Author Nicole d’Entremont heads toward home from the ferry landing on Peaks Island.

One benefit of commuting by ferry to and from Peaks Island is the opportunity to connect with neighbors on the ride across the harbor. One damp, windy evening (that’s my wink to  a “dark and stormy evening” purple prose), I sat with Nicole d’Entremont and learned about the adaptation of her novel, A Generation of Leaves, into two plays, one of which — Le Retour (or The Return) — premieres this summer.

Le Village Historique Acadien will stage Nicole’s play in beautiful Lower West Pubnico Nova Scotia. Nicole said, “Le Retour captures the second half of my book — Elzéar’s return home to Pubnico and his attempt to “fit in” to life in the small Acadian village of Pubnico. As in the book, the image of his older brother Léonce who was killed in Ypres, Belgium haunts him and he must contend with this haunting in a visceral way. I won’t say more lest my words betray some kind of spoiler.”

Le Village Historique Acadien offers costumed interpreters that bring history to life (photo courtesy of Le Village).

The Canadian Maritimes are dotted with French-speaking villages like Pubnico, the oldest Acadian settlement in the province. Costumed interpreters and events at Le Village Historique Acadien explore Acadian culture. Nicole explained, “Le Village is a perfect place for the performance since the amphitheater is set in the historical restoration of an Acadian village in the early 1900’s the time period of WWI and of the return of soldiers from the war. Unlike here in the US, the Centennial of WWI is being remembered in all the countries that took part in that massacre from 1914-1918 and not just remembered in 2017 one hundred years after the U.S. entered into the fray in 1917.”

Le Village Historique Acadien cast in 2014 with playwright Nicole d’Entremont far right

“In writing a play, you can’t depend on long lines of descriptive narration. The fun challenge was crafting short lines of dialogue and suggesting stage actions to move the plot along. But then I missed the introspective life of characters so I needed to write asides–the actor breaking through the fourth wall and talking directly to the audience. In Le Retour, one character does quite a bit of that, but without long soliloquies. Le Retour is almost all in le français and I translated the script with the help of my teacher here in Portland–Nina Schmir. The necessary Pubnico acadien patois will be added by the actors.”

Le Village Historique will perform the play in early August, so check their website or Nicole’s blog for an announcement of the final schedule. Ferry service on the Nova Star sails from Portland to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia; from there the Pubnicos are a short 45 minute 103 Highway or 60 min, scenic Lighthouse Route 3 up the shore.  Nicole said, “If you haven’t been to Nova Scotia, especially to the seven Acadian villages of Pubnico then you would be in for a treat. There are places to stay and Le Village has great regional cuisine.”

For more information about Nicole d’Entremont’s writing process, see 5 Tips for Writing a Historical Novel.

Written by Patricia Erikson, Peaks Island Press offers behind-the-scenes glimpses of a vibrant, literary community perched on Peaks Island, two miles off the coast of the beautiful and award-winning city of Portland, Maine. If you haven’t already, you may subscribe in the upper right corner at http://www.peaksislandpress.com.