Hope is “a thing with feathers” (Emily Dickenson). It floats and flies but sinks and fades too. Hope is a young woman of high school age who sees hope as elusive – as always one out-stretched arm away from her grasp. It’s a thing she needs to hold on to but her own decisions and life-choices constantly make her turn in other directions until…hope is further and further out of reach. It begins to float away, searching for someone something for it to connect to.
Tragedie is a funny, dark, absurd look at the life of young people, their desperation, their friendships, their betrayals. It is a story about family, school, fear and homelessness. It is a story about Hope and – at the same time – fading hope.
Keywords: Teen conflict, family/family violence, school challenges, absurdism, homelessness, friendship, death, love, regrets, childhood
Produced at LeBoldus High School, Regina SK, 1998
Genre: Comedic Drama, Play with Music, Theatre for Young Audiences
Acts: 1
Run time: 85 minutes
Suitable for students 14+
Content notes: Some content may be triggering, including content related to family violence, teen death, homelessness
Cast size: 15-35+ actors
Male roles: 12
Female roles: 13
Trans/Non-Binary/Gender Non-Conforming roles: 13
Musicians required: 1
Casting notes: Casting is meant to be as fluid and open as gender and ethnicity is. Minimum cast numbers range around 15 but can go as high as 35 or more. The same applies to gender. Many of the roles can be any gender with the exceptions being the main roles.
