby, Quebec.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, receiving nominations at the 1998 Governor General's Awards for Le Bain des raines,"Montrealers deluge list of nominees". Montreal Gazette, October 21, 1998. at the 2006 Governor General's Awards for Venise-en-Québec,"First-timers dominate book-award short list". The Globe and Mail, October 16, 2006. and at the 2013 Governor General's Awards for Nom de domaine."Les finalistes aux Prix litteraires du Gouverneur general sont annonces". Canadian Press, October 2, 2013.
A 1996 graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, 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,Elizabeth Renzetti, "Quebec to the Royal Court". The Globe and Mail, April 9, 2008. and Jocelyne est en dépression has been translated by Paula Wing as Jocelyne Is Under a Cloud Today.Matt Radz, "Francophones flock to comedic couple". Montreal Gazette, November 26, 2003. Choinière has also translated a number of English language plays into French, including Darrell Dennis's Tales of an Urban Indian,Matt Radz, "Challenging the stereotypes". Montreal Gazette, May 11, 2006. Joan MacLeod's The Shape of a Girl,Kathryn Greenaway, "A look at when girl power gets grisly". Montreal Gazette, March 14, 2008. and Mark O'Rowe's Howie the Rookie.Melissa Poll, "Bruisers' lives made poetry". Vancouver Sun, February 2, 2007.
Sometimes described as a "theatre hacker",J. Kelly Nestruck, "‘Theatre hacker’ Olivier Choinière wins Siminovitch Prize". The Globe and Mail, October 20, 2014. his conventional plays have been interspersed with experiments in "gonzo theatre",Gaëtan Charlebois, "Two faces better than one: Olivier Choiniere has distinguished himself in both serious and gonzo theatre". Montreal Gazette, August 11, 2002. theatrical flash mobs, and podcasted "déambulatoire" plays.
In 2014, he was awarded both the Canada Council's Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award"Les prix Victor-Martyn-Lynch-Staunton révélés". Le Devoir, May 8, 2014. and the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre.
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