Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer (NHB Modern Plays)

A bold, quirky play from the renowned Quebecois writer, translated by Martin Bowman & Bill Findlay into a robust earthy Scots. On six moonlit Montreal balconies on a sultry summer's evening, eleven people tell their stories of love. Isabelle and Yannick are alive and ecstatic with the thrill of first love. Jeannine and Louise are in torment that their love may be dying. Rose and her son, Mathieu, are suspended in silent complicity, fearful of the other's pain. Gaston and his daughter, Mireille, are caught in a trap of need and blame. Yvon and Gérard are bound to one another through longing and guilt. The Widow sits alone with the memory of a perfect love... Inspired by the discovery of a lost mass by Berlioz, Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer dispenses with religion but keeps the ritual to lay its characters bare. 'Like nothing seen on the Scottish stage before. It is a quirky work that none the less hits home with its classic themes of love, loss and redemption' Mail on Sunday

Tremblay was born in Montreal, Quebec. His first professionally produced play, Les Belles-S?urs, was written in 1965 and premiered at the Théâtre du Rideau Vert on August 28, 1968. It stirred up controversy by portraying the lives of working class women and attacking the straight-laced, deeply religious society of mid-20th century Quebec. His other notable works include: À toi, pour toujours, ta Marie-Lou (1970); La grosse femme d'à côté est enceinte (1978); Albertine, en cinq temps (1984); Le Vrai Monde? (1987) and Encore une fois, si vous permettez(1998).