PERSONAL COPY: Butcher

An old man in a military uniform and a Santa hat is dumped at the police station. He doesn't speak English, and a lawyer's business card is baited on the meat hook that hangs on his neck. As a lawyer, a police officer and a translator struggle to unravel the truth, they uncover a past that won't stay buried, and a decades-old quest for justice that must be served. This edition includes a foreword by Louise Arbour, former Supreme Court of Canada justice and former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and notes on the Lavinian language created for the play. Butcher premiered at Alberta Theatre Projects in October 2014. Praise for Nicolas Billon's Iceland : 'Billon is a masterful storyteller, drawing us into his characters' lives via richly detailed monologues, full of haunting imagery that echoes throughout the play.' — NOW Magazine An old man in a military uniform is dumped at the police station—he won't speak English but has a lawyer's card in his pocket. A seemingly innocuous encounter gets stranger and stranger as we gradually realize no one is who they seem and the Balkan wars' traumas continue to play out. The "It Kid" of Canadian theater, award-winning playwright Nicolas Billon, returns with a devastating parable. Nicolas Billon 's plays and translations have been produced at the Stratford Festival, Soulpepper Theatre, and Canadian Stage. Fault Lines won the Governor General's Award, and his first play, The Elephant Song , is being developed into a film starring Catherine Keener. "An old man in a military uniform and a Santa hat is dumped at the police station. he doesn't speak English, and a lawyer's business card is baited on the meat hook that hangs on his neck. As a lawyer, a police officer and a translator struggle to unravel the truth, they uncover a past that won't stay buried, and a decades-old quest for justice that must be served."--Page 4 of cover The reverberations of a devastating war play out in this claustrophic and brilliant new play.