About the Play:

Hosanna has become a favourite of acting teachers for Male Monologues and Male/Male Scenes.

Hosanna (English version of Hosanna) is a full-length drama by Michel Tremblay, translated by Bill Glassco and John Van Burek. Hosanna is an aging Montréal drag queen who is the victim of a mean-spirited prank by her gay friends and live-in partner Curiette at a costume party. The fight that ensues between Hosanna and Cuirette brings about a discussion of gender, identity and the survival of their relationship. In a world that forced Hosanna to wear a mask to fit in, will the need to be loved and appreciated for who she truly is outweigh the dread of shedding her illusions?

Hosanna, whose real name is Claude Lemieux, leaves the conformity of small-town Québec to realize a new life and a new persona among the drag queens and prostitutes of "The Main," the Montréal thoroughfare that marks the division of the city's anglophone and francophone neighbourhoods. Claude's illusions about herself are shattered when, painstakingly remade as her idol Elizabeth Taylor in Antony and Cleopatra, she arrives at a Halloween drag ball themed on "great women of history" convinced that she, who was once a despised farmboy from Saint-Eustache, would make a splashy entrance akin to Taylor-as-Cleopatra entering Rome. Instead of being admired, Hosanna is mocked for her glamorous aspirations. Over the course of one tumultuous evening that volleys dizzily between catty quips and gutwrenching honesty, the Cleopatra impersonator comes face to face with her deepest fears and insecurities. Funny, raw, biting, and true, Hosanna is a tour-de-force that puts a mirror to those who strive to find a place in the world when they have been forced to feel like they need to be someone else.

Hosanna premiered in 1973 at le Théâtre de Quat'sous in Montréal. This internationally-renowned Québecois classic premiered in English in 1974 at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto and then at the Bijou Theatre on Broadway in New York City. Since then the acclaimed and controversial play has been successfully staged at professional theatres and has been mounted by colleges theatres.

Cast: 2 male

What people say:

"What is interesting about this play, apart from the adroitness of its construction, is the quality of its writing, which reveals real wit and insight." — The New York Times

"Written by a real playwright who can write poetic prose, handle literary technique and create character." — New York Post

"Tremblay's text is as sharp and jagged as a saw. It demands powerful, sensitive performances." — The Guardian (UK)

"Breathtakingly beautiful and layered with emotion and resonance." — Toronto Star

"A play about illusions… an exhilarating, funny, and very moving work." — The Hamilton Spectator

About the Playwright:

Michel Tremblay has been one of Québec's most prominent playwrights since the end of the 1960s. One of the most produced and the most prominent playwrights in the history of Canadian theatre, he has received countless prestigious honours and accolades. His dramatic, literary and autobiographical works, originally written in French, have long enjoyed remarkable international popularity and translations of his plays have received huge success worldwide.