
S2E13 - Episode 13 - Nicolas Billon of Green Light Arts in Association with Tarragon Theatre's "The Neighbours"
From A View from the Box - The Podcast by Janine Marley
February 16, 2026 · 34 min · Season 2 · Episode 13
About this episode
Janine Marley interviews playwright Nicolas Billon about his career and works.
Hello everyone and Happy Family Day! I've got a great interview to share with you today with playwright Nicolas Billon. Nic’s literary vocation surfaced at the age of six, when he wrote and illustrated a story on index cards about a rampaging robot. He stapled the cards together and sold “ Le Robot ” to his mother for a tidy profit. Today, his work is known for its challenging subject matter blended with humour, twists, and deep humanism. The Elephant Song , Nic’s first play, premiered at the Stratford Festival in 2004; it has since been produced around the world and was made into a feature film in 2014. Several of his other plays, most notably Iceland and Butcher , have had major productions across Canada and internationally. Accolades include a Governor-General’s Award for Drama, a Canadian Screen Award, and a Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Award. Nic is a strong supporter of the serial comma and of Caryl Churchill’s adage that “Playwrights don't give answers, they ask questions.” You can find Nic on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/ nbwriter.com If you'd like to hear Nic's Before You Go! episode, join my Patreon at: https://patreon.com/AViewfromtheBox
People in this episode
Host: Janine Marley
Guest: Nicolas Billon
Topics covered
- playwriting
- theatre
- interview
- humour
- humanism
Keywords
- Nicolas Billon
- Green Light Arts
- Tarragon Theatre
- playwright
- theatre
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Green Light Arts, Tarragon Theatre
Books & works: The Neighbours, The Elephant Song, Iceland, Butcher
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- S2E19 - Episode 19 - Ash Knight of Pleiades Theatre's "Karma" · May 11, 2026 · 43 min
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- S2E17 - Episode 17 - Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg of Opera Atelier · April 13, 2026 · 15 min
- S2E16 - Episode 16 - Heeyun Park 박희윤 of Riot King TO's "The Moors" · March 30, 2026 · 38 min
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