Nicolas Billon (born March 22, 1978) is a Canadian writer. He is best known for his plays ''

The Elephant Song ''The Elephant Song'' is a Canadian stage play by Nicolas Billon, first presented in 2002 and since performed across Canada and around the world. There is also a film adaptation of the play, released in 2014. History ''The Elephant Song'', by Can ...

'', ''

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

'', and ''

Butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale ...

''.

Biography

Nicolas Billon was born in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and grew up in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec. He is the son of Johanne Archambault and writer Pierre Billon (writer), Pierre Billon. ''The Elephant Song'', his first play, premiered at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 2004. His second play, ''The Measure of Love'', was produced there in 2005. A member of the inaugural Soulpepper Academy, Nicolas's version of Anton Chekhov's ''Three Sisters (play), Three Sisters'' was produced at Soulpepper in 2007, directed by László Marton (director), László Marton. He also co-created ''BLiNK'' with the other members of the Academy for the Luminato Festival. In 2009, Billon joined the Tarragon Theatre, Tarragon Playwrights Unit. That June, his adaptation of Molière's ''The Sicilian'' was one of the hits of the Toronto Fringe Festival. A few months later, his play ''Greenland'' opened at the 2009 SummerWorks Theatre Festival. It was a critical and audience success, and won both the Now (newspaper), Now Magazine Audience Choice Award and the SummerWorks Outstanding Production Award. Later that year, Billon was voted one of the Top 10 Theatre Artists of 2009 by Toronto's ''Now Magazine''. Billon was a finalist for and won the 2013 Governor General's Award for Drama for ''Fault Lines''. His play ''The Elephant Song'' was adapted into the 2014 film ''Elephant Song (2014 film), Elephant Song'', directed by Charles Binamé and starring Bruce Greenwood, Xavier Dolan, and Catherine Keener."TIFF 2014 to screen Xavier Dolan and Denys Arcand films"
CBC News, August 6, 2014. His screenplay garnered both the 3rd Canadian Screen Awards, 2015 Canadian Screen Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the Writers Guild of Canada, 2015 WGC Screenwriting Award for Features & Mini-Series. Billon's play, ''Butcher'', premiered at Alberta Theatre Projects in October 2014. The play deals with the theme of justice and features several characters who speak Lavinian, an Constructed language, invented language created by two linguists, Christina Kramer and Dragana Obradović, specifically for the play."Learning Lavinian: professors create a new Slavic language"
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Film

Feature films

* ''Elephant Song (2014 film), Elephant Song'' (2014)

Short films

* ''Hyperlight'' (2018) * ''How Tommy Lemenchick Became a Grade 7 Legend'' (2016) * ''A Kindness'' (2012) * ''The Exit'' (2010)

Theatre

Plays

* ''Butcher'' (2014) * ''Faroe Islands'' (2013) * ''Iceland'' (2012) * ''The Safe Word'' (2011) * ''Greenland'' (2009) * ''The Measure of Love'' (2005) * ''

'' (2004)

Adaptations

* Robert Louis Stevenson, Stevenson's ''Treasure Island'' (2017) * Aeschylus' ''Agamemnon'' (2016) * Brecht & Margarete Steffin, Steffin's ''Rifles'' (2014) * Euripides' ''Iphigenia at Aulis'' (2010) * Molière's ''The Sicilian'' (2009) * Anton Chekhov, Chekhov's ''Three Sisters'' (2007)

Collaborations

* ''I'm So Close'' (2010) * ''BLiNK'' (2008)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Billon, Nicolas 1978 births Living people Writers from Ottawa Writers from Montreal Governor General's Award–winning dramatists Best Screenplay Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian male screenwriters Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian Film Centre alumni 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Screenwriters from Quebec Screenwriters from Ontario